Thread: overwhelming

  1. #1
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    overwhelming

    I'm not giving up but I am looking for some success stories to motivate me.
    40 yrs old, started C 1.5 months ago w/books recommended by these forums.
    Trying to nurture this interest into a passion.
    cheers.

  2. #2
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    If you do not feel motivated to learn, then it can be quite hard to learn something [whatever it may be].

    One way to get motivated is to have a goal that you really want to achieve (that is short-term enough that you don't think "I'll never get there"). I can't really tell you what that goal should be, since I don't know you as a person.

    --
    Mats
    Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

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    The more I do C, more machine-like i become. At some point it starts to feel like some kind of assembly, so you start thinking/behaving like machine. And i heard there's no way back...

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    "speaking words of wisdom, write in c" look the song up in youtube ... quite inspiring in my opinion.

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    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    When I learned pointers for the first time, I was thoroughly confused by the syntax. My remedy for this was putting * absolutely everywhere, since reading that part my book several times didn't seem to give me a eureka moment.

    It's really frustrating when you just want something simple like an array of integers. Well, avoiding the rest of a boring story, I went from total confusion to functional thanks to my compiler and the compassion of strangers. I felt satisfied understanding something supposedly difficult, and finally wrote that stupid program.

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    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    "speaking words of wisdom, write in c" look the song up in youtube ... quite inspiring in my opinion.
    You mean that song is actually on Youtube? Some C programmer is not programming in C, apparently
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight View Post
    You mean that song is actually on Youtube? Some C programmer is not programming in C, apparently
    For the sake of completeness:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5LNTTGDKYo

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    Technical Lead QuantumPete's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rasta_freak View Post
    For the sake of completeness:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5LNTTGDKYo
    That's awesome
    "No-one else has reported this problem, you're either crazy or a liar" - Dogbert Technical Support
    "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" - The IT Crowd

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    Registered User Dogmasur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by neesh View Post
    I'm not giving up but I am looking for some success stories to motivate me.
    40 yrs old, started C 1.5 months ago w/books recommended by these forums.
    Trying to nurture this interest into a passion.
    cheers.
    I am 32 and just started myself. There seems much to learn and I don't know what kind of person you are, but my motivation comes in two parts:

    1) I want a change in professions and am willing to get there no matter how long it takes

    2) I am the type that gets determined to prove myself to myself. I'll keep this up until I know I can hold my own with it, find myself held with respect for what I know by peers ( most likely to be people here in these forums ), and in the time it takes to get there I will most definitely have learned a good deal of something about programming in C.

    Have fun with it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizen View Post
    It's really frustrating when you just want something simple like an array of integers. Well, avoiding the rest of a boring story, I went from total confusion to functional thanks to my compiler and the compassion of strangers. I felt satisfied understanding something supposedly difficult, and finally wrote that stupid program.
    Well, this is the unfortunate nature of C. It's so close to the hardware.
    Although C++ simplifies this to a great extent while still remaining close to the hardware. Although C++ is bigger. Much, much bigger than C.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

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    >>I'm not giving up but I am looking for some success stories to motivate me.
    40 yrs old, started C 1.5 months ago w/books recommended by these forums.
    Trying to nurture this interest into a passion.
    cheers.
    I'm 14 and learned c and c++ in a year.(Also learned windows api,somewhat)
    Read(buy) C++ Without Fear. Excellent begginers book. I read it in about 6 months and it gave me a pretty good understanding of programming in general and C++(Never programmed before). Also, if you ever have a question, just use google. In my opinion its a programmers best friend. [email protected]. Don't be afraid to email and ask a question.

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    Registered User Dogmasur's Avatar
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    I have found using K&R's bible in conjunction with this site has been more than enough to keep me learning. I am sticking with C for now, but eventually will move on to C++.

    As for more motivation, programming is a great workout for the mind. I work construction, fight mma and lift weights. Physically, I am in decent shape. I haven't done much in the past few years ( except for my love of a good read ) to exercise my mind beyond the minimum necessity to function through a day. This is a great complement to overall health.

  13. #13
    Registered User LowWaterMark's Avatar
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    Brother, can I feel your pain.

    I'm 45 (gotcha!) and have spent most of my life in school. I have lots of letters after my name and framed things on the walls from various places, even an M.D. from Tufts Med. But I still cannot say I am walking my path. Don't know what my path is.

    The only thing that I am sure of (and I'm trying not to overgeneralize to you) is that I love to learn. I have a pretty good grip on medicine, Newtonian mechanics and quantum physics, music and a couple other things that I would love to integrate or synthesize or synergize into something useful. I have a notion in my head of what this means and without a doubt it means that I need to learn how to get a computer do what I wish it to do. So here I am, studying C/C++ at 45 years of age.

    The reason I wandered into my mini-memoirs is that for me, it works backward to two things: one, I love to learn stuff and two, programming fits into a bigger plan for me hence helps to satisfy a need of mine.

    I suppose I would ask why learning this craft is important to you? Believe me, I'm not suggesting parallels here, suggesting that it has to be a part of some plan you are hatching or anything of the sort. I'm just curious. I'm guessing that you have a reason, but from my own experience I know that it's possible to sometimes forget why we are involved in something long after committing to it.

    If you can remind yourself why you wished to learn this originally, perhaps it would provide you the motivation to continue.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Elysia View Post
    Well, this is the unfortunate nature of C. It's so close to the hardware.
    Although C++ simplifies this to a great extent while still remaining close to the hardware. Although C++ is bigger. Much, much bigger than C.
    And, since C++ ALSO supports doing all that C allows, to be fully competent, you would need to understand how C works too - because sooner or later, someone will have a piece of code that uses some of the "tougher" C parts.

    --
    Mats
    Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

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    Registered User Stonehambey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rasta_freak View Post
    For the sake of completeness:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5LNTTGDKYo
    The pic for that video had me in stitches. I don't know how many people will get the Bruce Lee reference, so here's the original quote from the man himself.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

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