Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst
1
2
3
  1. #41
    (sorry I dont have a free one off the top of my head)

    https://tutsplus.com/
    Very good website for general web development/programming.

    http://www.lynda.com/C-training-tutorials/1022-0.html
    Great video tutorials


    (oh I do have a free one...)
    http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF9EB1975D35A8096
    More good video tutorials

    http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/forum/84-c/
    Good forums for questions, also has some tutorials

    C# is going to last you a good while so I would recommend sticking with it; the vast majority of job offers I got coming out of college were for some kind of .net project.

    Also, if you go with a physical book, try to get one with exercises and actually do them.

    I'm a big fan of the Murach book series.
    Quote Originally Posted by Twoddle View Post

    But you can beat a good book on the subject IMO. Learning by reading online tutorials suffers from the fact that you will be distracted by following links to other sources all the time.
    The amount of truth in this post cannot be overstated.
    Last edited by usiris; 2012-11-14 at 02:15 PM.

  2. #42
    Deleted
    Well, I feel horrible now. I still can't be motivated to do it. I tried to create some applications but I absolutely suck at it, I have no idea what to program in the first place, and all these video tutorials make me sleepy. Literally, I have problems keeping my eyes open, the videos just bore me that much. Maybe programming just ain't my thing, in which case I have no idea whatsoever what I want to become.

  3. #43
    Can be a bit boring to try to make projects you have no interrest in, but are the ones there's possible for you.
    I've never used C# myself, or spent much time finding out about it, but some projects that can be somewhat fun could be:

    Sokoban that just outputs to console. It takes input, but you don't have to mess with GUI.
    Program to read images from, for instance, 9gag.com down to your computer and going to next image. Mostly to get the idea of how to make programs work with sites.
    Snake with GUI. It's getting around a lot of diffrent things, but shouldn't be too overwhelming, and people should be able to help you out if you get stuck.
    A counter that reads your keypresses/mouseclicks, and tells the average pr minute, over a given time. Seeing if you get faster in wow, or at coding

    Dunno if it's anything you would think was fun to do, but personally i found it more fun than glorified Hello worlds.
    Everyone has so much to say
    They talk talk talk their lives away

  4. #44
    The Lightbringer Twoddle's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    3,775
    Can't help you then mate, if you don't like it you don't like it. I'm ploughing through a book on WPF 4 (Windows Presentation Foundation) right now and enjoying every moment of it, sucking up the info like a sponge .

    In the end in comes down to what you want to do and you use what you've learned so far to do that. Can you think of a simple project you can write using what you've learned so far? It's always good to have some personal side project in progress while you do these things, something slightly challenging, it gives you more motivation and every now you have these eureka moments as you learn more ways of doing things.

  5. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by Tomatketchup View Post
    Well, I feel horrible now. I still can't be motivated to do it. I tried to create some applications but I absolutely suck at it, I have no idea what to program in the first place, and all these video tutorials make me sleepy. Literally, I have problems keeping my eyes open, the videos just bore me that much. Maybe programming just ain't my thing, in which case I have no idea whatsoever what I want to become.
    I'd say it's still too early to tell. Take some legitimate Computer Science course(s) and learn more than just how to program in a specific language, because programming isn't the whole picture. It's certainly the tool used in CS and software engineering, but there's a lot more to it than just getting good at a particular language.

    To offer a different perspective, I actually find programming by itself incredibly dull. I've got a large calculator project involving partially compiled statements and fully programmable capabilities that's totally awesome - however the UX programming is some of the most boring, tedious and flat-out lame stuff I've done. It's not horrible, but compared to building the systems that work "behind the scenes" it's just dull.

    Just keep in mind that it's a discipline, and there's inevitably going to be stuff you have to push through to get cool stuff done. While I don't care for UX programming (as far as what I've worked with, that is) I'm willing to cringe a little so I can have something real humans can use (eventually). Take a CS class and see what you think after a full academic term.

  6. #46
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Badpaladin View Post
    I'd say it's still too early to tell. Take some legitimate Computer Science course(s) and learn more than just how to program in a specific language, because programming isn't the whole picture. It's certainly the tool used in CS and software engineering, but there's a lot more to it than just getting good at a particular language.

    To offer a different perspective, I actually find programming by itself incredibly dull. I've got a large calculator project involving partially compiled statements and fully programmable capabilities that's totally awesome - however the UX programming is some of the most boring, tedious and flat-out lame stuff I've done. It's not horrible, but compared to building the systems that work "behind the scenes" it's just dull.

    Just keep in mind that it's a discipline, and there's inevitably going to be stuff you have to push through to get cool stuff done. While I don't care for UX programming (as far as what I've worked with, that is) I'm willing to cringe a little so I can have something real humans can use (eventually). Take a CS class and see what you think after a full academic term.
    Sometimes I'm just afraid I won't like it, in which case I don't really have any backup plan since I really can't come up with anything that I would find more entertaining. I mean, maybe a lumberjack, but I'm not sure I like the idea of living in Lapland cutting trees everyday then going home and playing computer games 'til 3 in the morning.

