as the topic say, where to begin. I have an interest in programming and being a try anything at least once person i thought i would take a stab at learning it in the many hours of free time i now have. My goal is to be able to do at least a tetris type of game by january so I am wondering what you people think is a good place to start. I am pretty knollegable about logic but at this point have little or no idead how to string programming languages together much beyond HTML. As i mentioned, I want tl learn and i wont make a judgments on whether i like or dislike it untill I have learned a few projects. Any imput? Allow the flaming to begin Conshape Electronic Arts

How come you are a martyr? Oh well trivial matter, Well you could always try a good book I''d look at Amazon Or you could look up some tutorials on the net, for C++ I''d try Here They have some tutorials and a message board, those are two options. Depending on what language you are thinking of learning there are plenty of resources on the net I''d run a search for "C++ beginner tutorials" or similiar try Altavista and a book never hurts either! Well good luck I hope I helped (I doubt it)


Maketty
(Matthew FitzGerald)
Knightvision Games
Matt F. when you need a
newbie and only the best will DO

you are probably going to want to be programming in c++ so, you''ll need a good learning resource.
i recommend heading over to http://www.bruceeckel.com/ and getting his free book, "Thinking in C++"

as for a compiler, if you dont want to ditch out the cash for MSVC or Borland builder, go to www.borland.com and in the downloads section they have a free command based compiler

then, just read everything you can on programming, and make some crappy little console apps , until you think you understand the language enough

then you''ll probably want to learn win32 programming, and after that directx

thank you very much both of you. I have done no programming so a beginner guide was exactly what i was looking for. when you say free book............? i dont know about online free stuff man. in any event thank you and ill look it up. im not in school these days so the way i see it; if i can learn smothing, thats somthing to do eh.

Oh incidently for the question regarding my status. I am a frequent poster of the art/gdnet lounge and a few other rooms. im sure its nothing new to see me in and about almost every room.

Allow the flaming to begin
Conshape Electronic Arts

Ah, an artist turn programmer...I love it.


Here''s some more free online books, eckel''s is my fav too.
about.com
gamedev.net

Now if there only was some free online "game programming/directX/OpenGL" books

Heh heh, im not an artist turn anything. I am an artist/programming scholer.

Allow the flaming to begin
Conshape Electronic Arts

Hey if you want a nice little windows compiler that has a cute little IDE (Integrated Development Environment) I can't reccomend more the FREE Dev-C++ Compiler it is really nice and packs alot of features I use it. Well check it out if you want it is at that site just follow their links it isn't that big a download either..


Maketty
(Matthew FitzGerald)
Knightvision Games
Matt F. when you need a
newbie and only the best will DO



Edited by - maketty on October 8, 2000 3:52:37 PM

Or if you want a full blown programmer''s dream package, you can get Visual Studio 6.0 for only $99 (that is if you buy it as a student).