Programming Forums > Application Development > C++

angry_asian · Jun 19th, 2006, 6:07 PM

i found this new book that takes a 'different' approach to programming....award winning, best teacher of the year Aminash Kak teaches C++ and Java simultaneously, saying u learn more and its more efficient, also given code in one language make a prog. that does same thing in the other helps you be mroe independent than other books with copyin code...its at my local library and i checked it out. it is ok but assumes u know c....uhh i dont know c so its pretty rough start, dunno if i should just go back to java and then python/c++

ALSO i want to know about game programming, i went to gamedev and got game maker made a good game with levels saving and profiles (graphics were not good but everything else was) are there any projects where i can join in as the guy who just does the easy redundant work no one else wants to do? and it needs to be easy but yeah im lookin for some real experience

DaWei · Jun 19th, 2006, 6:19 PM

They'll probably wonder if you're going to get angry, walk away, and leave 'em in the lurch

.

frankish · Jun 19th, 2006, 6:25 PM

You can join game projects at SourceForge. C, C++, PHP are all good languages but the real trick to being a good programmer is not knowing a specific languages but knowing how to work with what you have. To be a decent programmer I would probably start with JavaScript if I were you. There is no need to have a compiler and the language is fairly simple and you can have fun with it.

angry_asian · Jun 19th, 2006, 6:41 PM

thats interesting no one has told me that before, almost every1 said c++ first everything else will b ez...
i chose to learn JAVA first cause it needs notepad commandprompt and jdk and is pretty simple....i know HTML and a little JavaScript but they arent really programming theyre scripting...i could learn more JavaScript though

DaWei · Jun 19th, 2006, 7:22 PM

Javascript, though it is a scripting language, is definitely programming. HTML is not. You may be confusing the term, "programming", with "compiled to native code", I don't know.

Arevos · Jun 20th, 2006, 3:12 AM

I've always felt that programming is a subject independant of the language that implements it. Perhaps teaching C++ and Java in tandem helps the student see this better. Personally, I wouldn't recomment C++ as a first language; I feel it's relatively high complexity distracts the student from the more important principles they should be learning.

Javascript is an interesting suggestion, but I've always found that it's rather difficult to debug, myself. I haven't found a Javascript debugger that's as good as the ones I find in popular IDEs, such as Eclipse, and I haven't seen an interactive interpretor for Javascript that's as good as the one in Python.

I'd go with Python myself, but that's my answer for everything

Indigno · Jun 20th, 2006, 9:51 PM

Javascript confuses the Hell outta me. More often than not, I have to copy and paste a couple of different tutorials, edit the variables, change some of the functions, and then kind of keep changing stuff until something works, without really understanding it. I wouldn't suggest using it as a starter language. I would stick to the more "mainstream" C, C++. or even C# over Javascript (though that's my own personal opinion)

DaWei · Jun 21st, 2006, 7:33 AM

Please don't take my post #5 as recommending Javascript as a learning language. I was merely correcting the statement that "it isn't really a programming language." I don't find it confusing, but I'm not a big fan of weakly typed languages. I like to know that 1 + 1 is 2 (not 11) without having to break out the parseInt function every other line. That's just personal outlook (and probably old-fogeydom), of course.

ShadowAssasin · Jun 21st, 2006, 8:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arevos

Personally, I wouldn't recomment C++ as a first language; I feel it's relatively high complexity distracts the student from the more important principles they should be learning.

Like what? I think the details that c++ exposes you to are great for someone to learn. You also get more opporunities to be creative.

Arevos · Jun 21st, 2006, 9:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadowAssasin

Like what? I think the details that c++ exposes you to are great for someone to learn. You also get more opporunities to be creative.

Perhaps an example could best explain what I mean. Below are two simple programs that do exactly the same thing. One is in C++, the other is in Python.

