Trying to get into programming

[laverinthe]

  I've been trying to learn C++ but the site I've been using is a little too tech head oriented (aka "they use too many big words!")
 for me.  I think I got a little grasp on the basics, I was wondering where some of you guys went to learn this stuff.

This is the only site I've found so far.  Thanks for the link necno 
http://www.learncpp.com/

[necno]

Well I was originally self taught during high school, I believe I picked up C++ for dummies first and progressed from there.

[LordJerle]

I haven't been to this site in awhile, but I just checked and it's still active, don't know how active but it's worth a look.
http://mudconnect.com
There's quite a few coders on there who're willing to help newbie coders and take them under their wing.  If you're wanting somebody to learn from who's willing to take the time and go with you step by step, that's one of the places to go.

[DocClox]

Google for tutorials and c++

This one is probably good if you don't want to do something (like whoremaster) that doesn't use the windows GUI.

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

Some interesting topics here (including SDL and Game AI)

http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial.html

If you like video tutorials, YouTube has some of them, too. Here's one about writing a (console based) calculator with Visual Studio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOooHnv6N9M

[Lorde]

If you like video tutorials, YouTube has some of them, too. Here's one about writing a (console based) calculator with Visual Studio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOooHnv6N9M

^ This

Everyone is different of course but I myself learn by doing something worthwhile. You can write up hello world apps and learn the ins and outs of variables and sprintf till your blue in the face. But until you actually build something you can use later and thus have a (small) vested interest in what you are making, you just won't care about what you are doing. And a calculator app is a nice simple thing to start with. It will also cover all the basics.

[mothballd]

Sweetness!   I'm just getting into programming as well, right now I'm reading through a beginning C++ book I picked up, I hadn't even thought to check for web resources.   And I agree with Lorde on making something thats actually useful- I've been avoiding my C++ book for about a week now due to the sheer joy of learning loop after loop after loop.   Thanks for the links!

[DocClox]

Good rule for learning programming: think of a tiny small part of what you want to do, and then learn enough to do that.

So if it's a game, you might want to learn how to make a sprite move. If you hit problems because you don't know how to open a window to display the sprite, learn how to open a window in instead.

That way each thing you learn becomes part of the framework you need to achieve your eventual goal.

[necno]

And be glad your not learning when I did, when I started 3D programming graphics wasn't for the faint of heart. And now I think I've unlearned everything from those days....

[coldheartzero]

I spent a lot of money on my programming degrees and I can honestly say, I hate it now. Could've been the fact it wasn't fun, or I was told what I could or couldn't do when I was doing it before. Felt like I had my mojo siphoned off.

If you can pick it up, and accomplish what you want to do without going to school for it by all means go that route. I think teachers are programmed to make things unfun so you don't want to do them anymore.

[necno]

Heh, yeah. Learning yourself is much better. But if you want to 'work' in the industry then you should look at degrees as they can offset lack of real world experience.

[slpowerhouse]

c++ I learned in high school. I was taught VB.net, C++, and Java in high school, these were actual elective classes.  when I don't know how to do something I either Google it or look for a  (Programing language name here) for dummies book. Most websites are going to have large words because they assume you at least learned the basics before you went to them.

I believe but I could be wrong that Visual Studio has tutorials for C++ in it's help files.

[DocClox]

It does. I don't like VS, but it does have examples of how to do most everything.

[LordJerle]

I might also bring up a good editor that's compatible with various compilers.  I've used it for the little bit of coding I've done in the past and it also has the nifty feature of being able to import VS project files  
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dev-cpp/

[laverinthe]

Thx for all the links and advice.  Sometimes all you need to do is hear the same thing explained in different words for it to click.

[necno]

One last piece of advice from me, two great sites you should check out often once you are of a level to start coding graphics are http://www.gamedev.net/ and http://www.gamasutra.com/ as they contain a hell of a lot of good information. The second site contains more game design orientated stuff which can be good to read even if you games contain only text.