Where to start?

I would like to finally start my adventure into programming. My initial goal is to learn the C++ programming language because I would like to pursue Game Design and Development as a career later on in life.

If someone would be so king as to link me to a great website, (something like Learn to code | Codecademy but for C++) where I could begin my journey, it would be very much appreciated.

If you would rather message (PM) me log in details for premium (paid) tutorials for C++, I would love you forever. Just PM me. :ott1:

Thank you to those who help me in advance! It means a lot!

You can start here if you're looking for resources,
http://forum.ragezone.com/f144/resources-60999/

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Originally Posted by s-p-n

You can start here if you're looking for resources,
http://forum.ragezone.com/f144/resources-60999/

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Thank you, sir.

Mind that the compilation seems to be from '05. Although not much has changed since then, there may be better resources around and there is this new C++ standard coming which is in varying degrees supported by compilers and may or may not be helpful to know of. Fortunately, anything you do learn from the old resources will apply tomorrow as well :).

Don't start with things like codecademy because it won't teach you anything and it's not very well laid out.

If you're to learn C++, avoid the bloat. C++1x adds a few new language feature but by in large it doesn't add anything to improve the language itself (a travesty, and the reason C++1x and forward are going to fall out of favor). So I'd suggest sticking with a primarily C (C99 if your compiler supports it) subset of C++. Basic use of classes notwithstanding, there's very little C++ offers over C that is useful to most programmers. Templates are a nightmare and not worth it, ever. Complex class hierarchies indicate terrible design. Exceptions can be good if used properly but very few people do. And avoid the super-bloated frameworks that embrace these bad parts of C++, primarily boost. They're designed by language purists and meant to be a wank-off contest about who can implement "needed features" in the most incomprehensible manner possible. That is not something you want to ever get near.

There are some syntactical relaxations C++ offers over C89 (and I believe C99 fixes most of these), which makes coding in a C-based subset of C++ much more enjoyable. Go for that. If you want a good resource, read K&R. You can google for good texts on C and that'll get you all you need to write whatever you want in C++. If you want to learn OOP, there are books on that, but I wouldn't recommend it until you don't need it to write software (it's good for a few things, but in general it's pretty useless for new programmers).

You do realize that games are mostly scripted these days? It is only the engine and possibly a few optimizations that are made in a native language. And the trend seems to be moving away from native programming towards managed stuff. Obviously all performanceheavy stuff is written in something which isnt interpreted, most of it being c/c++ (Although a new trend seems to be making a game with XNA or something equivalent). So if you want to work on actual gameplay, go learn something else to start with.

Actually, learn something easier to start with like java or c#, and once you get the hang of it, you can move to a native language (which are somewhat harder to get your head around). Actually, if you want to see results fast, go learn c# and make something in XNA.

jMerliN: Templates...blah, unless you have been fed them through breastmilk or something, they end up being a true nightmare. But the crap it creates when compiled is equally shitty to look at, making it considerably harder to reverse engineer :D


But seriously, start with something as ridiculously easy as C#. There is no reason to get your brain fucked with ugly syntaxes and memorymanagement from day one (which you will if you choose a native language).