Thread: How long would it take?

>I was just wondering how long it would take someone from a
>beginner’s perspective. To learn the language to a degree
>where one could create 2D games of a fair quality…
It depends on your idea of fair quality, but I would guesstimate about two years.

>purchasing books
Good idea, buy as many books as you can afford, but be careful which you choose. Some are very expensive and worth about as much as a roll of toilet paper.

>expensive programming compliers etc.
There is little need for a professional quality compiler if you do not need the features. The free Borland command line compiler serves many very well.

>Looking on the internet for free compliers and graphic library’s
Allegro, OpenGL, and DirectX are all good libraries for a hobbyist.

>along with online tutorials etc.
As with books, online tutorials are numerous and most of them worthless.

In my opinion, the best place to go for programming help on everything from code questions to offering advice on books and tutorials is Usenet.

-Prelude

Hmmm. I'll add my two cents. Personally, I found "Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" was excellent, and you can find it online somewhere, maybe it was this site, I don't remember. But anyways, yeah that book. As a free compiler, I used Bloodshed's Dev-C++ compiler for awhile before I got MSVC++. I found it to be pretty good. There's a link for it on the CProgramming.com site. As for online tutorials, I once again would recommend CProgramming.com.

Brendan