Anyone here taught themselves C++

[KingAsix]

How long did it take. I want to teach myself. I've always wanted to lrean and I try to read books but I never have the time. Now I do and i want to see what I can do.

 

[Deleted member 110780]

They have books that have you learn it in a certain amount of days, but I wouldn't recommend those =/ For anything really.

 

[Sephi]

I've been teaching myself C++ online, and honestly I haven't done much. I've gone through a bunch a tutorials but it'd be better to take classes and read books on it.

 

[gizmo_gal]

I've been teaching myself C++ online, and honestly I haven't done much. I've gone through a bunch a tutorials but it'd be better to take classes and read books on it.

I second this notion. Twice.

 

[fateastray]

Online resources is best for reference methods. Going to class is where the learning's at.

 

[DeMoN]

Learning by yourself works too if you find a good book. Of course, the best way to learn is to write programs and have someone give you immediate feedback. Usually a parent who knows the language.

A great online book (it's actually a book, not a website) is this:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/cc305129.aspx

Downloadable in PDF format, And it's officially supported by Microsoft.

How long does it take? Depends how much you want to learn. Technically it could take forever. But usually two months to learn the ropes.

 

[test84]

I'm a Software Engineer and hope theses lines help:

Try to learn programming in general, not a specific language, like how to solve a problem, how to break down a bigger problem into smaller sections and by solving them I'll be able to eventually solve the bigger problem.

I suggest learning a structure based language first that has high level of read/write -ability, like Pascal, then move on into learning Object Oriented Design and then to apply the concepts you've learned, learn C++ itself.

I find it so hard to learn a language by itself (I taught myself C++ but I learned Pascal at University) since you have to learn things that you have no idea what good are for but you just keep memorizing them.

I would suggest approach on making a program, like tell yourself I'm gonna make a program that gets a name and writes it after "Hello " + TheGivenName and then go find what tools/statements/syntax you need to do that so you'll see that you need some syntax for getting a text from user and will be much easier to learn.

Again, I emphasize on learning concept of programming, I for one, have no problem learning any new programming language if you ever give me since I know the concept behind them all is one or two and all these 40+ programming languages just differ on syntax but the concept is the same so "I just have to find out what is that X statement in this language, oh they call it X^^ here, thats ok".

Hope I could help with my poor English.

 

[belzilep]

You also have a C++ Language Tutorial over at cplusplus.com. But as with all tutorials of this nature, TAKE YOUR TIME! It is really important to be sure to understand everything of each section before venturing further. As for classes, check their quality. Ask relatives if you doubt about. I've had a bad experience once where the class really wasn't useful, meaning it didn't advance fast enough.

Also, I have to second test84 about breaking up processes. It's one of the most important parts of programming. You must take your whole idea, be able do dissect it into distinct parts, and then build from there (with a clear idea of the relations between all of these parts). Also, comment your code! It's one of the hardest things to do (you keep thinking that you won't need it), but it's invaluable when looking at an other person's work or checking your old programs. Trying to decipher what each line means in a badly or not at all commented program is WAY harder than coding yourself.

Apart from that, you only need some basic tutorials on programming and C++ (put some emphasis on file I/O and pointers). I think what has been said here is enough. After that, think of doing programs yourself. Get an idea, put in on paper, separate all the parts needed, and try to code! If you're stumped, look online for documentation: this is where the learning is!

 

[deathfisaro]

If you take classes, there's a set pace and you'll follow it.
If you wanna try to self-teach, there's a high chance it'll become a pending project for a long time.

And I agree, learn the logic not just a language. I started programming with GWBASIC, moved onto QBASIC, and then to Visual BASIC to Turing to True BASIC to Java to C++ back to Java now.

As you can see from my list, if you become familiar with a language, you could prefer that over others and limit what you can do. Took me a while to switch from old BASIC to object oriented languages.

Start with something small. Back in high-school I was making a chess game that supports TCP/IP play and has AI. After about thousands lines of code I ended up with an offline-only 2 players-only chess game with fancy graphics and some not-really-necessary gimmicks. I didn't know my ability =P

 

[cornaljoe]

I actually found it easier to read a book than online material. I grasp the information while reading it on paper with no distractions. Looking at it online just made me say screw it and come here to read something more interesting