I need help!!

I used to have the same problem as you. The only advice I can give is to try to take a programming class in school. That way you cant just quit after a few days and if you have any questions you can just ask your teacher instead of posting them on a forum and praying they get answered.

Well, I could say that if you are really into programming, you will eventually learn it. But if it seems that you sort of oblige yourself to learn C++, it is not a good way to start. Take your time, read a few pages of a good C++ book, and relax by watching movies, reading books, going out, etc. No one says that there is a certain amount of pages you must read daily.

As for myself, I started learning C++ last spring, and there were times when I didn''t read a single page of a programming book for weeks. At present, I may read dozens of pages per day, given that I have spare time.

While learning to program, one should keep in mind that no programmer who has actually got a life programs all day long, eight days a week. I know I offend some people when I say this, but I don''t mean to be rude, just advise you to take a good look in the mirror ...

i''ve been programming since i was 12, and i can honestly say that no amount of programming gets me bored, or down.

i guess if u want it bad enough, youll do it.

well, do you ??

(^-^)

At one point when I was learning C, I think it was the dynamic memory allocation stage, I just couldn''t get it into my head. So I stopped for a while. Then I came back to it and found it all fell into place. Same with windows programming. Same with DirectX. And now I know them, because although I gave up temporarily, I came back to it later. So I advise you to leave it for a week or so, come back to it, and you will probably find you know it now.

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#pragma twice

I have pretty much the same problem. But I have learned a lot even though I change projects all the time. I guess the reason for changing projects, or changing what you are learning is that you get to a point where you cant comprehend any more information of that specific subject (talking about reading books and stuff)... when the info you are reading doesnt seem to ring a bell, you''re thinking "fuck that.oO" and you change to a different topic... after a week or so (maybe more), you get back to the subject, and when you start coding or reading more info, or rereading the same thing you read a while ago, you realize that you have actually learned a lot. At least that''s how I am. Then you start reading more and more... bang... you realize once again that you dont know shit... that''s how it is... the more you learn, the less it seems like you know.. that''s because you start to understand some of the concepts, and realize how difficult it is to accomplish... (i keep the 3D concept in mind... which im struggling with)... well... you go back to your demo effects or your 2D games, and after a week you get an idea about coding a 3D textured cube (in software)... when you start writing it, you feel all the knowledge you''ve collected over the past month on 3D programming... then right when you think your cube is done, you crash into a problem that you cant solve... okay okay... you say.. let''s go back to 2D games... they''re much easier... this 3D stuff sucks and im not going back to it... well.. after a week or so, you read an article on gamedev about 3D programming, and it discusses the problem you had (im imagining here... it never happens that way )... Then you go back to your cube program and you get it done... everything is working great... you''re so proud of your self and your accomplishment... then you find out that you have learned A LOT during those couple of months.. (actually less, but im trying to stretch the time frame)... anyways... you feel as if you were God of 3D programming... you think up a new idea right away and start working on your 3D world that uses your textured cubes, to build a walk-through typa thing... you hit the bottom once again.. there''s a problem.. hmm... you go back reading literature on Witchlord''s homepage, and he talks about that same thing you had... how to create a simple 3D world... he''s even got a tutorial on that.. you look through the code for a while and that''s when the ring bells into your head.. you go back to your code and you fix the problem.. everything is working now.. then you send Witchlord a message thanking him about the tutorial and how great his homepage is... now you start working on a different project and you got a problem once again... well, sinec Witchlord''s page is so great, with lots of tutorials, links, articles, literature, etc... you go back there and start trashing down his page looking for something that talks about the problem you''re having.. after an hour search, at 3:30am you find what you need... but damn.. you''re sleepy..you start reading the article and after you read a few sentences you forgot what you read.. so you go back and start from the beginning... and the same thing repeats for 5 or 6 times... then you fall asleep on the keyboard... when you wake up in the morning you are in your bed, wondering how you got there... well dont ask me... then your brush your teeth have a breakfast, and go back to your program... you read the article... wow.. everything seems so easy... you start coding, but you cant fix the problem.. now you''re pissed and shit so you come to gamedev asking a question titled "I need Help!!"... you ask them if other people have the same problem you do and how to get over that... the start giving you answers and you find out that they DO have the same problems as you... then you start thinking about how much you''ve learned and stuff, and you''re now determined more than ever to finish up the project you''ve started.. so you go back to your room and lock the door... shut all the lights off, and start reading articles until it''s 5 in the morning... now you are exchausted but you wanna finish this project TONIGHT... so you start coding but you cant get everything to work.. you go to bed once again... and cant sleep.. trying to think of new algos and how they work... you wake up at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and now everything is clear in your mind... you understand everything that you read in all those dozen of articles you read last night.. now you''re reading to get down to business and start some REAL coding... well you get your program done and you''re once again so proud of yourself... you start thanking everyone at gamedev for helping you out and shit... including ME..

