C++ and programming

Aaron:
The original Stroustrup book (The C++ Programming Language) is the only one I
consider to be an essential. You probably have that already, though. Almost
anything by O'Reilly is good. I'd been doing C for 12 years before I moved
to C++ so it wasn't a big deal for me, though I still tend to code in a more
C-like style. Being a newbie, you shouldn't have that difficulty.
I agree with the boredom issue, though. Programming needs a purpose to be
interesting. I'd say, pick a problem you want to solve (something trivial to
start with) and create a program to solve it. Then you can extend that or
move on to new ones. If you're stumped as to how to start, no problem. In
the Linux world there are zillions of open-source files out there on the Web.
Do a google search for an application that does something similar to what
you want to do, then download the source and use it as an example and
inspiration. All programmers tend to want to reinvent the wheel, and though
I usually recommend against that, in this case, reinventing is good practice.
Good luck!

Vaughn Treude

On Friday 03 January 2003 06:17, you wrote:
> I switched from M$ Windows to linux thinking I would sorta be forced to
> learn more programming. I have had two college classed in C++ but I have
> yet to learn how to really "Code" not once in either classes was any
> serious application programming taught. I need to learn to program
> desperately. But trying to sit down and page through code is very very
> boring. When I'm debugging I can spend hours in front of the terminal, same
> with trying to hack one of my friends programs. But whenever I try to
> hack/figure out, a complex app I get frustrated because right off the bat
> the code gets very advanced or is commented in a way only a guru would
> understand.
> I have read a few c++ books but they are almost all the same, covering the
> same thing over and over. Can someone recomend a book or a method to help
> me to break out of newbie code? I would greatly appreciate it.
>
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