The Big Programming Thread - Page 7

On July 11 2010 13:59 Divinek wrote:


starting with java or c++ is perfectly fine, any language really isnt that hard. You certainly dont have to start with html if that doesnt interest you most.

You can find tons and tons of online tutorials for the stuff, plus the links in the op are really nice

On July 11 2010 17:11 spinesheath wrote:
If you're starting with C++ and don't have OOP practice yet, here's a few tips from someone who didn't go the easy way (because I didn't know better):

All the online tutorials I found so far don't really teach you C++. They teach you C style coding in C++ and a few things about classes. Those tutorials might help you learn the syntax, but you will lack a deeper understanding of the language. That's a decent way to start, but it's not enough. You should not stop at that point.
Once you feel confident with the syntax (i.e. you only have to look up syntax every now and then), read this for some pointers to which subjects you should read about (that FAQ also has a lot of good information in it though you don't have to understand it all if you're new to C++). If you really want to get good at C++ I suggest that you get a few books on it. For casual use that won't be necessary. Knowledge from other languages can be carried over too.

Two things about C++ that I would consider very important and that aren't taught in most tutorials:

1) Don't use C-Style casts:

char c ;
// C style no.1
int a = (int)c;

// C style no.2
int b = int(c);

Use C++ casts instead:

char c ;
// C++
int a = static_cast<int>(x);

// there also is:
// reinterpret_cast<T>(x)
// const_cast<T>(x)

The reason behind this is that casting in general should be avoided, and clearly visible when it's actually done. The C++ casts are ugly so you don't even want to use them, and they are much more visible than a pair of brackets. You should read up on those later on when you can't avoid casting.

2) Read about the STL (standard template library) and use it. It'll make your life so much easier. You can code some stuff that is part of the STL as coding practice, but for other code you should use the STL classes most of the time.

On July 11 2010 18:15 LuckyLuke43 wrote:
Sidenote: I'm using Dev-C++ right now, but I don't really like how it forces me to set up my code in a certain way. It doesn't look as organized as it could, in my eyes. *fume*

On July 11 2010 09:19 tofucake wrote:
I've done plenty with sockets in just about every language I've worked with. Anyway, what's your aim? Writing a website that does fancy loading without reloading is totally different from writing, say, a Battle.net bot.

On July 11 2010 18:15 LuckyLuke43 wrote:


Thanks, I'll look into that!

Also, I found a "Learning C++" that some guy wrote: http://www.isotton.com/devel/docs/lcpp/
I've around 30pages until now, and I just got my first 4 assignments, but I've been sitting here for 30 minutes trying to figure out how the hell to do #1 lol.

+ Show Spoiler +

The thing I don't really get is WHAT is the damn integer number? Okay so an integer number is basically just any number without a decimal, got it. Still I have no idea how to go about this one *sigh*

EDIT: I think I got it!! *in spoiler tag below*

+ Show Spoiler +

Sidenote: I'm using Dev-C++ right now, but I don't really like how it forces me to set up my code in a certain way. It doesn't look as organized as it could, in my eyes. *fume*

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
cout << "Press any key to continue.";
cin.get();

#include <conio.h>
using namespace std;
cout << "Press any key to continue.";
_getch();

int main() {
    return 0;
}

int main()
{
    return 0;
}

Let's say you have this:

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

Now let's say you want to do something additionally to just printing if it's > or < 0, like counting every time it's a positive number.

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";
   counter++;
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

RUH ROH, now the counter isn't actually included inside the if, you'll probably get a compile error(?) because the else isn't directly after the if, what you have in fact got is

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";

counter++;
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

On July 11 2010 19:11 Adeny wrote:And lastly, remember to return your main function like this return(0); at the very end of it. I believe it doesn't matter because the compiler actually takes care of it for you, but I could be wrong. Just do it anyways, better practice.

Some notes: First of all, for the love of coding, download MS VC++ 2010. Dev-C++ is horribly outdated.

Now for some things on your code:

system("PAUSE"); is bad practice. Everything system() is usually regarded as bad practice, it's windows only and very slow, and can cause all kinds of hell, you don't need to know exactly why, and neither do I.

#include <iostream.h>
using namespace std;
cout << "Press any key to continue."
cin.get()

#include <conio.h>
using namespace std;
cout << "Press any key to continue."
_getch();

Out of these two I believe the first one is more commonly used. Oh and you could also run the program from command line.

Now about coding style, there are 2 common ways to use the curly brackets;

int main() {
    return 0;
}

int main()
{
    return 0;
}

Chances are your code just uses one style because it's all from the same author, but be aware of both of them. I personally find the second option a lot more easier on the eye... Or something.

For your if statement, while it works, you should try to always use curly brackets. Example:

Let's say you have this:

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

Now let's say you want to do something additionally to just printing if it's > or < 0, like counting every time it's a positive number.

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";
   counter++;
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

RUH ROH, now the counter isn't actually included inside the if, you'll probably get a compile error(?) because the else isn't directly after the if, what you have in fact got is

if (number > 0)
   cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";

counter++;
else
   cout << "The number you have chosen is not positive.\n;

While you probably knew this, it's still better practice to always use curly brackets. While it's not a concern for you right now, you want your code to be as readable as possible to other coders. Also it makes it easier to expand on your code.

And lastly, remember to return your main function like this return(0); at the very end of it. I believe it doesn't matter because the compiler actually takes care of it for you, but I could be wrong. Just do it anyways, better practice.

Goddamn this post is long.

if (choice > 0)
{
cout << "The number you have chosen is positive.\n";
}

else if (choice < 0)
{
cout << "The number you have chosen is negative\n";
}

else
{
cout << "The number you have chosen is zero.\n";
}

On July 11 2010 19:54 Adeny wrote:
That looks exactly right. Also I accidently said #include <iostream.h> further up, it's obviously supposed to be #include <iostream>. Typos, typos everywhere.

On July 11 2010 19:55 haduken wrote:
\n is a character literal, for the sake of platform sanity.

use cout << YourString << endl format;

On July 11 2010 19:55 haduken wrote:
\n is a character literal, for the sake of platform sanity.

use cout << YourString << endl format;

On July 11 2010 20:07 Adeny wrote:
That would be yet another typo LuckyLuke. There's no endl format; what he meant was endl; format. For now I don't think you should really bother about the difference between \n and endl.

On July 11 2010 20:04 dvide wrote:

Actually '\n' is portable in C++, it will become the platform's equivalent new line character(s). So that's not the purpose of std::endl.

std::endl is for inserting a newline and flushing the stream's buffer, which isn't necessarily what you always want to do. For instance, if you're writing to a buffered file stream then arbitrarily flushing on every new line might take a lot longer than allowing it to buffer naturally. If the file is a debugger's log then you might want to flush more often in case your program crashes before it gets a chance to flush the log stream, but then it's probably best to use an unbuffered stream anyway.