Any good c++ programmers out there?

i wanna know the best way to learn to program. what did you start with. any good ways to learn?

Any good c++ programmers out there?
Get a good book. And a good compiler.


Now I use MS Visual Studio - But I learned on a Borland Comand line (dos) complier - Bloodshed dev is a good free one too.





Practice as much as possible - read and learn as much as possible - And try different things and solutions to problems.





A bit vague - But I dont know what else to suggest.
Reply:A good book (if not several good books). As unlikely as it sounds, I recommend books like "how to whatever in 21 days", or "whatever for dummies". These books are often very clear and concise, with plenty of examples. Examples are incredibly informative.





As for C++, I wouldn't necessarily start there unless you have a good reason to. Yes, it's a great language that offers a lot of low-level control, but that type of flexibility can be a liability. Not to mention, it's often difficult, due to the variety of compilers etc., to compile other people’s code. For a noob, it can be a real enthusiasm killer. If you need C++, I think the MinGW or Cygwin tools are great (and free). Most flavors of Unix come with compilers and other tools.





However, that being said, I would suggest that you start with either Java or C#. Both compilers are free. The languages themselves are great and are very well organized. And these languages can be quickly applied to more modern applications (like the web).





There's a future in C# and Java. Soon enough, there will only be a past in C++. I've been a developer for 10 years and have used all of the languages that I've mentioned extensively.
Reply:I agree that Java is easier to use and learn, etc. but I don't think C++ is going away anytime soon. C and C++ are both very powerful languages and are used in lots of places. For real-time and time-critical solutions, you just can't beat C/C++. We tend to write front-ends in either Java or C++ (using Qt) and write our back-end processing programs in C/C++.


It may depend on what you want to do. Also, get good at math. It's not completely necessary but it has certainly helped me over the years.


If you want to program only on Windows...then learn Windows GUI programming and use Visual Studio as your IDE. If you think you might like other operating systems (Linux, OS X, etc.) then I would suggest learning how to write command-line tools first and then take up GUI programming (Qt is a good library). Try using Eclipse as your IDE in this case.


There's always that guy who insists on using vi for writing code, too. It all depends on what you like.
Reply:Download other peoples free software, like that from the Code Project.





I wouldn't bother writing code unless its useful - such as a Windows utility. The idea that you can write small command-line type programs in C++ is silly - you would never need them. Dive into Windows straight away.





The C++ language is only 2% of the environment,. the rest is knowing about all the libraries and predefinied data objects and methods and how they all work together.





I think know ing a bit about Visual Basic is pretty helpful too.