Thread: Learning Project

I finally buckled down and got serious about learning C++. I've read tutorials and forums, but reading won't be as productive as practice? right?

So, I open up the compiler and get a fresh workspace going. Now what do i want to make...yea...hmm... I've done the Hello World thing, and figured i'd expand on that, but where would i go? Arrays and Pointers saying Hello World? Functions expressing Hello World in numerical sequences?

So i was wondering, what kind of programs did you guys start with? I figured i could start one project and expand/upgrade code until i move on.

Or, knowing what you know now, what would be the ideal project to learn C++?

Thanks. Any and all help is appreciated.

Some of my first programs where,

Prime number generator,
Prime factorization,
Fibonacci sequence,

A date program that would take a integer say 27 and output the date in this format :
Tuesday January 27, 2004

or 33
Monday February 2, 2004

dos based games really helped me understand loops, strings, pointers, key input handling, etc. Theres alot of support for starting them and all, why no go that way?

I know it's really cliche, but writing a program to play chess will cover pretty much every aspect of programming.

battle chess? oo la la hehe

A chess engine can get pretty complex. I would leave that one for a while.

Simple DOS games really helped me get good at BASIC, so RoD's suggestion is quite a good one, as I imagine it's the same with C/C++. They're fun to make too. There's a gaming board here, browse through there and get some ideas, and you might learn a thing or two from gamedev.net.

thanks guys.

I have the same problem. However, I know probably 65% of the language, not counting the STL or any graphical stuff. I'm sure I would be capable of writing something good, just no ideas come to mind when I sit down and actually try to write something. Maybe I should start on chess, like you guys suggested to howdytest.

write your own version of strtok();

write your own version of tic-tak-toe;

write your own version of battleship;

write your own version of a card game such as poker or war or go fish or gin rummy, etc.

create your own singly and doubly linked lists classes;

create a container of names sorted by last, and first names--that is:
smith, anna
smith, bill
smith, joanne
zimmerman, michael

create your own tree class (any variety);

create a program to generate a random maze and a program to solve it and define the shortest path(s) if one exists;

Create a program to solve this puzzle: Pretend there is a 3by3 cube made of individual 1by1 cubes that represents a block of cheese. You are a mouse that gets to eat the cheese. You can start at any arbitrary 1by1 cube. When you eat that piece you can move to another adjacent piece in the up, down, right, left, front or back position from your current position, but you can't go kidddy corner. What's the most 1by1 cubes of cheese you will be able to eat, and indicate one path to do it.

Create a concordance for a given piece of literature. That is, create a table containing each unique word in the piece of literature and the unique lines that each word can be found on.

read, research if necessary, and attempt to answer questions posted on this board. If you are polite, demonstrate integrity and honesty, and show that you have made an effort, most people won't mind if your answers aren't always 100% accurate; but do the best you can.

Post your own questions, if need be, when you run into an obstacle.

Register at topcoder and attempt to do some of their challenges.

write your own version of tic-tak-toe;

I've written my own two-player version of Connect Four. No AI, however. After doing that, my mind went blank with ideas. I tried to make up my own game with no success.

Thanks for the suggestions, Kybo_Ren. I will try some of those.