Ok i am a 13 year old boy, who wants to be a programmer. I started out with C++, and am still on my first book Sams Teach yourself C++ in 24 hours. I am having trouble understanding it. I really cannot understand pointer, or refrences. The only thing i know how to do with them is copy the examples from the book. Do you think it would be better for me to read another C++ book, before getting into a windows programming book. Can someone maybe mail me what pointers, refrences, are and other stuff like that at Rayman5353@aol.com. Any help is greatly appreciated. Also should i go back and read it over to see if i understand it the second time. Thanx for all you help, Wannabeaprogrammer

I think I bought that same book when I was your same age. That book explains stuff like crap. Don''t worry. Once you copy and paste enough it will finally stick. (pun not intended) Just stick with it. (damn, I did it again)

I think you should give up programming until you''re at least 16 because you''re making me feel far too old at 22.

Programming C++ at 13?? Well I WAS programming BASIC on the BBC at 8, but C++ would have been RIGHT over my head!

Maybe it''s best to do C first! C++ will probably confuse you more than needed.
Good luck with programming! At your age I started assembly (explains why I''m so ugly )

(ps: the title makes me laugh! C++ in 24 hours...nah)

Hell! I''ve been programming in C++ for 4 years, AND I''M ONLY 15!!

Don''t worry. Believe it or not, I had trouble with pointers at first also. But one day, almost magically, it just clicked and i understood. Don''t give up. Read it over and over again.

=======================================
A man with no head is still a man.
A head with no man is plain freaky.

Pointers sure are confusing the first time you meet them. I was already at university, in my first year, learning Pascal, when they started throwing them around.
Such interesting times

Try looking for examples on linked lists, that will show you just about anything you want to know on pointers.

The quick-and-dirty lowdown: A pointer is simply a memory address, with a type attached to it. It says "At memory address [pointer value] there is this object of type [pointer type]"


#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~

start just with programming c cause c++ is too complicate in some points and don''t mess about pointers. Work long enough with them, and one day there comes the click and you''re inside it... the same way it was at me... so don''t give up and do your way...

CBA

Whether to learn so-called ''c'' before c++ isn''t the problem. Like many of the above posts, after a while, things start to click and you know the syntax of program (and a few more vocab words).

Try as many books as you want, the more the better. You should also try looking for online resources (these are free and tend to be more available).

Pointers will take more than 24 hours to stick.
A pointer is simply an address(like a sign pointing) to a memory location.

"''So-called'' ''C''"?



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A wise man once said "A person with half a clue is more dangerous than a person with or without one."

I'm 17 and have the same problems and goals as Wannabeaprogrammer. I took AP Computer Science A this year at school but I did not learn how to do anything without using the AP classes. I'm reading Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days online free at informit.com. I am stuck on the concept pointers also (I understand references because I learned it in school). The main reason I'm having a problem is because I do not understand why the are needed. This is how I (incorrectly) see it: Pointers are references that cannot be reassigned and can be stored in a different portion of memory. The book does not give good examples on how they are used in real life. (I know that they are used for graphics because I used them in pascal without knowing how or why they worked). Basically give me a (simple) real world example of how they are used and I think it would help both of us out.

P.S. I think that Wannabeaprogrammer and me should chat on AIM. I'm TMOLI 42 on there (and practically anywhere else) and am online more than I would like to admit. I would be glad to know that I'm not the only one who's having problems.

- TMOLI 42

Edited by - TMOLI 42 on June 5, 2000 10:01:52 PM

Edited by - TMOLI 42 on June 5, 2000 10:03:55 PM