I am learning C++ and am wondering what parts of C++ am I supposed to become very skilled at before learning game programming. Also, what are the unessesary parts of C++...such as, do I really need to learn the STL and Standard Library? Thank You! -Alex

hmmm. Lets see here you need to know the I/O functions, classes, structures, functions, and pointers. I don''t consider STL part of the language so in other words you have to know everything about c/c++ mostly.

You don''t need to learn the STL, no. But, just like encapsulation, object-orientation, const-correctness, etc etc, the STL is one of those things you look at early on and think "That''s pointless, and will take me 4 times as long to use!". And then when you come back to it later, you realise it will actually save you from having to do a lot of work yourself, and cut your debugging times dramatically.

Yup, first learn all the basic concepts of C++, like
encapsulation, inheritance, classes etc, and skip the STL.
What you first need to do when switching to C++ is to
start thinking in an object oriented way.
It will take awhile to get into, especially if you are
used program in "pure" C.
What is most important in gameprogramming you asked, There
aint a correct answer to that. I think you must learn
the the Cpp languange overall to get any advantage of using
it, but beeing a god on inheritance and virtual functions
won''t harm you

/ Tooon

A couple thoughts to add:

Spend a good deal of time learning the object oriented aspects of C++ well. For me its been invaluable and while it can take to time to learn how to use it well, once you do you can do tons with it.

As noted, STL is not truly part of the language, but everyone needs things like vectors and dictionaries at one point or another. Sure it can be great playing that stuff on your own to learn but also STL, IMHO, is well done and can save you a lot of time in managing your app''s data structures. I''ve started using it quite a bit and have enjoyed it a great deal and I have heard pratically no negative on it.

Also, remember all these things don''t even begin to touch on such things like DirectX or OpenGL. However, before jumping into complex graphics and such be sure you have a good command of the language as they can be pretty harsh for beginners.

Good Luck,

Sieggy