hmm... what''s the point of the above ranting? i dunno... why are you asking me.. im at work trying to get bored... yes i love boredom... i think it has something to do with not trying to learn everything at once and learning info in chunks... once you get a grasp of a certain piece of (no.. not shit) info... you start with the next one.. for example learning 3D is not a single topic... it involves numerous topics that you need to go over in order to have a full understanding of the subject... you need to learn maths first (for example)... well, maths is a broad topic... you need to learn vector math, matrices..and all those.. well, each of those has it''s own subtopics.. for example for vector maths you need to learn about the dot product... well, you gotta know all the properties of the dot product in order to know how to use it and WHEN to use it... (including how to implement it in code depending on the situation you''re in)... well.. you get the point.. it''s not a single thing that you gotta learn.. it''s gonna take more than a lifetime to be somewhat good in 3D.. you can never master 3D to an extent where you know everything about it and such...

As one of the members on gamedev says ''NuffSaid...

..-=ViKtOr=-..

Set yourself a goal ! Simply try to accomplish something. I learned VB while coding a new windows shell, learned the win32 api to code an RPG. I learned OpenGL to start with 3D fractals. I learned Winsock because I wanted to code some hacker tools ;-))

My problem is that I stop working on a project when I have learned enough and sure that I could finish it. When I KNOW I can code such a game and have learned enough to actually do it, I have no motivation to continue it...

While this is bad for getting something done, you will at least learn as much as possible...

Tim

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www.gamedev.net/hosted/glvelocity
glvelocity.gamedev.net
www.glvelocity.com

All that was said sounds just like me! Anyways, what really messed me up was the fundamental understanding of pointers. I have been reading and reading and reading about them forever, I still did not understand the concept of WHY they were important. But yesterday, I sat down, re-read the chapter, and made programs that were important to ME that used pointers. I struggled a little bit, but eventually figured it out. I understand more of the advanced features now that I''ve learned how to use pointers...no wonder they say pointers are very important
I also learned VB very easily because I made a lot of "mischevious" programs. With that, it included the WIN32API, which I also learned...and to me it is very fun. Anyways, I have to go now....Thanks to all that posted!

Wow, you''re still in the beginning... don''t worry.. there''s a long way to go, and many things to learn.. dont give up from the beginning...

pointers are used most of the time, when there''s a big class or a structure that you dont want to allocated memory for in your program''s memory... instead, you dynamically allocated memory once the program has started, and when you need that class or chunk of memory/whatever... that makes the program smaller in size and so on...

another use for pointers when you want to pass a variable to a function, but you want to save the result into that variable.. since you''re passing the memory location to your REAL variable in memory, you can use the value stored in there, and save the result back in there.. where as with normal variables, you can only use the value but you cannot save it back into that memory location, when passing it as an argument to a function...

another use is when you pass a class to a function... it passes the pointer to the class, which is 4 bytes in windows (DWORD), and you dont have to allocate memory and pass it to the function, which would require quite a bit of memory for each call of that function.. it would be slower and will require more memory...

those are only a few reasons for pointers'' uses...

anyways.. hope this helps a bit..

..-=ViKtOr=-..

heh well I also have a hard time learning things my self. expecaly when it come to learning for books and articals. How I handle this problem is to simple write along with the book. I need a section and write a program that does things exactly the same way they do it. then I play with it a little bit... then play with it a little more... play with it a little bit more... ummm I think you get the idea... until I learn it and it becomes a part of me... don''t let your self burn out on something.... I have this problem a lot I can only work on something for so long then I start to hate it and get pissed off... so to remedy this I''ll work on it until I start to get stuck... then I do something else for awhile... come back to it and work on it alittle more... I do this even with stuff that I know inside and out... sometime I just get bored with it so I switch modes... it maybe just work on another program or surf the web or go to a friends house just what ever it takes...

ummm note for latter.... this works realy good for debuging to...theres been several time when I''ve been trying to debug my code and I can''t get the mother #$%@ to work right... so I do something else for a while... then when I open the code back up with out even hitting the debug button I spot the error... damn I feel realy stupied when I do that =) but it works....

anyways good luck...

Great Milenko

Words Of Wisdom:
"Never Stick A Pretzel In Your Butt It Might Break Off In There."

http://www.crosswinds.net/~milenko
http://www.crosswinds.net/~pirotech