For CBoard Newbies

The following will be covered.

1. How to post and what your post
should include.

2. General Questions Answered

3. Good Tutorial Sites


Section 1
First and most important the use of code tags.

you use [ c o d e ] (without spaces)
and [ / c o d e ] to turn on and off code tags.


the following is example of code posted with
and without code tags :

WITH:

Code:

---

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    cin.get();
    return 0;
}

---

WITHOUT:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cin.get();
return 0;
}


See the difference, the code with tags
is easier to read and follow.

Now you must decide which catergory
your question fits in. To decide this shouldn't
be to hard. A good guideline is if your post
contains no code or no question about a select
peice of code, then it possibly belongs in general
catergory. If you have a GUI question post in
the operating system specific to your question.
If your using char array, and havent heard of strings.
Theres a good chance you should be posting in C instead
of C++, unless you are using other c++ functions.
Here are a few header that if you have included
you probably need a c++ post :
<vector>, <string>, <map>, <list>, <set>, <deque>
If your post contains INT WINAPI WinMain()
then you should be posting in the windows
programming section. Any question dealing with
sound and animation would probably be asked
best in game programming. Anything dealing
with the internet, sockets, HTTP, FTP, SMTP,
and so on would best be asked in the network
programming. If you want to ask people
for another kind of help project and recruitment
board is for you. If youd like to start or
compete in a contest the contest board
is for you.

The next important thing is to ask a smart
question, believe it or not there is a website
on how to ask a smart question. You should only
be asking a question if google.com or the
board search has not returned anything useful.
Dont forget that alot of smart people here have
already answered alot of the beginner question in
the FAQ.
(No one ever follows that last advice, because if
they did we wouldnt have any post and none of us
would want that :) ).

Your topic should be about your problem,
not help im a noob, or this is a stupid question.
A good topic would be, How do i use rand();?
Then follow up with what your problem
is, what you have tried, and post any
code that you have written in an attempt
to fix your own problem. The less winded
and more precise you are the better help
you will recieve.

If you are going to ask a homework question
make sure you have posted the code you have written
so far and point out your problem. No one here
will write your code for you, but everyone is glad
to help with a problem.

This brings us to posting reply's, we are all here
to help so if you think you have something valid
to offer you should post, if you are wrong someone
will correct you and you will have learned something
from the experience as well.


Section 2

Common Questions Ask by Beginners

How do I get my program to wait for a keypress?
Clear the screen?
Generate random numbers?
How do I get a number from the user (C)
Stop my Windows Console from disappearing everytime I run my program?
Where can I download a missing header file?
Test an int to determine if it is even or odd
Convert a string (char array) to an int
Convert an int to a string (char array) (C)
Get a line of text from the user/keyboard (C)
Convert an int to a string (C++)
Convert a string to a int (C++)
Obtain a string from the user (C++)
Format output using printf() (C)
Format output using cout (C++)
Comparing strings (C)
Run a program from within a program
Display a picture file in DOS
Multiple source files for one program (C++ example)
gotoxy() in a Windows Console
Flush the input buffer
How can I get input without having the user hit [Enter]?
Why does my program enter an infinite loop if the user inputs invalid data? (C++)
Sleeping
How can I convert a char/string to upper or lower case?
Accessing command line parameters/arguments
Validate user input
Color my text
Work with dates and times
Use directional keys in a console application
Work with files (C)
Work with files (C++)
Time my application/function
Accessing a directory and all the files within it
Converting a string to binary
Separate a string into tokens? (C++)
Throwing exceptions (C++)
Separate a string into tokens? (C)
Using templates to solve problems
Reading data from a socket
AND OF COURSE THE REST OF THE CBOARD FAQ

Section 3

adrianxw.dk
http://www.asciitable.com/
Winsock Tutorial
CplusPlus.com Tutorial
SOurce Code Search Engine
STL C++ Library
MSDN
Good Free C++ Compiler
Preludes Wonderful Site
C++ Tutorial
Win32 Programming Tutorial
SourceForge
c++ articles
about.com
parashift
comp.lang.c++.moderated
Game Developer
OpenGL Documentation
The forger win32 tutorial
Beej's Guide to Network Programming

Thanks alot!

Lots of good info, especially those links!

Just pointing out...
STMP <--- don't you mean SMTP

Nice article

With some tweaks and grammer corrections ;) This could be a very usefull "noob" guide or for intermediates too.

PS Its good you pointed out which forums are for what, tons of win32 api questions are asked in c++ forums...

yea ive bene meaning to write thsi for a while, the longer i wait
the mroe stuff i forget to add, i plan on including some more stuff
when i remember lol, yea i know my grammer is very bad.

I added a few more links, that i remembered or came
across today.

Ahh... The intent here is good, but I'm not too sure if it is all that useful. The first section is included in the forum Announcements in various forms. The links to the FAQ can, well, be found in the FAQ. The list of sites with tutorials is a good thing to have, though.

The problem with the first part is, the folks who should read it are the ones who already ignored that announcements, the faq, etc, and so, they are unlikely to read this as well.

And a side note: <vectors>, <strings> and <maps> do not exist... or at least, are non-standard. ;)

This is a pretty good guid for people who just joined the forum. Maybe it will become a sticky, so more new people can read it, and ask questions that can actualy be answered.

actually wasnt looking forward to it becoming a sticky cause i
dont think many people read the sticky or the annoucments
which is why i made another post about it.

for zach, i think this kind of thing just needs to be posted every
once in a while but i thought mine added something mroe that
we dont see, also i know its in the FAQ, but how many people
you think check the FAQ, i dont think many do
so i think this will be a good place for them to find what this site
has to offer, and thanks about the header i fixed it, i like
to put 's' on alot of things.

I usually check FAQs first or search MSDN(im not too good with MSDN) but a lot of times i just get lazy and find it easier to just ask here.
Yeah, i never read stickes before i post, in a new forum.
I like the idea of this being reposted once in a while, or just posting in this thread everytime it gets to 2nd page, so it gets bumped up.

The point is probably entirely academic. I just don't think someone who is going to ignore looking at something like the FAQ will bother reading many other posts, either. I could be way off. Anyway, I really do like the list of tutorials... though I think Prelude's site outranks MSDN. ;) :p

Cheers

I have to agree with Zach L. on this...

oh there was no special order as in a rank or
so i just posted them in which i found them :/

ah i have more links but it wont let me edit it, ill
post them here i guess.


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