Simply looking for advice.. Perhaps motivation.

[mbarrot]

Hello everybody.

My names Markus and it's also my first post. I'm 21 years old, I have always enjoyed computing and well over a year ago I spent 6 months learning C++ which I throughly enjoyed. Unfortunately due to several commitments I was unable to continue learning, in the last 6 months I have spent my free time on web development, Photography, Photo-Editing and several other things. That was my introduction anyway!

I simply can't get C++ programming off my mind. Every single day I want to get back into it as although I spent 6 months learning it (initially purely from the internet, at which point I bought a book and used that as an aid) this as you will all probably know was only to a basic level. I'm well aware that it takes many years to even consider yourself as an expert and thats dependant on the individual, the time doesn't concern me.

My concern is: "Can I hope to become sufficient enough to complete real-life problems via C++ without going back into education?" Don't get me wrong I know the internet holds more knowledge than anyone can possible teach you but with regards to how people perceive the self-taught programmer? Not only that but perhaps more importantly the path you follow learning from internet searchs opposed to the structured path you follow in a teaching enviroment.

I simply cannot afford to go back into education. I'm happy to put in the hours and teach myself, I'm looking for advice from people that perhaps taught themselves or have in fact gone through the education system, whilst I would happily do this as a hobby - I'd like it to lead to a career even if that took 5-10 years. I am 100% certain that I want to be in the industry of creating with computing, whether C++ is the right choice.. I'm not sure, although I am sure that it's a brilliant start.

Finally, and I do thank you for reading this far.. My previous C++ experience was based in a command line enviroment, if anybody could give me a guide/link/list of what is generally considered to be the basic set of C++ topics to understand before moving onto anything more than command-line programs that would be great, even a list of goals to program that generally require you to have the knowledge required before proceeding.

I would appreciate any positive or negative advice. Links, or even goals.

Best Regards,

Markus.

[monarch_dodra]

C++ is the "tool" which is used to the end: "develop". Both go hand in hand, but there is a fundamental difference between both.

You only need so much knowledge about C++ before you start using it. It is the mastery of development that is the real challenge!

THE best place to "get started" and acquire "development mastery" or "real world experience" is at work. C++, is a language, and like spoken languages, you can only learn so much in books and forums, or by yourself. Furthermore, C++ is only a means to an end. One day, you have to go out there, and start "talking" to other developers. Learn their ways, their designs, their patterns, how they used a language to construct entire systems! This will make you an expert developer.

Once you are a bit more fluent and comfortable, once you have learned more about C++ through it's use, you can come back and lurk in these forums. Hone these C++ skills of yours, and master your tool.

I think it would be a mistake to spend too much time learning C++, if you have no professional use for it. The basic groundwork is more than enough. Most employers know new hires aren't masters anyways, and hire on the basis that you are smart enough to learn.

I was hired as a C++ developer with practically no experience in development or C++, but a lot of determination. If you really want to become a C++ developer, try to find a junior position and work your way from there. Become a developer first, then learn to use your tool.

[mbarrot]

Thankyou for your response, monarch_dodra.

It made alot of sense actually and I do see your point although I think finding a junior position will be extremely difficult, not that I won't try my best!

[mattpd]

If you want to see topics in a course approach, I recommend taking a look at CS106B class at Stanford:
http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs106b/

What's nice is that they made their video lectures available, so you can follow the class itself:
http://see.stanford.edu/see/lecturel...c-008262e09e4e
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFE6E58F856038C69

You might also be interested in the lab topics:
http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs106l/lectures.html

[nuzzle]

My previous C++ experience was based in a command line enviroment, if anybody could give me a guide/link/list of what is generally considered to be the basic set of C++ topics to understand before moving onto anything more than command-line programs that would be great, even a list of goals to program that generally require you to have the knowledge required before proceeding.

I wouldn't wait any longer before I started using a GUI for my programs. You're most certainly going to learn from it and become a better C++ programmer.

You can approach GUI programming from many different angles but if you're programming for MS Windows there's a very nice GUI package called Win32++ here,

http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32-framework/.

(click on "Win32++ Web Site" to learn more about the package)

There are several example projects you can download to get started and if you have any questions you can ask the author David Nash at the developer's forum. Win32++ is object oriented and comes with full source code.