Learning C++

[Blu3y3s]

I want to go to ITT when i get done with high school in three years to do there program

"Information Technology - Software Applications & Programming"

(http://www.itt-tech.edu/teach/list/it-sap.cfm)

to become a C++ programmer or developer so i want to get a head start and leanr as much c++ before hand so what software and/or books do you guys recommend i purchase to help me out.

[Andre S. Veteran]

"C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata. The best.

[Rudy]

once you've learned the basics you might want to look at the Pragmatic Programmer, great book that will teach you lots

[Blu3y3s]

well right now im looking for books that pretty much assume i dont know jack **** and start to teach me from the start and basic :D lol

[azcodemonkey]

Just a heads-up, but you may want to choose a different school. You'll spend less at a state school and get a better education, plus your credits will transfer as state schools are regionally accredited. ITT is nationally credited, but most major universities don't recognize their credits or their degrees. As someone that has made the mistake of going to a private school like ITT for a short time, let me just say that it isn't worth the money.

I really enjoyed Accelerated C++, and since you don't know jack, try something goes over principles of programming that are language agnostic.

http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-...153&sr=11-1

[Tech God]

Start with "C++ without Fear" by brian overland (not sure about his name)

[Blu3y3s]

Just a heads-up, but you may want to choose a different school. You'll spend less at a state school and get a better education, plus your credits will transfer as state schools are regionally accredited. ITT is nationally credited, but most major universities don't recognize their credits or their degrees. As someone that has made the mistake of going to a private school like ITT for a short time, let me just say that it isn't worth the money.

I really enjoyed Accelerated C++, and since you don't know jack, try something goes over principles of programming that are language agnostic.

http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Techniques-...153&sr=11-1

i dont think any place around here has programs for what i typed above i can look into it but around here all i got is

a community collage then a university just around the corner but not sure if they have stuff for computers like that...so you think ITT would really be bad?

[azcodemonkey]

i dont think any place around here has programs for what i typed above i can look into it but around here all i got is

a community collage then a university just around the corner but not sure if they have stuff for computers like that...so you think ITT would really be bad?

It probably won't be a comparable education to a Computer Science program at a community college or state college. I've found that these kinds of colleges (DeVry, ITT, et al) tend to leave out a lot in order to get you through the accelerated programs. However, if you're not up for lots of math, then it may be the route for you. I think what you need to weigh is if you may want to continue your education later on in life. ITT doesn't offer a master's degree, and if you wanted one to further your career, you're kind of screwed as no university will recognize your degree. I'd recommend talking to your community college's counselors to find out what you might be able to do.

After looking at ITT's program, it's not even close to a full software engineering program.

[soothsayer]

Not to discourage you or anything like that, but I would highly recommend going to a regular 4-year university, or taking classes at a community college and then transferring to a larger school.

[sbauer]

Like everyone else said, you will probably be better off going somewhere else. Just play the game and get your paper from a four year school.

"Intermediate Programming" seems like an interesting course. I like how it goes from arrays to SQL to classes to error handling.

I hope their error handling instruction is better than most programmer's error handling...

try
{
 something.DoSomething();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// swallowed
}

OR

try
{
   something.DoSomething();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
  MessageBox.Show("Something bad happened.");
}

[Blu3y3s]

Well i found out the local community collage has a Associate's degree in computer programming

(http://www.rcc.edu/programs/certificate_details.cfm?code=44)

then theres a program for Bachelor degree of computer sceince at a local university that has computer programming in it

(http://www.csusb.edu/majorsDegrees/undergraduate/bsComputerScience/) which for the electives ill chose the 2 on c++

does that sound like a better plan? but one thing confusses me theres also a class on

ComputerEngineering that also has computer programmer for Bachelor degree

(http://www.csusb.edu/majorsDegrees/undergraduate/bsComputerEngineering/)

which of the two classes at the university should i choose?

second theres also a class on c++ at the community collage

(http://www.rcc.edu/programs/certificate_details.cfm?code=42)

shell i take this to help me future my pc programming ?

[azcodemonkey]

A BS in Computer Science deals mostly with solving problems with software. A BS in Computer Engineering deals with mostly hardware and some software. CE is more like an electrical engineering degree with a focus on computers. Of the two, BSCE is probably going to be a more challenging course, but you'll still walk out perfectly qualified to do software development if you so choose to.

[Blu3y3s]

A BS in Computer Science deals mostly with solving problems with software. A BS in Computer Engineering deals with mostly hardware and some software. CE is more like an electrical engineering degree with a focus on computers. Of the two, BSCE is probably going to be a more challenging course, but you'll still walk out perfectly qualified to do software development if you so choose to.

wait whats BSCE? and whats CE lol i got lost at the last few sentence jsut say it easier :) i just want to take the right classes to focus on computer programming and make some good or alot amount of money on it like others iv heard of

[Rob2687]

CE is Computer Engineering

BSCE is Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering

[Budious]

You would do fine in a traditional Computer Science program from an accredited state university, I have also had bad experiences with technical institutes. You can even go with an Information Systems program, you'll probably learn a higher level language like java but learning the concepts of programming easily translates to learning new ones on your own time.

[Blu3y3s]

i just heard comp programmers do **** like program pc's and do c++ or developer work which i heard make LOT of money i just want to do the right program to get that job i dont wanna do this and find out at the end it was the wrong program to do.......and if i leanbr c++ then i can take a c++ class at community collage is this the right program

these are programs at university

http://www.csusb.edu/majorsDegrees/

these are the programs for the community collage

http://www.rcc.edu/programs/index.cfm

[azcodemonkey]

i just heard comp programmers do **** like program pc's and do c++ or developer work which i heard make LOT of money i just want to do the right program to get that job i dont wanna do this and find out at the end it was the wrong program to do.......and if i leanbr c++ then i can take a c++ class at community collage is this the right program

these are programs at university

http://www.csusb.edu/majorsDegrees/

these are the programs for the community collage

http://www.rcc.edu/programs/index.cfm

I highly suggest that you go talk to an academic advisor at both the community college and the university. You need to find out if classes you take at the community college are transferable and actually apply to what you want to get your degree in.

