C++ Programming Help

[sbcarshops]

Hi all,

I'm looking for suggestions for Out-of-Classroom help with C++ Programming. This is my third time taking the course, and I really dont want to take it anymore. Mostly the reasons for retaking the course is becasue they wanted too much work, I got behind, and they dont explain c++ Very well. I.E This+That Does These, so take that and write a program... they dont explain, how, why, etc. Something that helps me understand things very well. Not only that but the labs are given and there is many iterations required, and you only have 48 hours to finish them. The first year I took it each lab would take me 14 hours. Some of the brighter kids only took them 4, but still. I got tooo far behind. Then the professor wouldnt tell me my grade by the withdraw point, so I had to stick it through with an F, luckily I can retake it. The second time the labs were shorter, but I had too much on my plate and still got behind. This time the class has been resturctured... again. We have switched from emacs-vi to Eclipse. So I'm looking for any books, or videos or soemthign to help me in my studies. The Textbook for the class isnt much help either. Or if there are anyother suggestions.

[olblue]

Yes - however you will need to remind me - I have an idea I want to try out which is part of the thing Im planning on announcing on Wednesday. Seriously remind me loundly as you like - I have so much to do I will forget without meaning to

Cris

[budweizzer]

Tons of work. I remember that. First your at uni, final project. "Develop an http web server that can process request sent to localhost computer through port ##". I was like, wtf??? I don't know why but programing courses tend be time consuming. Oh, I remember nights without sleeping in front of my computer writing hundreds of lines of code 'til morning.


As far as I'm concerned, any books about programing language would be a big pile of paper to explain basics stuff:
Chapter 1: What is [insert programing language name here]
Chapter 2: My first loop (for, while, foreach)
Chapter 3: The condition (if, else)
Chapter 4: Opening my first file
and so on.

Seriously, I've been programing for about 10 years. Once you get basics knowledge in a language, you can translate that to any (or almost) other. The hardest part of programing is to develop the right algorithm. How to get a specific output when you have specific inputs. And you can't really learn that in books. I prefer Google and search for specific problem instead of reading tons of books.

Does it make sense to you? Maybe that was not the answer you were looking for... At this point, do you have a specific question or problem?

[sbcarshops]

Thanks Budweizzer,

That does help a little. I guess for me Im looking for additional insturction to help with the class. Its hard to explain what I need answered as We've only had 1 Lab so far. The Second will be tomorrow. Basically its heres some background, heres somethigns that do things, heres a problem. now do that problem, do more iterations of said solution, then turn it all in in under 48 hours, and if it doesnt complie then forget about credit. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any study aids or tips or something like that.

[Frobisher]

Appears as if your teachers are making life awkward by presenting you with problems to solve without fully explaining the workings of programming and the syntax. Once you get to grips with the basics which pretty much apply to any language then you should be in a decent position to start applying this knowledge to develop solutions to problems.

In my own experiences I find that learning a language is much more engaging when you're actually sat in front of the computer and experimenting with programs. I find that this works a lot better than reading books. While books are great as a reference and for discussions of more advanced topics I don't feel they are ideal for the initial stages.

So what I would suggest is to search the internet for tutorials on C++. You will find thousands of links and it won't be long before you find one that is suited to you. Alongside this get a compiler set up and try and recreate the programs you see in tutorials and tinker around with things. I reckon this way will work well.

This all may sound obvious to be searching on the internet but I feel it's vital to start doing this kind of thing early. You may find yourself in at the deep end with this but in doing so you may find yourself getting a better understanding of programming. Along the way if you encounter problems then post on here and hopefully someone can assist.

[dmacb]

Hi sbcarshops!

I'm totally with you... last year I left a programming discipline behind right because of that! You land in the classroom and they start bombarding you with comand lines and problems that you need to do and deliver asap... this year I'll have 2 disciplines of programing... but I already started taking lessons outside Uni and the truth is... start by algorithms because they're the base... if you develop a algorithm in your "structured language" then it's easier to translate it to comand lines...

Or so it's seeming to me now...

Best of luck man!

[budweizzer]

I'm just wondering how much knowledge you got so far. Are familiar with "basics" stuff like loops, conditions, variables and data types, pointers, dynamic memory, classes, inheritance, virtual and override methods, template methods, exception and so on?

What kind of project do you have to do? For instance, what was exactly lab 1?

If you need help, just ask for it. I could help you if you need it .

[sbcarshops]

ok so far Lab one was essentiall to break down the 'Hello World program' Which essentiall was Understanding Lab Policies, Getting familiar with Eclipse, and Create a Simple c++ Project... which was the Hello world. This Lab was also before we actually had class. Inside the Lab there are 3 Instruction Parts (Lab Policies, Inroduction to eclipse, C/C++ Development toolkit, and then the Excercise Titled Using Eclipse, which is where we did Hello World. There are also 'resources' -> Creating a C++ Project, Running a Project, Building a Project.

The second Lab objectives are to Become Familiar with using the debugger in Eclipse, with using subversion, (version control) inside of eclipse, learn and utilize several good programming practices, and programming using input and calculation. There are 4 sets of instruction and 1 debugging, 2 programmin, and then total requirements. First Insturction is Debugging in Eclipse, 2nd is Subversion, 3rd, is Subversion in Eclipse, 4th is Program REquirements. The we are doing Program Debugging, Program Restructuring (in which we are given a program that is kinda short, but written in only 2 lines... so it compiles and runs, but its hard to follow, then we have to debugg it and find all the logical and syntax errors in it. ), and then writing 2 programs to do temperature conversions. (between C and F and F and C) then we have to go through the requirement section to make sure everything fits within that. There are also resources... Creating a C++ Project, Running a Project, Building a Project, Debugging a Project, and Errors.

Thats from the first 2 labs, thats it, and we have bascially 48 hours to complete them. I'm not sure about the projects yet, there are like 5 of them throughout the semester, and we havent gotten them yet. Weve been going over in lecture, There were slides on where C++ came from, and Hardware, software, the birth of C++ etc. Where we got into the meat of the programming, We were shown a slide on Program organization, A layout on how the CS Dept wants the headings of our progrmas, there was explanation on a given program where it described what was a variable declaration, what the input was, where output and computation laid in the program, stuff like that. By the second lecture we had gotten into type char, and type bool, and Int, double, etc. What an assaignment and a compound assignment, then into Logical Expressions, Like If, then we had slides on Boolean Algebra, like for Logical Or, If P is False and Q is True Then P||Q = True. We ended last time with If else Statements and Operator Precedence.

I'm just wondering how much knowledge you got so far. Are familiar with "basics" stuff like loops, conditions, variables and data types, pointers, dynamic memory, classes, inheritance, virtual and override methods, template methods, exception and so on?

I feel like i am familiar with the basics, and while all the above information was pretty much thrown at us, to me there is no connection, its jsut here know this and regeritate it back out for Tests and stuff. Pretty much everything up till pointers... we kinda covered that in the lab today on debugging stuff.

Hope this helps....