Thread: New to programming: newbie ??'s

  1. 06-01-2003 #1
    ndbrown21
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    New to programming: newbie ??'s

    Hello all!
    First, I'd like to say what a great website this is! LOTS of very helpful information! I'd like to ask all you experienced programmers out there a few questions.( if you don't mind).

    I'm currently in a C programming class and am doing very well. We're learning flow control and that kind of newbie stuff. My question is: What are some good ways to learn how to code effectively? Is it all book knowledge? hands-on experience? or both? I plan on making a career out of programming and I'm just looking for advice. Should you have a very good backround of C before taking C++? What are the main differences between the two?
    I appreciate ANY feedback or just a "hello"!

    Thanks again,
    Nathan =)
  2. 06-01-2003 #2
    WaltP
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    Naturally it's both. Books to expand your knowledge. Hands-on to solidify that knowledge.

    Come up with small programs outside of your class that help you understand the topics discussed so far. As you learn more, rewrite what you did earlier with the new information and techniques. That way you can see how to use different techniques to do the same job, and which are cleaner/easier solutions.

    Don't be afraid to "reinvent the wheel", or write code that already exists, to understand how these work. For example, it's easy to compare two strings by calling the function strcmp(), but to understand how strcmp() works, write your own version of it.

    Most of all, have fun!
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  3. 06-01-2003 #3
    vikasgp
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    C++ makes it easier to follow use a programming paradigm called "object oriented programming". C++ is a super-set of C, which means (almost) all C features work exactly the same way. So yes, you should learn C pretty well first.
  4. 06-02-2003 #4
    CornedBee
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    I disagree with vikas.

    There is a subset of C++ that is very much like C in code (close enough that you can compile most C programs as C++), but the important thing is not syntax, it is style. C is a strict procedural language. If you learn it well, you'll get into the habit of a C coding style. When you then move on to C++ this habit will make you write bad C++ code, since C++ code is more about classes and maybe templates.

    So you can learn basic C, but if you plan to use mainly C++ you should move on to this language before you are too much in to C style.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
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  5. 06-08-2003 #5
    CodeMaster
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    A quick piece of advise.

    In order to be a great programmer you should be
    able to take real life tasks, and be able to map
    them out ... doesn't have to be in a specific
    progamming language.

    After you are done, you should be able to apply
    your definitions to any programming language
    that you are used to.

    I hope that this piece of quick of advise helped you.
  6. 06-09-2003 #6
    Flikm
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    hello



















    jk
    learn from the books as much as you can then experiment with what you learn to help you burn the information into your brain. many people disagree with me, but i know from experience that its easier to learn C first before you tackle C++. when you learn C, you can understand everything(not everything but at least the concept) that goes on behind the standard functions and such. when you learn C++ however, you have no clue what happens behind the cout<< before you learn how to define operators and classes and such.
  7. 06-09-2003 #7
    Shiro
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    > What are some good ways to learn how to code effectively? Is
    > it all book knowledge? hands-on experience? or both?

    Learn from books, do programming projects and read code from others.

    Here you will find a lot of open source projects. A lot of projects probably require a bit more understanding of C than the newbie level, but it is never wrong to take a look at it and try to understand what is going on.
    http://sourceforge.net/

    > Should you have a very good backround of C before taking
    > C++? What are the main differences between the two?

    You don't need to know C before learning C++. The two are different programming languages and can be learned indpendently from each other. The main differences are the ways of programming. C++ has a lot of elements supporting the object oriented way of programming, C was meant to support the procedural way of programming.

    Note that in C++ it is possible to do the procedural way of programming and in C it is possible to do the object oriented way of programming. A way of programming is just a way of thinking and in basic language independent. However some languages support a certain way of programming better than others.
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