How Did You Start Out Developing?

[Jengo]

I want to start out learning how to program. I've bought books but they seem to be very confusing.

How did you start? What would be a good step in the right direction for beginners??

Thanks for any help!

 

[glezmen]

the first step should be learning the basics. if you bought books, read them write simple programs, read tutorials, etc
you should select a language to learn, something what's simple enough for a first language, but still usable. maybe have a look at Fenix for example (i don't really know it, but it seems to be a good choice)

 

[crow_riot]

well...

learning by doing was the key for me. i started by reading other peoples source code, translating little demos from one language to another (from c to pascal), started learning c, then get the hang on c++.

one important point was: i always had a goal. i always chose something i wanted to learn, wanted to achieve, but always in tiny steps. a goal that was reachable.

it's very bad to start off with something that is far beyond what you currently are capable off, this gets frustrating very quickly. start with small, managable projects. if you want to write games, try to write pong. my first game for example was tic-tac-toe (with simply no AI - but just a long list of if's what the computer opponent would do in reaction to my turn ) written in basic

 

[joyrider]

you can't expect to write emulators or even a fully blow you away game from day one, it'll probably take you at least 6 months to a year to write something decent, that you understand and not just copy / pasted out of a book

You have to "trial and error" a lot, like with all things in live, and especially trying to find things on your own, like you get a compiler / linker error you don't understand --> look it up in google without the line numbers and source files, to give you an idea of what the error is and how to solve it.

Programming errors itselve you should trace down yourselve, but you'll learn that by doing so

I started when i was 15, my fascination started when i first received an LCD game & watch game and later on the gameboy. I could not understand how it was possible that when you pressed left the guy moved left and vice versa... So i started searching the internet and started following tutorials, but not just copy / pasting things but really trying to understand what was going on.

with enough time and motivation you can teach yourselve programming, at least i did so, and i knew most things by the time i went to college so the informatics related courses where too easy for me. I graduated and workd as programmer as well in daily life, i'm 29 now (almost 30) and i still get to learn new things every day.

programing is an evolving science, and really hard to keep up with, you'll never learn everything in programming, that's just impossible imo, but if you focus for example on games programming you should start with simple things, like how to put a pixel on the screen, how to move a character, there are already plenty of topics about this in other sections of these boards so you could seek and read those first... I would suggest SDL though it's fairly simple and you can do a lot with it

First you have to learn to keep your balance then learn to step then learn to run (if you know what i mean with this).

I'd also suggest to install linux or get vm-ware player with a linux image it'll safe you some time and you'll learn certain commands you could use when telnetting to the caanoo as well

I programmed for the gp2x, caanoo and dingoo and before that i was already making (little) games in delphi. It only went quicker when i learned of SDL and when i met the GP2X in the days

have fun

 

[Jengo]

I See, so the best way for me to learn is just start small, dont give up and make small goals! Thanks!

I think i want to start with C++ or something similar, any suggestions? Any reading material/guides that you guys think i would find useful? Thanks!

 

[renejr902]

interesting topic.

i want to learn language C++. i only have experience in Turbo Pascal.

i already bought a C book

i want to port or modify emulator features

 

[joyrider]

i'll post a few links but you guys should learn to use google & search, everything you need to know is out there even on these boards, similar topics have been made before in the other sections...

http://www.aaroncox.net/tutorials/arcade/index.html contains info on how to make a tetris game, break out game etc with SDL

http://cone3d.gamedev.net/cgi-bin/index.pl?page=tutorials/gfxsdl/index contains info on how to use sdl (good start)

http://jnrdev.72dpiarmy.com/ tutorial on how to make a jump n rum game (io platformer)

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html lots of general info on this site about game programming

http://www.lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/ (very good site to get you started with SDL)

have fun

 

[renejr902]

interesting !

thanks

 

[Detritus]

To learn the language basics, I think working through something like "SAMS teach yourself C++ in 21 days" is still ok (though fanatics will loathe me for saying this). It will walk you through the features in an organized and not too complicated way.

Once you get used to C++, I would recommend reading these books:
- Effective C++, More Effective C++ and Effective STL, all three by Scott Meyers
- Exceptional C++, More Exceptional C++ by Herb Sutter
- C++ FAQs, Cline et al

If you are interested in design patterns, you can't miss with
- Design Patterns, Gamma et all (aka the GOF book)
- Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture

If you are interested in coding generally, try the Knuth books..., but I could go on for about 20 years. If you'd like a list of what is on my shelves, just let me know

In the end, I do think that nothing beats reading other people's code and working with experienced coder(s) closely. I've been lucky to have worked with a couple of very experienced programmers from whom I've learned the most in the end.

Books will only take you that far; doing it will take you much further. Just get that over that initial start and be ready to invest heavily in yourself for a couple of years. Don't get stuck in a subset of knowledge.

Good luck!

 

[glezmen]

all of the book Detritus recommended are very good, i'd also add the 'Game programming gems' series (but only after you're experienced with C++)

 

[Detritus]

Ah yes the Game Programming Gems' Series is a must!

Also if you're into graphics, have a look at:
- Computer Grahics: Principles and Practice in C, Foley et al
- OpenGL Programming Guide (the redbook yay!), Dave Shreiner
- Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book (thickest one on the shelf at a whopping 1,342 pages! - also the most entertaining one imho)

Again... one step at the time, don't want to have your brain going into a recursive feedback loop.

 

[notaz]

I think it's more learning-by-doing type of thing, I've never read any books. I've learned it by reading random portions of random web material and then other people's code.

 

[Jonsul]

Anyone know any good c only game tutorials? Just want something to get an idea of game programming that I could run on the canoo or wiz. I don't want to touch c++ at all, I come from a lisp background and think the only one of the two I'd be able to stand is c. Maybe I can get ecl working and be able to do this with lisp^^

By the way my wiz had these black glowing specs suddenly show up on the screen, anyone know how much it would cost to fix it?