So all you amazing coders and programmers in the C++ area how long did it take you to become masters? It''s okay to brag because I would like to know. Thankz ----------------------- This space is for sale -----------------------

lol. That depends on the person. Some people can do well in under 1 month. Others, under 10 years. :D

Don''t look at me to be too great. I''m just a guy with a big mouth and know it all attitude. I can''t even set up a Windows window without some stupid error when i run the program. See? BIGMOUTH. I got average with openGL in around 1year. I just can''t do all of the other important stuff like class inheritance, setting up windows, you get the idea. Thats why i''m taking programming in school but that may take even longer than that. BIGMOUTH SHUT UP NOW!

I can see someone learning all the C++ syntax in a month if they were VERY dedicated, and did nothing else. The average I would say is 2-3. As for becomeing a master at C++, I would have to say noone is a master. The launguage is to large in scope for someone to learn everything. Unless they had a photographic memory or something.

Microsoft themselves recon a minimum of 6 months to become proficient in C++, assuming that you do nothing else in the meant time - and that is conservative! Learn C first, and then progress from there!

there is no masters...
or wait a minute... oh, yes there is couple of shit heads.
but really, i recommend you to study programming instead of ask in forums: how much time i''ve to spend with subject to masterize it.

If someone here posts an honest answer as to how long it took them to become a "master" programmer, then they aren''t a master programmer.

Yeah right, it took me... lets see... 6 minutes so far to become a master at C++. ; ) Really though, I''ve been working with C++ for over 5 years, and I consider myself very proficient with polymorphism and template metaprogramming. The cool thing is I still see stuff all the time that people do with the language that makes me say ''cool''! Like people have said, its not learning the syntax that''s hard, its learning how to effectively apply the language to the problem at hand. That is a task that no person can ever ''master.'' One can, however, become better at it with practice.

Hmmm thats a tough question.
Firstly let me say I dont view myself as an "ELITE" coder.. and probably wont until I''ve sold maybe 3 or 4 best selling games ( like those coding guru''s over at ID-Software ).

But I''ll try and answer your question anyway.

Firstly.... to learn the C and C++ programming languages .. WHILE at school e.t.c it only took me around a month ( give or take a week ). It then took about another month or so of using it in dodgy dos and text based programming before I started using them properly. So to become good at coding in C and C++ can take as little as a month or two.

HOWEVER... when it comes to learning a graphics API, and specific platform code ( weather it be Win32 or whatever other os u wanna code for ).. those take much longer, and you find you only really start to learn as you make programs.

I''ve been coding now for 4 years ( on a non-professional level ), and I regard myself as pretty good. But up until a year or so ago I hadnt really tried using OpenGL or making net-capable games... and only now am I starting to get good at using those. )

Overall.... I would say it takes different amounts of time for each step of learning to code.

Step 1 - Learning the C and C++ programming languages... - anywhere from a month to six months ( thats what micro$ux say anyway *grin* )
Step 2 - Learning platform dependant code and a graphics API - anywhere from a few months to a couple of years to become really good.
Step 3 - Learning the ins and outs of game code. ( although you CAN do this before step two or even at the same time.. Like I have ) - you will never stop improving on this area... but u can get good in a month or so for 2d games, or about 6 months for 3d games, although the longer you code, the better you will get. ( even the pro''s are still improving on this area ).


I think the question you were more asking was... "how long will it take before I can make cool games and stuff".. lol.. and my answer to that would be "anywhere from a few months to a year or two".



Hope you can make some sense of that post... or at least get some idea at how long it might take.

~Cobra~