4 replies to this topic

[Axel]

Hi, I was wondering ? How can I learn from tutorials ? I often start reading references/tutorials but I get distracted quickly...
I do have experience with C++ (experience != skill :lol:)

[WingedPanther]

It sounds like the first mistake you are making is that you only read them. One of the things I regularly do when I'm learning is I do NOT copy paste code. I retype the code myself, and compile it myself. It's amazing how many little details you gloss over as you read, that suddenly come into focus when you type it out and execute it.

"using namespace std;" is a great example of something that you can easily gloss over when reading a tutorial, but might not really process until you type it. At that point, you can quickly comment it out to see what happens, or start searching for references to it, or alternative options.

Another thing you can start doing is playing around with the code. What happens if you move the logic around? If you would have done something differently, you can try it out, and see whether it works or not. There's nothing quite as instructive as thinking "I would have done it this way... woops!"

Programming is an active skill, much like playing sports. It's something you do, not something you contemplate. I know that chess masters spend hours studying various openings, but even they do variations to see what will happen. Ultimately, a tutorial is supposed to help you think about how to solve problems. Do you see how to solve something you couldn't before? If not, you don't have enough programming problems, or you were watching the wrong tutorial.

[Axel]

I know I mess alot with C++ but when I try to understand something I never get it (it took a while before I understood the Modulus operator)
I also try to learn step by step and not copypasting(I never ever copypasted something, even when I was a noob) I try to be proud of what I can instead of learning for money, for being awesome or for whatever reason scriptkiddies program nowadays

[WingedPanther]

It may be worthwhile to track down a complete book in pdf format. Tutorials don't always present a coherent view of the language.

[fayyazlodhi]

I would second what WP has said. I have learned the same way and every one i know and respect as a good learner in terms of acquiring the skill to program, i have been told the same.

A little addition though. In the beginning, it was just the interest and the patience with which you can sit in front of a computer, see and attempt to make changes to understand how something works.

The smartest in the class are not the ones who coded the problem in 15 minutes which others took 3 hours with because they had done it before. Rather they were the ones, who enjoyed doing it and spent half the night staring at the screen try to understand what was caused by which statement, then modified and finally got a working solution.

You feel stupid when you see the small amount of working code and it looks much easy. You never get to know the effort and mindset required to get to be able to produce that solution.

So don't worry if it took you a long time to figure out modulus. If you really got it right, it was worth the time. All the best.