10 replies to this topic

[NastyDevil]

Hi, I have taken two classes on C/C++ in University. but have never gotten any hands on experience besides the problem solving from the book. I would like to apply to different job positions as a C/C++ developer, but most of them ask for projects or previous work done in the language. I am highly confused as to what exactly is expected from a project. I mean I have learned the syntax of C/C++ with some basic concepts and to me it only seems a very small portion of the language, so I have no idea what kind of complexity is expected from me.

If you have any information on this or have some reasonable ideas as far as such projects go just let me know; I am mostly looking for simple game design projects as I would like to make some applications for game developer positions.

-Cheers, ND.

[WingedPanther]

Can you make a GUI app using ANY of the available GUI toolkits/APIs? How well can you use the STL? Are you familiar with Boost?

[NastyDevil]

WingedPanther said:

Can you make a GUI app using ANY of the available GUI toolkits/APIs? How well can you use the STL? Are you familiar with Boost?

No. I had no idea what STL was until I researched it just now. Not at all.

As I mentioned before all the C/C++ knowledge came from the course at University... So we were using the C++ How To Program (5th edition) book by Deitel & Deitel. All the chapters covered within a year (2 courses) are the following:

1 Introduction to Computers, the Internet & World Wide Web
2 Introduction to C++ Programming
3 Introduction to Classes and Objects
4 Control Statements: Part 1
5 Control Statements: Part 2
6 Functions and an Introduction to Recursion2
7 Arrays and Vectors
8 Pointers and Pointer-Based Strings
9 Classes: A Deeper Look, Part 1
10 Classes: A Deeper Look, Part 2
11 Operator Overloading: String and Array Objects
12 OOP: Inheritance
13 OOP: Polymorphism


So as you can tell and I begin to realize I have much more to learn but I mean those are all the courses you get on C++ for Software Engineering... So the positions opened for Inters shouldn't require that much more skill? Or am I completely wrong here...?

[mayra]

pls note that to be a software developer is not that easy. i mean, you have to do lots of programming before you can dwell into the corporate world. as you have mentioned, you did study c/c++ in just a year and didnt even have any projects done before. and you are definitely right. there is so much things to learn outside that c/c++ book.

[NastyDevil]

mayra said:

pls note that to be a software developer is not that easy. i mean, you have to do lots of programming before you can dwell into the corporate world. as you have mentioned, you did study c/c++ in just a year and didnt even have any projects done before. and you are definitely right. there is so much things to learn outside that c/c++ book.

I understand that, but as I mentioned I am trying to apply for an Internship position... Which is designed for first and second year university students. It usually takes place in the summer and most companies want to see a student project of some sort. I mean I do understand that I cannot consider myself fluent in C++, but I should be able to apply for the internship...

[abzero]

mayra said:

pls note that to be a software developer is not that easy. i mean, you have to do lots of programming before you can dwell into the corporate world. as you have mentioned, you did study c/c++ in just a year and didnt even have any projects done before. and you are definitely right. there is so much things to learn outside that c/c++ book.

This is not always true, many places will hire you if you have good computer science fudementals and can prove that you can learn the language they use. But only for low level positions.

[opwuaioc]

NastyDevil said:

I understand that, but as I mentioned I am trying to apply for an Internship position... Which is designed for first and second year university students. It usually takes place in the summer and most companies want to see a student project of some sort. I mean I do understand that I cannot consider myself fluent in C++, but I should be able to apply for the internship...

You should have talked to your professors earlier. I took only 1 semester of Java in college, and I still had a project. I don't think anyone else did, but I did, for credit, because it looked good. Talk to them if it's not too late. They'll basically act as a mentor for you while you do the work yourself.

It might be different where you are, but if they're anything like my professors were, they'll enjoy a student to talk to.

[WingedPanther]

You know enough of the core language to start doing interesting things, but I would strongly encourage you to look into the STL and Boost library. STL gives you a lot of power, and Boost gives you cross-platform networking libraries, and MANY other things. You could fairly easily make a text-based IRC client with C++ and Boost, for example.

[NastyDevil]

WingedPanther said:

You know enough of the core language to start doing interesting things, but I would strongly encourage you to look into the STL and Boost library. STL gives you a lot of power, and Boost gives you cross-platform networking libraries, and MANY other things. You could fairly easily make a text-based IRC client with C++ and Boost, for example.

would you have any additional info on that text-based irc? I am actually very interested and started doing my own research as well. Thanks for the idea, appreciate it.

[WingedPanther]

RFC 1459

[mayra]

ohh, apologies. i have overlooked you mentioned internship. i thought you were applying for a software development engineer position after taken a year of programming course.