I have been reading my C++ book, i read a re-read each chapter to make sure that i know everything. I can read and when i think it is all soaked in i still feel like i dont know jack. EX: I have read my chapter on pointers probably 3 or 4 times. Each time i read it after the first time, I was skimming because I knew everything i was reading. I took the tests at the end of the chapter and didnt get hung up on a single question, but i still feel like i dont really know pointers! I know the syntax but it is the implementation that gets me. I feel like i dont really know when they are supposed to be used. Does anyone else ever feel this way. btw that does not have to be about pointers, it can be any part of C++.

Books are great, but practical experiments are always more fun. You have to apply what you''re learning to real complex-ish programs: think up something you''d like to make, squeeze in as many features of C++ into the design as you can, then make it. It doesn''t have to be massive.
Being creative and solving problems will help you to see the features of C++ in context, and you are much more likely to remember it all, at least you are if you''re like me
Just remember to set youself hard but achievable goals, and if you can think of a program that will be useful/fun once completed then you will be all the more motivated for finishing it.
Hope that helps, and yes, I''m sure the majority of this community, definately me, have felt that way at some time.

pan narrans
Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code

heh, definately. You just got to keep using them (key is using them -- not just reading about them) and it''ll eventually sink in. I''m still that way for anything complex that I come accross.

Knowing the syntax for pointers is one thing, knowing how to use them is entirely something else. A lot of constructs in C++ have very advanced uses that you''re not going to find out about until you finish learning most of the syntax. In any case, the syntax is the easy part of learning a language. The hard part is learning how to use all those complicated features to make a neat and powerful program design. 90% of learning C++ (and, I assume, any other language) is all about good design.

So, you''re right in that you probably don''t know how to use pointers if you''re still reading a beginner book. My advice: lose the beginner book and get something more advanced (assuming you know all the syntax already). Get something that will teach you some good software engineering techniques, design patterns, etc. More importantly, however, just write a lot of programs. It will all become clear in time.

thats just it, when i try to write a program for whatever reason i get bored, not that i dont like programming, i am just tired of making programs involving damn cats.(if you have read C++ in 21 days you will understand)
I can look at the NeXe and NeHe tutorials and keep myself busy for hours just making different primitives and texture mapping them but when it comes to making an actualy non graphical program i get bored with it
Or let me explain this better. I know all game programming is not about graphics. I know there is a great deal of code that will be donated to physics and other things of that nature, but that is different. When typing actual game code such as that you know that what you are doing will effect how things interact in your game and that makes it all worth while and even really fun to do.
What i am mainly talking about is things like blackjack, card games in general, or damn employee records programs that the book would like to have you do for practice. A few weeks ago when i finished my chapter on function i made a cheesey blackjack game. I didnt enjoy making it, i only made it to see if i could implement would i had jsut learned.
I want to see my code work, i want to be able to interact with it outside of a cin statement.

Then make an interesting game. That''s what I did when I was just getting started. I read Andre LaMothe''s Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus, stole his libraries and converted them into terribly designed C++ classes. Then I wrote a disgustingly messy, comment-free space invaders game.

That may sound pathetic, but I learned a lot from it, and I had fun doing it. Here''s what I learned from my project, I just feel like sharing:

1) If you don''t design everything properly, once you are about 75% done with your game, you will want to avoid your code like the plague.

2) Check return values from all your API functions. My game only ran on my computer, on other peoples'' results varied from a simple complete system crash to drawing some green rectangles and then a complete system crash.

3) Don''t copy Andre LaMothe''s code. It''s messy and disgusting.

When I try to think of how much C/C++ I know it seems very little indeed, however when I sit down and code. I can code for hours and hours and I look back and think... "How the hell did I do that?".

I think the reason for this is that you only recall functions, classes, variables and other key words. But if you read/practice enough it all sinks in and you become capable of things which seem unreal in respect of time/effort and knowledge.

I remember when I started programming Console based RPG''s. I learned vast amount of C++ and new concepts every time I started new RPG''s the knowledge I acquired in the previous attempts greatly improved the design and structure of the new one.

The thing I really enjoy about programming, is the that you have the power of creation. With C++ (also many other languages) it is almost impossible to reach the limits of what you can achieve.

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The thing I really enjoy about programming, is the that you have the power of creation. With C++ (also many other languages) it is almost impossible to reach the limits of what you can achieve.
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Agreed, i did a short course module (C coding) awhile ago then took every thing i had pickup and made nice little game with ascii interface, then tried to show it off (you should have pride in everything you do) ran into timeing diffitices(tread=timeing in c) and found my way here to this wealth of exp.

i thought i knew a fair ammount when i started,guess not


[edited by - mooboy on October 10, 2002 3:01:37 AM]

i understand what you mean man in my experiance pointers are one of those mile stones thats are easy to understand, but hard to implement. i''ve been programing for about five years now and coming up with a good class that uses pointers is still a source of pride.

the only words of advice i can give you is to try and develope classes in test programs that have some relevance to something you''re trying to write... i.e. a linked list is always a good thing to have in any game, how you use it is completely different for most types of games... but they are almost always there.

in conclusion, stick with it. try to find ways to write programs that you want to use by using what you''ve learned and then you will truely have what you''re learning sink in

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Don''t take life too seriously, you''''ll never get out of it alive. -Bugs Bunny

I''m having sort of the same situation, I read and read, and some sink in, but to me it seems that I can''t remember half of it. But when I actually sit down and code something that''s not from a book, I realize how much I can actually do.

The best part of programming C++ for me is to see the message 0 Warnings and 0 Errors.

It''''s nice to be important, but it''''s more important to be nice.