how long wud it take?

[Hacktarux]

I think that when you start with vb it gives you bad programming practice. There's so much things that are tolerate by vb and that shouldn't be used...

I remember that in my school, we have started to learn c language with the gcc compiler. Then we progressively move to c++ to learn object oriented programming.

Then when we have good programming skill we have learnt a bit of java and vb.

Remember that the c++ language can be really simple if you are making simple thing. Then when you have a great knowledge of this language you can do really complex stuffs. The only problem is that building a windows gui in c is harder than in many other languages, but it is not due to the language itself, it is the windows library's fault.

My personnal suggestion to learn programming is the java language. It's so easy to program in java. Programming the gui is like a dream. The error messages are really easy to understand. The language is really strict and it is not an object oriented programming language, it is an object programming language. I think that if you start with java you'll get really great practice. What else... the compiler is free.

 

[linker]

the interpreter* )

 

[Doomulation]

Another thing you could do is to start with VB .net
It probably compiles as fast as c++ and it's sort-of strict. But it can be hard to use.

 

[linker]

Hacktarux just said that it's not good to start with vb
oh well...

 

[Doomulation]

Hacktarux just said that it's not good to start with vb
oh well...

Linker, the reason why i suggested that is that .net is completly diffrent from previous versions.
It's probably just as good as c++, just as fast, and yet the easiest in .net.
It is, however, much more powerful than previous.

 

[mesman00]

Hacktarux, could'nt agree with you anymore, thats exactly what i said, and how i feel.

 

[linker]

Linker, the reason why i suggested that is that .net is completly diffrent from previous versions.
It's probably just as good as c++, just as fast, and yet the easiest in .net.
It is, however, much more powerful than previous.

Hmm... i've never coded in vb.net so i can't say anything... maybe it's better than the previous verions.

 

[Doomulation]

Hmm... i've never coded in vb.net so i can't say anything... maybe it's better than the previos verions.

Indeed. I've even read a tutorial (mastering visual basic .net) which describes this.
And I've seen for myself, how much changes it has become. It now has access to almost all os functions wrapped up in classes. It also is type strict, which previous versions wasn't.

There's much more too, but I haven't learned everything

 

[EddyB43]

I don't think this was truly stated, so I'll say it. If you want to learn to program, C++ is a good place to start. You might as well download a free compiler (MinGW/DJGPP for MS platforms or the standard GCC for Linux/BSD) and a suitable text editor, preferably with C++ syntax colouring. I use UltraEdit for this myself, and it works very well (also nice for stripping those evil overdumped ROMs and corrupted due to a crash downloads).

Now you have the software, you'll need to find a source of information on C++ itself. My Uni course which taught simplistic C++ (inheritance and composition classes were the last things covered in the first year) recommended a book published by Deitel and Deitel named "Learn to code C++"? (I don't have the book right here with me at the moment), in it's 3rd edition. It did cost a bit under £40, but if you're serious about learning it should teach you all the programming fundamentals you'll need, as well as most of the standard C++ language. You could of course find older editions of these C++ tomes for cheaper in bookshops and maybe on offer at Amazon.

If you don't want to spend that kind of money, then you should be able to find some good tutorials on C++ online. I find cplusplus.com to be a good reference site with links to other compilers and sites.

As for Visual Basic, I'd only use it if I needed to code a Win32 GUI program easily. Once you have a lot of experience, you can code faster GUI programs with (Visual) C++. It should be noted most Windows apps you download/buy today are coded in C++, and not VB. For an example, the previously mentioned UltraEdit and VirtualDub, an excellent free AVI compression and capture program.

Whew, I hope that didn't blind anyone.

*EDIT* A friend of mine (who coincidentally codes DOSBox, a program that aims to emulate the PC sufficiently to get old DOS games perfectly functional in Windows, primarily NT platforms) recommended LCC-Win32 as a good free Win32 C++ compiler that should cope with a lot more GUI programming features.

 

[Doomulation]

I don't think this was truly stated, so I'll say it. If you want to learn to program, C++ is a good place to start. You might as well download a free compiler (MinGW/DJGPP for MS platforms or the standard GCC for Linux/BSD) and a suitable text editor, preferably with C++ syntax colouring. I use UltraEdit for this myself, and it works very well (also nice for stripping those evil overdumped ROMs and corrupted due to a crash downloads).

Now you have the software, you'll need to find a source of information on C++ itself. My Uni course which taught simplistic C++ (inheritance and composition classes were the last things covered in the first year) recommended a book published by Deitel and Deitel named "Learn to code C++"? (I don't have the book right here with me at the moment), in it's 3rd edition. It did cost a bit under £40, but if you're serious about learning it should teach you all the programming fundamentals you'll need, as well as most of the standard C++ language. You could of course find older editions of these C++ tomes for cheaper in bookshops and maybe on offer at Amazon.

If you don't want to spend that kind of money, then you should be able to find some good tutorials on C++ online. I find cplusplus.com to be a good reference site with links to other compilers and sites.

