Well i have been TRYING to learn C++ for the last... umm.. 4 months. I have only learned the very basic part of using your program to solve a problem. Ex: C = A + 4 etc... (simple ones like that [LIKE 4 MONTHS JUST TO DO THAT!? sad huh?] [[Keep reading!]]) My problem: I cant seem to sit down and read my C++ book every night like i would like to. Just every now and then I will sit down read and code what i learned. So some tips to help me sit down and read the bloody book, would be great! P.S. Im easily distracted and I know game development is for me! Later. (edited sum spelling errors!) [edited by - Virus3355 on November 5, 2002 10:57:23 PM]

If you know it''s for you, do it. There is no better tip than that.

Tru Dat.

Make up more fun projects for yourself.

Forcing yourself to sit down and read a book every night is not going to make it fun for you. Sounds a lot like work. Make simple programs and then build off of them.

I have this game idea I want to program but I don''t know much. What I am doing is just creating small programs that I will likely use in my game. So, I am working on my game but I am using small parts of it to learn C++.

Don''t force yourself to do anything. If you think Game Design is for you then you should get the passion to sit down and learn, from that dream.

When I was learning C++ I came with up all sorts of fun projects. After I could use loops and variables I wrote a program that would output something like this:

*************** 

Try it out, write a program that outputs this N asterisks where N is equal to the line number.

If you also know how how to use the ïf statement, try a guess the number program. The computer takes a random number between 0 and 10 and you need to guess what the number is. Fairly simple, but still fun to do.

You can make several of this funny games, even tic tac toe, 4 on a row(A little harder and it requires arrays).

I hope this helps, and maybe other people can post small fun projects you can do. In the end we have a gigantic list of simple but still fun to make programs wich can be added to the "For beginners" in the top.
Sand Hawk

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If you have trouble reading the book, it could be that you have a short span of attention. It could also be that you have a bad book, or at least one that doesn''t appeal to you. Have you tried other books?

Reading books...? Wha...?

I''ll be honest with you, and yeah I''m bragging a bit right now because dang it, I feel proud of myself ( ), but I learned how to not only code in asm by myself, I learnt the basics in about an hour and managed to completely code and optimize a function in my program in asm after that.

(yes, I''m done bragging; now for some really useful advice people will actually read)

Personal experience aside, my point is that if reading books won''t do it for you, then forget about them. You''ll only slow down your learning by thinking "well, gee, I can''t do this, I haven''t read that chapter yet" and the likes. Assuming you''re not afraid of locking up or causing errors that would require a restart, experiment. With a debug compile, there''s very little harm you can do to your PC if you end up coding something wrong or, say, writing in protected memory. The worse case scenario would probably mean your PC locking up, and thus, you having to restart.

Of course, since you have them, I''m not saying to ditch the book. But try to go at your own pace, not the book''s. If something comes up that you need help on, ask or refer to the appropriate chapter in the book.

And if you really want to developpe games, try to grab a copy of the DirectX SDK or OpenGL''s (never got that second one so I can''t comment on it, but the DX one is kinda big and can be found at www.microsoft.com ) Give yourself challenges and move ahead when you feel you''ve understood and mastered the challenge you''ve given yourself.

Just as the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the code of a thousand lines begins with a single instruction.

Thanks a lot.



The 2 books i have now are:

Complete Idiots Guide to C++ (I think its a good book so far)
C++ for Dummies


Any more fun project ideas?

quote: Original post by virus3355
Thanks a lot.



The 2 books i have now are:

Complete Idiots Guide to C++ (I think its a good book so far)
C++ for Dummies


Any more fun project ideas?

Something that I have been learning is just don''t read the book, chapter to chapter and hope that you remember it all. Try to after each chapter do a small program from what you learned (and if you are ambitious enough add to the previous chapter(s).

Cause like usual there is at some point where the chapters just jump up in complexity and you will be lost if you don''t have a good grasp on what you learned previously. I know again, myself that I learn by doing and not by reading. Hope that helps!

P.S. This goes back to Sand_Hawks idea...I remember in school I had the Deitel and Deitel books and one of the projects to learn loops was to do the triangle thing like follows:


* ***** * *****
** **** ** ****
*** *** *** ***
**** ** **** **
***** * ***** *

Well, I didn''t use a book to learn how to program (I tried though); I had a class in High School. Take a Computer Science class, if you can. It''s much better than a book. If you can''t, try a College course over the internet. Unfortunately, there''s no High School course for OpenGL, so I can program in C++ but I don''t know anything about OpenGL.

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