Broax

Following my first post in the introduction forum I've decided that C/C++ is probably a good starting point for me to learn programming (from scratch). So I googled around and found this site that has a nifty intro to C/C++.

I'd just like to ask everyone if you think this is a good place for me to start from (Seing that I never wrote a line of code - other then HTML - in my life). If you could suggest a nice book for me to learn with, or some other pages or references I'd really appreciate that..

Overmind

Are you learning C or C++?

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Broax

I don't really know the diference... =/

Mjordan2nd

C++ is more OO (object oriented) than C.

If you don't know what object oriented programming is yet, don't sweat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_oriented

That shuold define it for you, but to really know what it is, you'll have to use a OO programming language.

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Broax

Ok, so I don't think I actually *understood* the whole Object Oriented concept. But as I see it, it's like as if all the instructions where organized into folders which had a name and a set of properties. When something is created in an object oriented programming, the program gets the info it needs to run from these "folders" (objects). Is that it?

This wouldn't make the programer code everything in a sequence, cause he would devide the code into objects that preform specific tasks. Something like an interaction between ObjectA: BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVXYZ & ObjectB: AEIOU, instead of a sequencial code read of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ, thus making everything easy on the programmer side.

Is this (Very simple interpetation) correct? If so there should be a main object that would call everyother one, right?

Also if this is true, I think that C++ would be a lot easier for me to start from, wouldn't you agree? 'Cause I heard C++ is too hard for a noob, and that something like pascal is a bit more suited. What d'ya think?

bl00dninja

that sounds about right. there are minor syntax differences between ANSI C and C++ due to libraries and headers and what-not, but you can write C code in C++ (as long as you have the right libraries, etc.). you can also write C++ procedurally, you don't have to instantiate a "hello world" object with constuctors and destuctors and all that, you can just write straight procedural code, but it's very handy (especially for re-usability) to be able to organize things in the "OOP" way.

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Infinite Recursion

Go with C++ for your first language (although Pascal is probably easier, it is not widely used anymore outside of the classroom environment). Object Oriented programming just allows for abstraction on the programmer's side... once you build and test a class / object... you can call that object and not worry about the internal parts of it. Think of it as building a car, that car has several systems: exhaust, engine, navigation... You make the car (class) with those systems (code) in place and when you need to reuse that code you can say Car.Drive(); instead of dealing with the car's steering, braking, acceleration, etc all over again. As long as the car cranks, you don't care what's under the hood... this is called abstraction.

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bl00dninja

it's all about what you conceptualize as what's going on...a good guy and a bad guy duke it out. they each have different health, power, speed, and any special attacks. they each start out a particular way (the constuctor) , and can be modified by the good guy picks up a bat, so the accessor function that modifies the good guy's power variable goes up by 6, etc.). OOP is a more "real world" literal way of approaching things. you can do anything with most real programming languages (hell, my dad only programs in BASIC and they pay other people to translate his code into C++ for applications for the NSA and CIA and other "stuff". he's a math major from rice university that taught assembly and fortran in grad school). i got to live in washington D.C. for a month in 1994 because he was showing the NSA how to use his program. if you've seen the movie "enemy of the state"...that's what the NSA buildings look like. they're coated in copper so that radio transmissions and shit can't get in or whatever. point is, if you learn to "think in computer", then you will be able to pick up any syntax of any particular language fairly easily. for some weird-ass reason my dad likes basic. i don't know why. it's not like learning a foreign spoken (or written) language where they have a different thought process, most of the computer languages were written in the states, so it's ONE general thought process, and the rest is "abstraction". when dealing with abstraction all you have to think about is the important stuff. you don't need to think about what hat the good guy is wearing because it's already there. but it IS important when it comes to the good guy's health level, or what weapon he may have. so about the folders stuff, you've got it pretty much figured out, all you need is the syntax.

much luck

--the bl00dninja

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i put on my robe and wizard hat...

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Broax

Soooo... I think I get it. By abstracting I can clear myself of the specific details of the software and concetrate myself on the code as a whole. This would be acheived by deviding the code into objects that interact with eachother and therefor if something ain't working I just need to focus on the specific object that handles that function instead of the whole program itself. Is that it?

bl00dninja

pretty much

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i put on my robe and wizard hat...

Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?...Morons.