    Doesn't really help that the only adult I feel I can talk with stuff like this about is a guy that has problems settling with one job and says that some people simply are born to not like working with anything.

  7. #47
    Brewmaster Taurous's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Vancouver Island
    Posts
    1,446
    Here's how I got into programming.

    I learned the basics of Lua and XML and managed to make a few simple addons for WoW. Addon development for WoW has great documentation and is a good way to quickly get that "zomg I made something that works" feeling. I then discovered Game Maker. It's a great way to learn game development, and using GML can give you a better understanding of how code works over Lua with WoW. Then I shot straight into C++, bought two books, and watched antirtfm on youtube.

    If you understand the basics of C++ (variables, functions, structures, and control structures) and want to get something more than a console window, I recommend using the Allegro 5 Game Library and watching all the tutorials on fixbyproximity.com. Allegro is great for beginners.

    TL;DR:

    Start simple. Google is your friend, there are tons of guides out there to figure stuff out.

    (except for up to date win32 API guides, they are f**king hard to find, so don't expect to figure out how to make a native windows program any time soon)

    Don't get your hopes up, programming is not for everyone. I'm one of those weird people that just enjoys sitting down and writing the backend(I said backend out loud a bunch of times and now it doesnt sound like the right word) of a game engine for hours on end without having any visual progress.
    Last edited by Taurous; 2012-11-18 at 04:44 PM.

  8. #48
    Not trying to derail the thread, but if anyone has any suggestions on what I should be working on now with C++. I've been working on console projects until this point. I know how to use functions,variables,classes,loops,arrays,pointers,references etc . On what should I be practicing on now to advance? I'm hoping to achieve win32 projects soon enough.
    Playing since 2007.

  9. #49
    Brewmaster Taurous's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Vancouver Island
    Posts
    1,446
    Quote Originally Posted by Nab View Post
    Not trying to derail the thread, but if anyone has any suggestions on what I should be working on now with C++. I've been working on console projects until this point. I know how to use functions,variables,classes,loops,arrays,pointers,references etc . On what should I be practicing on now to advance? I'm hoping to achieve win32 projects soon enough.
    I have yet to find a win32 API tutorial that isn't severely out of date. If game development is your thing, I'd recommend the Allegro 5 Game Library and fixbyproximity.com's tutorials.

  10. #50
    Quote Originally Posted by Taurous View Post
    I have yet to find a win32 API tutorial that isn't severely out of date. If game development is your thing, I'd recommend the Allegro 5 Game Library and fixbyproximity.com's tutorials.
    Isn't game development much more difficult than Windows based Applications?
    Playing since 2007.

  11. #51
    Brewmaster Taurous's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Vancouver Island
    Posts
    1,446
    Quote Originally Posted by Nab View Post
    Isn't game development much more difficult than Windows based Applications?
    By game development, I just mean that you have the tools to make a game. A 2D game specifically. And it's only as complex as the game you're making, I can probably program Pong in an hour, although I have already programmed it before so I already know exactly what I'd do.

    Personally, I found trying to figure out how a windows program works to be painful and I still don't know how to get a basic windows program to run.

    I have, however, programmed Snake, Pong, a 2D top down square thing with a map creator, a sine wave viewer, the list goes on and on. (Trying not to brag, just making a point, nothing really to brag about anyways) The only hard bit is learning the library, if you can understand the library it shouldn't be hard to make something as simple as pong or tic tac toe.

    And really they aren't much different. Both a game, and any windows program are just loops that wait for input, then do something when they receive input. Only difference is that a game will be doing other things while it waits for input.

    EDIT:

    Probably should have added that my first response to you was actually more about the fact that you want to be able to create windows, and allegro lets you create windows. Although it's a game library, so it's kind of useless for general programs unless you want write a GUI library for allegro or try to find one.
    Last edited by Taurous; 2012-11-18 at 05:52 PM.

  12. #52
    Well, I don't have any specific application i want to create. I just don't know if I should continue to the Allegro 5 Taurous has mentioned or start with basic windows applications first. Like creating a binary folder that takes input from the user, or similar basic applications for windows.
    Playing since 2007.

  13. #53
    @Tomatketchup
    Standford and MIT have some very good open education courses
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMDC...2&feature=plcp
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Stanford...ow=grid&view=1
    (you may have to sift through their playlists to find some cs ones)
    But check those out, thats kinida what it'll be like...but there's also lab time that you get to work on projects.

    Keep at it, I dont know everyone else's stories, but when I started it sucked as well. The more you learn the "easier" thing will be; its not so much learning the in/outs of languages, because most of it should transfer to whatever language you are using; but its the ability to recognise patterns and when to use certain constructs.

    The more you know how to structure a program, the more you will enjoy it.(IMO)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •