Question for any veteran programmers.

[agnophilo]

If I master everything in the C++ tutorial on this site, how far will I be toward having programming skills that are in any way marketable? I know I probably won't be able to get a permanent gig somewhere without knowing more (maybe a few languages) but small gigs/projects?

[Thumper]

You'll be able to participate in any open source project. Help with bug fixes, contribute, etc.
You definitely won't be able to get any sort of paid relationship, at least until you have a few years of experience under your belt. These things take time (more than anything) to master.

If you're looking to contribute to a project, sourceforge and github are great places to look for something to help out in. Find a project you're interested in, and go at it.

[agnophilo]

I'm asking for an integer and you gave me a boolean value, lol. I didn't think I would suddenly be a hireable programmer, I just asked how far along the way I'd be. Thanks all the same though for answering.

[Thumper]

I told you that you would be (maybe) far enough along to contribute to some minor projects. Did I misunderstand the question?

[agnophilo]

Roughly what percent of the way would I be toward being able to make any money at anything? I know this varies by the type of programming, industry etc, but I was just wondering.

[Thumper]

Ah. It's hard to quantify things like this. You've really got to discover it on your own. I could tell you "20% of the way there," but that would be a meaningless statement.
If you read just the tutorials on this website (and have no other programming experience), chances are you'll be nowhere even close to having the tools you need to turn this into a profession. Like I said, it takes years to master the concept of programming.

EDIT: I take that back. No one masters programming.You simply get better at realizing how little you know.

[agnophilo]

I get that, and I don't mean just reading the tutorials, but being able to apply all the techniques. I get that I'm learning how to dribble and run at the same time and that doesn't make me an NBA star. I just wanna know when (assuming due diligence and aptitude) I might make it into the minors. Or whatever the NBA equivalent is. Thanks for replying, I know it's kind of a BS question. Just wondering how far up the mountain I am/will be.