Thread: A begginer's question

Programming is difficult, and C++ is a complex programming language. For example, there are no reference books that cover the entire C++ Standard Library! (There are a couple of complete online references, and of course the ANSI/ISO language standard itself is complete.) And as you may already know, the standard part of the language doesn't include graphics, color, sound, networking, etc. All of this is done with additional libraries.

Quoting myself:

Originally Posted by DougDbug

It's like learning to play the guitar, you can learn a few chords in a few days or a few weeks, but it's going to be about a year before you can impress your friends.

Are you studying a programming book, or are you using online tutorials? If you don't have a book, I strongly recommend that you get one. A 300-700 page beginning C++ book will cover essentially the same information as the cprogramming.com tutorials, but with a lot more detail and explanation.

The best way to learn is to take a class, especially if C++ is your first programming language. Most professional programmers have taken Computer Science in college. Many of the experts here have taken college-level computer programming. I would guess that it takes two college-semesters to cover the entire language standard.

I've been programming off & on for many years. I've taken a few progamming classes (never a C++ class) and I'm still not an expert.

I'm 17, and next year I'm starting computer science,I'm learning c++ thorugh this page, cprogramming.com

OK, I'll talk here because I'm 17 too and I started programming just a year ago with C. I bought myself "C All-in-one Desk Reference for Dummies", and took absolutely no classes. After finishing it, I bought "The C Programming Language" by K&R, because the for dummies book doesn't touch things like preprocessor directives, function pointers or other random stuff.

The guitar metaphor is extremely true. I practiced a lot this last year, and I still feel like a n00b in these forums. I've written some random programs in C (which 2 of them have actually been useful), but I have to say I am a LOT better than when I was in my 2nd week and I could maybe "impress some friends" . Now, I'm learning C++ which in my opinion is a lot cooler, but it has a LOT of new stuff. I also know some python, but I'm gonna focus on C++ first.

Just one small warning... to learn C I used up a lot of time. It is extremely time consuming to learn a programming language like this, and sometimes you may be weeks in the computer doing nothing but practicing and researching how to do particular things. Just remember to take usual breaks because it hurts and you don't want to get addicted . Is it worth it? I think yes. I haven't done anything that has payed me money, but I'm sure I could, because programming is essential, especially in languages like these.

So overall, I just bought some books, allocated some time, researched, consumed a lot of google bandwith, downloaded many open source programs, and asked in these forums. I owe a lot of thanks to all the masters that are on these forums (they all know who they are). They are really big help. Just be considerate and don't make them give you classes or do your homework for you.

If you dedicate 5 years to anything, you'll be the best at it. Just make sure you love it.

Hey, why do you recommend me pithon, is it easier?, do you think that I shouldn't start with c++ right off?, I mean, should I learn an easier language like python first?