Woohoo!

I've been very busy.  Here's the latest on my progress:

I've completed the first module of C++ programming, and will be moving on to the second, where I'll be learning Windows programming.

I've also started another course on the site.  I'm learning 3D modeling and animation.  At the end of the course, I should have a fully modeled tank with animated treads.

For now, I've made an apple.

Can't wait to learn more so I can make more objects, and texture them!

Speed Bumps

It's been a while since I've posted.  I was in a car accident a few weeks ago and was really stressed out about things.  Things still haven't settled, and may not for a while, but for a while I was so stressed I couldn't concentrate on anything.  Since then I've calmed down and I've been able to work on learning programming a lot more again.

I have been a little confused with references and pointers, so recently I've taken a break from my course and have gone back to relearn some more of the fundamentals of using these.  I realized that I was really getting confused when I was learning about inheritance and polymorphism.  I can make a general class that has certain traits, and then make other subclasses that "inherit" those traits, as well as having additional traits of their own.  What was getting confusing was when I created a pointer to a class type and then changed it to point to another class type.  At this point things were getting really over my head, so I decided to stop and relearn things.

One thing that's been helping me is the set of tutorial videos made by Mr. Adam Huntley on his site http://www.programminghelp.org/.  On his site, he has tutorials for not only C++, but also C# and Visual Basic.  He also has a set of tutorials for coding on the web--specifically HTML/CSS and JavaScript.  If you're interested in learning any of these, this is a pretty good place to start.  I've learned a few things from them that the course I'm taking hasn't taught me. 

When learning, I'm finding a broad source of resources is great to have, because there are different techniques and tools that one person prefers to use that the next person doesn't.  There are so many of these techniques and tools available that it's very difficult for one tutorial to cover everything.

The exciting news is that I've decided to design a new game, entirely on my own, outside of my course.  I've been trying to decide on a topic for the game.  I've decided to try a text based game of a topic I've always wanted covered.  It will take place in the Age of Sail during the time of the Napoleonic Wars.  I've set a very ambitious goal for this one, and I'm hoping I'm able to meet it.

I already know that the polymorphism will certainly help program this game, so I'm very anxious to get over this hump so I can get working on this game.

I'm so excited!