C++:

(Toggle Plain Text)

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    vector<string> names;

    names.push_back("Bob")
    names.push_back("Fred")

    for (vector<string>::iterator iter = names.begin(); 
         iter != names.end();
         iter++)
    {
        cout << *iter << endl;
    }
    return 0;
}

Python:

(Toggle Plain Text)

names = ["Bob", "Fred"]
for name in names:
    print name

This is what I meant by C++'s complexity distracting the student from the essentials of programming.

Jun 19th, 2006, 6:07 PM	#1
angry_asian Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: at my computer desk Posts: 138 Rep Power: 3	new approach to learning programming...should i give it a go? i found this new book that takes a 'different' approach to programming....award winning, best teacher of the year Aminash Kak teaches C++ and Java simultaneously, saying u learn more and its more efficient, also given code in one language make a prog. that does same thing in the other helps you be mroe independent than other books with copyin code...its at my local library and i checked it out. it is ok but assumes u know c....uhh i dont know c so its pretty rough start, dunno if i should just go back to java and then python/c++ ALSO i want to know about game programming, i went to gamedev and got game maker made a good game with levels saving and profiles (graphics were not good but everything else was) are there any projects where i can join in as the guy who just does the easy redundant work no one else wants to do? and it needs to be easy but yeah im lookin for some real experience

Jun 19th, 2006, 6:19 PM	#2
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	They'll probably wonder if you're going to get angry, walk away, and leave 'em in the lurch . __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Jun 21st, 2006, 7:33 AM	#8
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	Please don't take my post #5 as recommending Javascript as a learning language. I was merely correcting the statement that "it isn't really a programming language." I don't find it confusing, but I'm not a big fan of weakly typed languages. I like to know that 1 + 1 is 2 (not 11) without having to break out the parseInt function every other line. That's just personal outlook (and probably old-fogeydom), of course. __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

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Jun 19th, 2006, 6:25 PM	#3
frankish Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 177 Rep Power: 0	You can join game projects at SourceForge. C, C++, PHP are all good languages but the real trick to being a good programmer is not knowing a specific languages but knowing how to work with what you have. To be a decent programmer I would probably start with JavaScript if I were you. There is no need to have a compiler and the language is fairly simple and you can have fun with it.

Jun 19th, 2006, 6:41 PM	#4
angry_asian Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: at my computer desk Posts: 138 Rep Power: 3	thats interesting no one has told me that before, almost every1 said c++ first everything else will b ez... i chose to learn JAVA first cause it needs notepad commandprompt and jdk and is pretty simple....i know HTML and a little JavaScript but they arent really programming theyre scripting...i could learn more JavaScript though

Jun 19th, 2006, 7:22 PM	#5
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	Javascript, though it is a scripting language, is definitely programming. HTML is not. You may be confusing the term, "programming", with "compiled to native code", I don't know. __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Jun 20th, 2006, 3:12 AM	#6
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	I've always felt that programming is a subject independant of the language that implements it. Perhaps teaching C++ and Java in tandem helps the student see this better. Personally, I wouldn't recomment C++ as a first language; I feel it's relatively high complexity distracts the student from the more important principles they should be learning. Javascript is an interesting suggestion, but I've always found that it's rather difficult to debug, myself. I haven't found a Javascript debugger that's as good as the ones I find in popular IDEs, such as Eclipse, and I haven't seen an interactive interpretor for Javascript that's as good as the one in Python. I'd go with Python myself, but that's my answer for everything

Jun 20th, 2006, 9:51 PM	#7
Indigno Professional Programmer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Anywhere non-productive Posts: 267 Rep Power: 0	Javascript confuses the Hell outta me. More often than not, I have to copy and paste a couple of different tutorials, edit the variables, change some of the functions, and then kind of keep changing stuff until something works, without really understanding it. I wouldn't suggest using it as a starter language. I would stick to the more "mainstream" C, C++. or even C# over Javascript (though that's my own personal opinion)

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Programming Forums > Application Development > C++

new approach to learning programming...should i give it a go?