Member Avatar for Noxes

I just recently started programming about 3 weeks ago and I have to say, I really enjoy it. My question for this would be, what programs would you recommend for a novice programmer to begin writing? Which type of programs did you write? Any advice would be great. I do also do my own projects, but I would love to know what other people wrote so I may try even more if I have not thought of them.

Reference - I am currently reading a C++ book entitled Beginning C++ - Through Game Programming, Second Edition and I can seek help and reference material from here if I do not know it. I also have the internet, lol.

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Member Avatar for Agni

There's a thread in this forum, 'c/c++ faqs and practice problems', right on top, you can try to solve the problems mentioned in that.

Member Avatar for TheBeast32

I started out with visual basic, so a GUI game of rock paper scissors would probably be out of the question. When I started C++, it took me a long time to get the hang of it. One of the first things I made was a prime number generator. You could probably search forums and see a thread that I started about it. That was a long time after I started though. I just wanted to make it faster. You will definitely need the internet. A LOT. If you start trying to make GUIs using the win32 API (not visual C++), there is a lot of complicated code involved. The internet is like the best resource. Once you get going, it will get a lot easier and you will understand it more.

Member Avatar for Alex Edwards

Find a free ebook or online tutorial to get you through the bare basics. From there, you'll most likely want to read through the chapters since they are usually presented in a technical sense and not really presented in a completely-tangible way.

From there, I'd get an advanced book that covers the basic ideas and a more thorough explanation of the basics + advanced topics. For this kind of book, refer to the stickied link that is posted in these forums. There are many great books mentioned there that are worth your money.

Next try moving into the STL and understanding some of the primary functions of it.

Afterwards, try experimenting (safely) with C++ by using it to operate devices/ other software. This is obviously very hard since it requires an understanding of how to access and manipulate devices using C++. There are professionals here on the forums that can guide you in the right direction if you attempt to do these kinds of things.

Before or after the previous comment about tinkering with devices, you may want to study a further advanced topic of OOP and UML as well as additional research about C++ and what it is meant for.

There are many other things you can do at any point such as...

-Learning IDE's that use C++
-Learning more hardware/software applications of C++
-Using extended libraries (such as Boost)

The list goes on. This is just the tip of the Iceberg and honestly there's no telling how long it might take you to get through this small list. I'd like to think of C++ as a type of date-manipulation medium that acts as a support program for many applications.

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