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How do they do it?

Started by TThom903 Oct 6, 2002 at 11:02 PM 10 replies 1.2k views

Original Post

Oct 6, 2002 at 11:02 PM

I''m an intermediate C++ programmer and a beginning DirectX programmer. I''m curious. I''m reading all of these books and I''m wondering, do the experts memorize this stuff? It''s a LOT of code. Or do they keep these books on hand and take out of them what they need? I''m not sure what I should be memorizing and what I should just be getting exposure to out of these books. Do I remember all of the code for initializing directx and and animation and all the code it takes to work the GDI and to make sprites move across the screen by copying etc.? My base question is: Is this typically, realisticly memorizable, or do they just learn the tools they need, and use the SDK documentation when they actually plan to implement it? Thankyou for all of your time =) - Travis

Taulin

Oct 6, 2002 at 11:13 PM

1) Learn the concept. For example, this will allow you to use almost any language or graphics library.
2) Re-use code. Another example, there is no need to re-write the directx init code for every project.

Most memorization comes through repitition. Usually we read something, get exposed to it, and then later when we need to use it in real life, we look it up. If you keep using it over and over, you tend to memorize it. If you only use it one time in your life, then at least you had experience with it.

Also, always have MSDN bookmarked.

TThom903

Author

TThom903

Oct 6, 2002 at 11:21 PM

Thankyou very much that was the EXACT kind of reply I was looking for. You answered my question completely =)
So with these programming books, like I''m going through the Zen of direct3d game programming, I shouldn''t be concerned if I''m not memorizing everything? Just go through all of his examples and implement them, remember the tools, and keep it for reference later?
Again, thanks for your reply

- Travis

Redline

Oct 7, 2002 at 9:14 AM

It''s quite simple really, us programmers have MASSIVE heads, hell, I need a wheelbarrow just to carry mine around

.

Seriously though, it''s just as Taulin said, after a while you learn concepts, that way there''s no need to remember code. Once you''ve worked with something a while, the concept itself becomes familiar to you.

Coincoin

Oct 7, 2002 at 9:01 PM

I tend to use references A LOT. Especially DirectX reference and MSDN.

It is totally IMPOSSIBLE to memorize everything. However, if you understand the concepts, you have a general idea of what you are seeking for. Then you can very easily find it in any reference available. That's what references are for. Also, if you can get IntelliSense to work, it will greatly help.

I wouldn't dare learn ALL DirectX and ALL WinApi function and parameters by heart. That would be a total loss of time since I won't use 20% of them in my life.

______________________________
Oooh, you found the horadric cube!

[edited by - Coincoin on October 7, 2002 10:01:42 PM]

TThom903

Author

TThom903

Oct 7, 2002 at 9:28 PM

Forgive my ignorance, but what is intellisense?

- Travis

Martee

126

Martee

Oct 7, 2002 at 9:44 PM

Intellisense is what gives you code completion, parameter info, and other such features in the Visual C++ IDE. It can be extremely helpful.

Examples:

[edited by - Martee on October 7, 2002 10:44:56 PM]

helix

Oct 7, 2002 at 11:01 PM

I''d consider myself an intermediate directx programmer and from using the same functions over and over, etc, you do memorize it in time. I remember having the directx help open along side MSVC because I could never remember even simple things like how to normalize a vector or something lol. I think the gurus have just done everything so many times that it''s elementary to them.

ph33r

Oct 7, 2002 at 11:51 PM

woah hault the horse!

I didn''t know you could enable intellisence for directx, good lord that thing helps so much, for the most part I can look at parameters and remember what are suppose to go in there without having to look up in the sdk everysingle time. How do you get intellisense working for dx?

Fluid FX

Oct 8, 2002 at 5:19 AM

hell yea i''d like to know to :D

VizOne

Oct 8, 2002 at 2:35 PM

Simply include all the dx headers (sdk-path/include) into your project. After you have done that you can safely remove them again, as intellisense has noticed them. It's a widely known bug.

[edited by - VizOne on October 8, 2002 3:39:11 PM]

mercury effects

Oct 8, 2002 at 2:59 PM

To stress on what some guys wrote above-the most important thing you can do while reading a book is understanding it. Don''t just copy the source and throw in your own art and call it a game you did. Memorizing all the initialization isn''t necessarily important, but as stated above by others-you tend to memorize with experience. Read the book to learn the fundamentals and understand how the code works.

http://mercuryeffects.com

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