C++Talk.NET C++ language newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  How to improve C skill?          C++Talk.NET Forum Index -> C Language View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message weidongtom@gmail.com Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:57 am    Post subject: How to improve C skill? Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Is reading others' codes the best way? If so, what type of codes are suitable for novice? The ones in fsf freed software directory? I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. What should I do? Thanks in advance. Back to top Malcolm McLean Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? <weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1178765822.870170.46160 (AT) o5g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com... Quote: Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Is reading others' codes the best way? If so, what type of codes are suitable for novice? The ones in fsf freed software directory? I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. What should I do? Thanks in advance. Try writing "asteroids". This is a game in which you manoevre a spacship between lines of asterisks, which scroll down the console. You will need curses / conio or other non-standard header to treat the console correctly. It is very easy to write and will give you a sense of achievement. It you put in levels and scores you can make quite a sophisticated game. Start by making sure you can use your console library to position characters at will. -- Free games and programming goodies. http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~bgy1mm Back to top Laurent Deniau Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? jaysome wrote: Quote: On 9 May 2007 19:57:02 -0700, "weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com" weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Is reading others' codes the best way? If so, what type of codes are suitable for novice? The ones in fsf freed software directory? I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. What should I do? Thanks in advance. Buy the book "C Programming FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions", and read it cover to cover. This book is written by Steve Summit, who wrote the FAQ for this newsgroup. The book is available on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-FAQs-Frequently-Asked-Questions/dp/0201845199 Additionally, continue to read this newsgroup. There are some really sharp people who post here, and if you lurk around here for a reasonable amount of time, you should be able to determine who these people are, and learn a lot from them. Also, get yourself a cheap PC ($100 U.S.) at a garage sell or on your local classifieds and install a free Linux distribution like Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/ Linux distributions will provide you with the gcc compiler, which is arguably one of the best available, free or not. Just make sure to write a lot of programs and crank up the compiler warning level. For example, with gcc, this is a good start: gcc -Wall -W -ansi -pedantic Since beginners are often satisfied when the compilation ends without errors but with many warnings, I would add -Werror ;-) a+, ld. Back to top jaysome Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? On 9 May 2007 19:57:02 -0700, "weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com" <weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: Quote: Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Is reading others' codes the best way? If so, what type of codes are suitable for novice? The ones in fsf freed software directory? I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. What should I do? Thanks in advance. Buy the book "C Programming FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions", and read it cover to cover. This book is written by Steve Summit, who wrote the FAQ for this newsgroup. The book is available on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-FAQs-Frequently-Asked-Questions/dp/0201845199 Additionally, continue to read this newsgroup. There are some really sharp people who post here, and if you lurk around here for a reasonable amount of time, you should be able to determine who these people are, and learn a lot from them. Also, get yourself a cheap PC ($100 U.S.) at a garage sell or on your local classifieds and install a free Linux distribution like Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/ Linux distributions will provide you with the gcc compiler, which is arguably one of the best available, free or not. Just make sure to write a lot of programs and crank up the compiler warning level. For example, with gcc, this is a good start: gcc -Wall -W -ansi -pedantic Finally, if you have any questions about standard C, don't hesitate to ask in this newsgroup. Best regards -- jay Back to top Richard Heathfield Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com said: Quote: Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Is reading others' codes the best way? Crank up the warning level of your compiler as high as it will go, and write lots and lots of programs. Remember that much of what your tutorials taught you is likely to be wrong. Most C tutorials are written by people who don't know C. Come to think of it, so is most C code. So, whilst "reading others' code" can be helpful, get into the habit of thinking "why is this code bad? What don't I like about it? What diagnostic messages does it cause my compiler to emit? Do I understand those messages? What don't I understand about the code itself? *WHY* is the author doing such-and-such?" Quote: I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. Honesty will get you everywhere! Seriously, true competence (in *any* field worth pursuing) takes about ten years of diligent study and *practice*. Ten years to be a competent doctor, lawyer, programmer, whatever. Devise a project of your very own - e.g. a simple text processor - and define N things you'd like it to do (where N is initially at least 4). Implement those features, one at a time, learning all about diagnostic messages as you go! When you've implemented all N features, think up another N/4 features (rounded down), and notice how awkward it is to fit them in. Re-factor the code to make adding the new features much more pleasant, and now you're starting to learn about programming. Once all 5N/4 features are implemented, let N = 5N/4 and go round again, until you start to hit practical limits. This is feature creep with a vengeance! But it will introduce you gently to large programs. Quote: What should I do? Write C programs. -- Richard Heathfield "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29/7/1999 http://www.cpax.org.uk email: rjh at the above domain, - www. Back to top Ian Collins Guest Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? weidongtom (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote: Quote: Hi, I have just finished reading some tutorials on C, I am wondering how I could improve my skill. Is there any advice? Plenty! Quote: Is reading others' codes the best way? If so, what type of codes are suitable for novice? Code in this context is singular ("code" rather than "codes"). Just reading code probably isn't a good idea. Reading source to see how something you know works is more effective. Try the exercises in K&R, there have been plenty of solutions posted here to look through if you get stuck. Quote: I have been reading quite a few books on the programming language C, but when I tried to start a project of my own, I find myself to be incompetent. What should I do? Start simple! -- Ian Collins. Back to top Peter Nilsson Guest Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 7:39 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? Bill Pursell <bill.purs...@gmail.com> wrote: Quote: A few months back, I had a program that ran approximately 60% slower when compiled under gcc with -std=c99 as opposed to -std=c89. I didn't spend a lot of time tracking down the issue: I just rewrote the (fortunately few) sections of code that were using c99 features. If it compiled using -std=c89, then what c99 features _needed_ rewriting? -- Peter Back to top jaysome Guest Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 9:12 am    Post subject: Re: How to improve C skill? On 10 May 2007 15:49:11 -0700, Dave Hansen <iddw (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: Quote: On May 9, 9:57 pm, "weidong...@gmail.com" <weidong...@gmail.com wrote: [snip] Quote: 3) Invest in Gimpel's PC-lint, _learn_ how to use it, _run_ all your code through it, and _understand_ what it tells you (i.e., fix the code, not the error). Awesome tool, and the error descriptions are very instructive. www.gimpel.com Excellent advice. I've used PC-lint on C and C++ code and have found it invaluable. The number of different target platforms/compilers I've used it for is in the double-digit range, and I've never come across any platforms/compilers where it didn't flag something of concern, and in almost all cases flagged one or more plain and simple bugs. PC-lint teaches you to become a better programmer, on top of finding bugs at compile-time that would hopefully, but not necessarily, be found at run-time. Its -w4 option is like a gcc -pedantic option on steroids. Best regards -- jay Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         C++Talk.NET Forum Index -> C Language All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum C/C++----------------C LanguageC Language (Moderated)C++ Language (Moderated)C++ language (comp.lang.c++)C++ language, library and standards Non-English C/C++ Newsgroups----------------C++ (German)C++ (French)  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2006 phpBB Group SEO toolkit © 2004-2006 webmedic.