In my experience, if you have any engineering or science degree, you'll probably be able to do programming. Please note that there are different kinds of programming that will require different depths of understanding. Business applications are usually the simplest kinds of applications because you usually have someone there to help you understand the requirements, although you have different kinds of problems to deal with that can be quite complex. Business apps are typically written in languages that facilitate rapid application development(RAD), so you'll be dealing with Java, C#, VB, etc. Then there are applications that require more depth of knowledge of underlying hardware and will typically be written in C/C++, although they can be written in a RAD language. And then there are things like drivers, operating systems, database engines, apps for real-time OSes, etc, that will more than likely require a language that can deal with memory directly and where resource consumption/management and performance is critical - so C/C++ and maybe even an assembler.

The business application development is what ITT is targeting, as well as classes/degrees that mention information systems.

If you don't mind me asking, why is it that you're interested in programming? If money is your sole motivation, there are other professions that require less thinking that can earn you more... Lawyering comes to mind immediately. ;) Seriously though, you'd better really love to solve problems if you're going to become a programmer. Also, the education never ends if you want to continue to be a good programmer.

[Pseudonym]

As for the book recommendation, I can highly recommend Herbert Schildt's "C++: A Beginner's Guide" (ISBN: 9780072232158). It's what I'm using atm and its really good for teaching you complex concepts from the ground up so you can start off knowing very little and come out with a good grounding. It also has a lot of practice code and little projects throughout which I find help me to remember syntax and concepts better. I know its 5 years old now but I'm pretty sure that the basics of terminal C++ have not changed much (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Although it's called "C++..." it really starts off teaching you C as C++ only begins to differentiate from C (apart from a few syntactical points) when objects and classes are introduced. Just to give you an idea of how basic my knowledge was, I could pretty much write a calculator in QBASIC and that was about it.

[sbauer]

i just heard comp programmers do **** like program pc's and do c++ or developer work which i heard make LOT of money i just want to do the right program to get that job i dont wanna do this and find out at the end it was the wrong program to do.......and if i leanbr c++ then i can take a c++ class at community collage is this the right program

these are programs at university

http://www.csusb.edu/majorsDegrees/

these are the programs for the community collage

http://www.rcc.edu/programs/index.cfm

Software development is not a get rich quick program. It will take time and a lot of effort to make a lot of money. Going in with the expectation that you will be able to get your degree, program anything in a efficient/clean way while making a lot of money is wrong. Getting your degree is the easiest part. Any average Joe can go to class, party, pass exams and get a piece of paper. It's what you do after school that will set you apart from your peers. If you have average software dev skills, have an average attitude, but want above average money, I'm going to decline.

Our industry is filled with average to below average developers that don't really enjoy what they're doing, but entered the field because computertraining.com told them that they can make a lot of money.

If you enter this field, you should be prepared for quickly changing technologies that will require extra learning on your part.

[Blu3y3s]

I highly suggest that you go talk to an academic advisor at both the community college and the university. You need to find out if classes you take at the community college are transferable and actually apply to what you want to get your degree in.

In my experience, if you have any engineering or science degree, you'll probably be able to do programming. Please note that there are different kinds of programming that will require different depths of understanding. Business applications are usually the simplest kinds of applications because you usually have someone there to help you understand the requirements, although you have different kinds of problems to deal with that can be quite complex. Business apps are typically written in languages that facilitate rapid application development(RAD), so you'll be dealing with Java, C#, VB, etc. Then there are applications that require more depth of knowledge of underlying hardware and will typically be written in C/C++, although they can be written in a RAD language. And then there are things like drivers, operating systems, database engines, apps for real-time OSes, etc, that will more than likely require a language that can deal with memory directly and where resource consumption/management and performance is critical - so C/C++ and maybe even an assembler.

The business application development is what ITT is targeting, as well as classes/degrees that mention information systems.

If you don't mind me asking, why is it that you're interested in programming? If money is your sole motivation, there are other professions that require less thinking that can earn you more... Lawyering comes to mind immediately. ;) Seriously though, you'd better really love to solve problems if you're going to become a programmer. Also, the education never ends if you want to continue to be a good programmer.

well at first i wanted to be a computer tech or network administrator but since i cant really find those they are my backup choices at last minute after i figure all this out and well one reason is the money but i love computers i really dont care what job i have for computers so i dont care if its programming or what if its with computers i love it i know im weird but im not 100 sure if its what i want but i got 3 years to decide at first i just want to be sure if i would be able to do it and what it would take and ps i love solving problems im always fixing my friends and my family's computers

Software development is not a get rich quick program. It will take time and a lot of effort to make a lot of money. Going in with the expectation that you will be able to get your degree, program anything in a efficient/clean way while making a lot of money is wrong. Getting your degree is the easiest part. Any average Joe can go to class, party, pass exams and get a piece of paper. It's what you do after school that will set you apart from your peers. If you have average software dev skills, have an average attitude, but want above average money, I'm going to decline.

Our industry is filled with average to below average developers that don't really enjoy what they're doing, but entered the field because computertraining.com told them that they can make a lot of money.

If you enter this field, you should be prepared for quickly changing technologies that will require extra learning on your part.

well not sure what will happen cant predict the future but i will try my best

but to be 100 sure what does a pc programmer do? i pretty sure i know but never hurt to make sure you know