Okay I''ve been trying ot learn C++ for awhile and have purchased learn Visual C++ 6 in 21 days SAMS and Learn C++ in 21 days by some one I don''t member who, its a red book, I can tell you when I get home from school. I''m just wondering if learning C++ in 21 days is ethical or really possible jsut to learn the basics that are needed to begin basic game development, Also as Christmas approachs and my parents are demanding my list of stuff I would like what books should I put down that cover concepts that arn''t covered in theis book? Thanx Alot all you Ghuru''s Gorf

I dont know.. I dont really like those kind of books (teach yourself in 21 days, C++6 bible, etc). They seem to technical and all. I like the books OpenGL programming and the Zen of Direct 3D programming the most. Mainly cause it was fun stuff to learn to program. *They also teach c++ windows programming in those books*. But they werent all technical and stuff. I liked how they seemed like normal people, had fun in their books, explained everything that you did, and it got me started on my way to some good programming and was very understandable *even for ppl who havent ever programmed in windows/c++*. So I suggest those books if your goin to make games/graphics/etc.. if you got any more Qs just lmk

RoB~

Hey. First off, you''re not going to master C++ in 21 days if you''re just starting out. It''ll take you one year plus to get to inheritance most likely, since you seem to have little or no programming experience. (btw, Teach Yourself In 21 Days is by Jesse Liberty, at least the first four editions, and it sounds like you have the Professional or Office Reference Edition [something like that - it''s hardcover, right?]). Anyway, I''d recommend that you plod through the TYC++I21D first, then and only then should you start learning MFC (which is what TYVC++I21D covers, mostly).

Hope this helps,

ZE

I don''t think learning any particular aspect of programming will take you a year, or any amount of specific time. Some people pick up pointers right away, some take a year to get them straight. Same with OOP, including inheritance and polymorphism and other topics.

I do agree, it will probably take you a good year to get comfortable with most of the language and practice it to know it''s use. It''s pretty easy to learn the concepts of the language, but there are so many little details to implimentation it takes time and hard work. I don''t know anyone who is so good with C or C++ they can be said to know the entire language.

You can learn C++ in 21 days, but you might need longer to get good. Just start small, write lots of programs to test questions you have and you''ll learn well enough. Just have to invest some time outside of the book to really learn C and C++. You can start doing some basic graphics programming without knowing how to write a good class or how inheritance works. Every little program you write will make you a better programmer.

G''luck in it all!

R.

quote: Original post by Rube
I don''t know anyone who is so good with C or C++ they can be said to know the entire language.

I know the entire language.

Once you get some of the C++ under your belt, you can turn to "Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus" by Andre Lamothe. It teaches you enough windows programming to get up and running, then it concentrates on DirectX for the rest of the book. It doesn''t cover Direct3D, because he is putting that in his follow up book. It also only touches on DirectPlay,Sound and Music. The last quarter of the book gives an overview of various game programming algorithms, like AI and pathfinding.

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Make it work.
Make it right.
Make it fast.

I''d suggest you get a introductory computer science book. It will present ideas that are applicable in any language and help you become a better programmer overall.

These books can be pretty expensive though, so its probably good that its Xmas time.

A great book which I used to learn the basic concepts
and still use as reference is
The Waite Group
Object-Oriented Programing In C++
Second Edition. By Robert Lafore

Its the best book I''ve seen out of some of the
course books the colleges around here require.

It gives a lot of sample code and really goes
into detail. Anyone here seen this book before?

Ps. They prolly have a third edition out by now.
The books pretty old.

C++ can be compared to Chess. It takes minutes to learn, but a lifetime to master.

I have read Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days more than 15 times and I am just beginner-intermediate in my opinion. I still have a ton of questions that come into my head when I try to program games.

It takes a long time to learn.

The outcome is worth it. I am not in a rush anyway.

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