As for Visual Basic, I'd only use it if I needed to code a Win32 GUI program easily. Once you have a lot of experience, you can code faster GUI programs with (Visual) C++. It should be noted most Windows apps you download/buy today are coded in C++, and not VB. For an example, the previously mentioned UltraEdit and VirtualDub, an excellent free AVI compression and capture program.

Whew, I hope that didn't blind anyone.

*EDIT* A friend of mine (who coincidentally codes DOSBox, a program that aims to emulate the PC sufficiently to get old DOS games perfectly functional in Windows, primarily NT platforms) recommended LCC-Win32 as a good free Win32 C++ compiler that should cope with a lot more GUI programming features.

Yes, most programs are written in C++, but the fact remains: VB .net is VERY powerful. Perhaps just as powerful as c++. But it is much easier to use.

This is indeed a good program to use. It does, however, have bad stuff left from the previous versions, but it is overall good.

 

[CyRUS64]

If it can't be done in C++ it probably can't be done in any language.

Other than those tasks that can only be done in asm
eg: low-level console dev'ing such as on the dreamcast, where the only way to sensibly make use of integral parts of the sh4 instruction set is to use asm... for example the standard homebrew way to send display lists to the powervr2 is using the PREF instruction with address 0x1*******, as opposed to using dma which could technically be done in c/c++.
So, of course, asm is the only language to do everything u'd ever want!

 

[GouldFish]

I have always thought that you should start with a langue like basic or comal or better yet true basic.
this is so you get to understand the basic's of codeing, such as functions, layout, commenting and corect style of coding.

Then you can move on to c++ to do you or "serious" coding.
I think VB is more a step back to "basic" but I have not looked into it enough yet but I am planning on it
(another langue to add to my growing list o f c, basic comal java etc.)

Oh and it not difficult to make GUI's in borland c++, I've been doing it for over a year now..

 

[mesman00]

its not that difficult in vc++ either, the win api looks ten time more complicated then it really is.

 

[Malcolm]

Speaking of winapi i need some help.
ok I'm trying to call a dialog box from a menu in a dialog box
heres my code:

BOOL CALLBACK AboutDlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT Message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    switch(Message)
    {
        case WM_INITDIALOG:

        return TRUE;
        case WM_COMMAND:
            switch(LOWORD(wParam))
            {
                case IDOK:
                    EndDialog(hwnd, IDOK);
                break;
            }
        break;
        default:
            return FALSE;
    }
    return TRUE;
}

thats starts up the dialog window settings and how to act when i press Mr. Button
next is where and how im staring the code:

BOOL CALLBACK MainDlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT Message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    
    char path_buffer[_MAX_PATH], s[1000];
    int index;
    HWND hwndCombo;
    OPENFILENAME oifn;

    switch(Message)
    {
        case WM_INITDIALOG:
-----{blah blah blah}---------
case WM_COMMAND:
            switch(LOWORD(wParam))
            {
-----{lots of case statements}------

               case IDD_ABOUT: <<--that about is suposta be caps but emutalk keeps putting it in lower case

                    DialogBox( GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_ABOUT), NULL, AboutDlgProc );
               break;
-----{more case statements}-------
default:
            return FALSE;
    }
    return TRUE;
}

and this is whats in my resource file (for the about window):

IDD_ABOUT DIALOG DISCARDABLE  0, 0, 240, 119
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "About"
MENU 104
FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif"
BEGIN
    DEFPUSHBUTTON   "OK",IDOK,159,98,73,14
END

Now the problem is when I click the about menu nuttin happens, anyone got a clue why?
Ok, so whos got an answer

{edit}
Oh and if your wondering it compiles and runs fine
{/edit}

 

[Jsr]

Malcolm:
You are specifying IDD_ABOUT as the command to display the dialog. You need to enter the name of the menu item.

 

[Malcolm]

THANK YOU!!!!!!
I just read the code and I was assigning 2 values to the same variable, thanks again

 

[MisterE]

well, i read many times to begin with VB and then move to VC++.
But they say that VB gives a lot of bad habits, so why don't start with Delphi (strange that nobody mention it)

Delphi is stricted, Object Oriented and it's a real compiler. It is maybe somewhat more difficult but really a nice language.

btw: i only have a limited knowledge about VB, i did not like the language because it is slow and uses to much system resources.
Actually, i try to avoid those programs because all those programmers don't use 'error handling' so when soemthing is going wrong you have a problem...

 

[mesman00]

most vb programmers don't use error handling? what? i don't think i agree with that, in every vb program i've written (which is many, and they have all been small), i've used error handling, and im sure others have as well.

 

[MisterE]

well, i have used VB programs in the past, much of them seem to crash when you press 'cancel' at a 'OpenDialog'

Much of them are bright yellow and blue (to let it look like a skin)

maybe it's also that i don't love microsoft

but anyway, delphi is in general better....