Any Programmers Out there?

[parkerskouson]

Hey all of you computer programmers out there(if you are there.)

Here is the deal. For a class I am taking text year, I need to learn C++ for programming. I know very basic java(VERY basic,) so I'm not sure it that will help.

What is the best, fastest, and simplest way to learn C++?

Thanks guys!!!

Parker

[TheGeek]

Well if you understand the concept of object orientation you are halfway home. The semantics and libraries are quite different, however if you know java then getting to grips with c++ shouldnt be a trauma. How far in do.you need to learn? For basic applocation developmemt or are you going to have to learn systems programming on a given OS?

The best book I had for C++ was jamsas c/c++/c# bible. Not really a learning book as such. Far too big lol, but of you have a grasp of programming you could centre your learning on the areas in the book in areas of usefulness. Not sure if they have updated it, but there are many free resources on the web.

Its been a couple of uears since I've used c++ in amy serious manner but if you have any queiries I'll be glad to help out how I can.

[parkerskouson]

Well if you understand the concept of object orientation you are halfway home. The semantics and libraries are quite different, however if you know java then getting to grips with c++ shouldnt be a trauma. How far in do.you need to learn? For basic applocation developmemt or are you going to have to learn systems programming on a given OS?

The best book I had for C++ was jamsas c/c++/c# bible. Not really a learning book as such. Far too big lol, but of you have a grasp of programming you could centre your learning on the areas in the book in areas of usefulness. Not sure if they have updated it, but there are many free resources on the web.

Its been a couple of uears since I've used c++ in amy serious manner but if you have any queiries I'll be glad to help out how I can.

I would say that I really only need to know basic application, cause a High School robotics couldn't require much more than that.

Thanks for the offer! May have to take you up on that!

Parker

[TheGeek]

Well i would say input and output and how to include external libraries. Because I would assume there will be some form of control software made available to you.

Also the use and creation of functions.

Geek

[razorguy]

First of all, it depends on what platform/environment you are going to develop your applications. Learning C++ is not so difficult (I am talking about the OO paradigm only, which, as everyone knows, is not well implemented in C++) in particular if you already know the OO concepts (and if you know Java, you should).
Then it depends on the particular type of software you need to build. When the basic concepts are clear, the rest is just learning how to use external libraries (and the same is true for Java). You should also consider most of the modern syntax/semantics used by "modern languages" (including Java) comes from the C language (and we all should thank that genius of Dennis Ritchie for that and who passed away last year and did not get the tribute he truly deserved: a REAL genius of computer science! You know how things goes in this world: he never owned a computer factory which owed much of the success to the work of Ritchie and others!)

[Bruno]

On the Windows platform, Visual C++ Express is the way to go. Free, and imo one of the best IDEs in existance.
On linux or unix, you'd go with gnu c++

[TheGeek]

I do love microsoft c++ express.

If you need the love of an IDE netbeans in linux works with c++. Although I would assume in school you are likely to be using windows??? Although I may be wrong not having studied in the US not sure how free software friendly the schooling system is.

Geek

[Jimbo]

When you say "class" do you mean at University/College? Surely the Professor has a course outline available with the recommended text? Or is that non-programming specific?

I wouldn't know what kind of programming is necessary for robotics. I do a lot of c and c++ programming for my research which involves numerical algorithms like quadrature and cubature, pseudo-random number generation, optimisation and so on. The most useful resource I found for that when I started out were the "Numerical Recipes" series (www.nr.com). I found that with the programming background I already possessed, the Numerical Recipes books were excellent. If what you have to program involves anything like that, I'd give them a look.

James.

[Hirlau]

Yep,,
I use my remote control to record programs when I'm away from the house or want to watch a show on a different channel.

[razorguy]

The most useful resource I found for that when I started out were the "Numerical Recipes" series (www.nr.com). I found that with the programming background I already possessed, the Numerical Recipes books were excellent. If what you have to program involves anything like that, I'd give them a look.

Sure! Very good site and books. But I would mention the opera magna of professor Donald Knuth "The Art of Computer Programming". An endless and valuable source of programming techniques and algorithms. Not to mention, he is the inventor of TeX, the magnificent text typesetter from which LaTeX is based. (the only thing I use for typesetting books, reports and documents. Simply the very best!)