I just had a few questions 1. Is it crucial to learn C before jumping into C++ ? 2. I was also wondering I one wanted to get a job as a programmer, is it important to go to school for it, ir is being self taught the better rout? hoping I don''t get flammed Cheers

1) no, it''s not crucial.
2) It''s great to get a headstart by teaching yourself programming but I would still recommend going to college to get a degree.

It is not important to learn C before C++, very few people do it that way anymore. I used to think that a degree wasn''t very important, but it seems like most companies require a degree to get an interview. Also there is allot that you learn in college by haveing teachers constantly review your work, and giving you ideas on different ways of doing things.

1) *Dons asbestos suit* That''s a question of religion. Some will say yes, some will say no, and neither will listen to the other party''s arguments. C++ is a superset of C, so you can easily learn to use both together. I mostly use C++ as an extension to C, because I don''t see OOP as the panacea some pretend it is.

2) Jobs are easier to get when you have a degree, and there is much more to Computer Science than just programming. You are unlikely to pick up stuff like theory of computation, operational research or algorithm design on your own. You cannot however ''just'' go through school and dub yourself a programmer if you don''t do some learning of your own on the side, and like it.

quote: Original post by bleachblood
2. I was also wondering I one wanted to get a job as a programmer, is it important to go to school for it, ir is being self taught the better rout?

It''s nearly impossible to get a job without a degree. Work outside of class is of course always a bonus, but being purely self-taught is suicide, job-wise.

quote: Original post by bleachblood
I just had a few questions

1. Is it crucial to learn C before jumping into C++ ?

Not crucial at all, by all means, start with C++

quote:
2. I was also wondering I one wanted to get a job as a programmer, is it important to go to school for it, ir is being self taught the better rout?

Some people are successful _Despite_ not having a degree (and they may chime in here any time now), but going to school is definately the better route. You will have a more complete and more disciplined knowledge. Self taught programmers are very skilled, but they often wasted time going down dead end avenues, and frequently retain bad programming habits for quite some time.

quote: Original post by Stoffel
It''s nearly impossible to get a job without a degree. Work outside of class is of course always a bonus, but being purely self-taught is suicide, job-wise.

While I highly recommend anyone anymore to get a degree, I''d have to respectfully disagree with your statement. I don''t have a degree, and I''m making a great living working on a great game for a so-so, but major company. Not only that, but on the team, I counted 6 others without degrees on a team of 13. That having been said, two have multiple degrees, and one''s has a PhD.

The reason it''s highly possible in the game industry to get a job without a degree is often times the stuff they teach you in school turns out to be highly impractical in a game setting, especially on consoles where speed and memory efficiency are of the utmost importance - and usually that comes through hacks and real world experience.

Come to think of it, last time we were hiring, I noticed everyone gave more notice to a guy with a demo in hand and no degree than to a guy with a degree and nothing to show for it.

Ramble, ramble, ramble...

quote: Original post by bleachblood

2. I was also wondering I one wanted to get a job as a programmer, is it important to go to school for it, ir is being self taught the better rout?

Program a computer demo, sign it to a contest in some big demoparty, like Assembly, win the contest, and you''ll get smothered by people offering you jobs. And no degree required!

Although going to school is a little more secure.


rk

90% of our team members do not have a computer science degree. Infact, our company prefers job candidates without a degree, but lots of real world programming experience. Those people tend to be more skilled, motivated and creative in their way of thinking. Most things you learn in Cs courses are inefficient and useless in the game programming sector.

Things are different in other industry sectors though.

- AH

Buy the book "Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" and get the Introductory Edition of Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 and you will be on your way.

After you know C++ pretty well, you should have taken classes in Computer Science, Programming, anything that has to do with Physics, Calculus, Trigonemtry, etc. You should get a degree in Computer Science if you want a good job.

Good Luck!

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