am i retarded?

The Partridge Family were neither partridges nor a family. Discuss.
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clogged_neuron
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Joined: March 4th, 2017, 3:59 am

am i retarded?

Post by clogged_neuron » March 4th, 2017, 4:19 am

hello, i just have a few simple questions. am i retarded or not? im only asking because im going through the beginner series of c++ programming, and i cant do a single homework on my own. i always need to watch the solution video. im at the tutorial 8 and i have no fucking clue. i was able to do the first one but the rest of them is a mystery to me. is this normal? i understand everything thats being taught in the videos but when i have to do shit myself i cant do anything. its all blank in my brain. am i the only one? i want to give up.

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DonJohnnie
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Re: am i retarded?

Post by DonJohnnie » March 4th, 2017, 9:28 am

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. One of the problems earlier on in the tutorials is that there are no classes (more specifically no types for Dude/Poo etc), so the data seems to be everywhere with code like poo0X, poo0Y, poo0isEaten, poo1X and so on; it can get hard to follow what's going on with them. But obviously, you gotta have some basics about data management in general before you implement classes, so what Chili did with the first tutorials is good. I was pretty much in the same situation as you at the beginning considering the homeworks problem xD.

My advice is to follow the series until the data can be managed more nicely, so you don't get lost in it, and then DEFINITELY go back to the tutorials/homeworks and try to redo them with the new knowledge.
Maybe one of the hardest probelms of getting into programming is getting too frustrated when shit just doesn't work or add up, and when the glass seems to be full you just say fuck it and be done with this shitty nerd thing called programming.

Trust me, it's very easy to say "Heh, that's too easy - you do this, you do that, and - done; I don't need to do that homework, it would only waste my time". But finally when you try to write some code on your on you have a hard time even getting the code to build, let alone work as intended.

Also these tutorials are exactly what they say "Beginner C++ Game Programming tutorials". So the coverage sometimes skips details of the specific C++ concept itself. If that wasn't the case, these tutorials you see would me much, much longer and would get really harder to follow. I would also recommend watching some general C++ tutorials or maybe you could find a book since there are so many on this subject(if you're interested about that you can PM me, I'm not gonna name any here because I don't know if/what you would prefer).
Note: ^^ this is only if you haven't done that yet.
i understand everything thats being taught in the videos but when i have to do shit myself i cant do anything.
We've all been there. You can't say you really understand something that's going on in these videos unless you can do it yourself.

albinopapa
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Re: am i retarded?

Post by albinopapa » March 4th, 2017, 11:39 am

My advice is watch, follow and experiment.

Watch the video the first time through without doing any coding.
On the second time through the video follow along.
After watching it twice, experiment with the code some. Don't focus on the homework, but instead focus on the material that was covered. Once you figure out the material, then go back and tackle the homework. Sometimes, the homework has been less about knowing C++, and more about solving problems.

PS, that blank feeling...yeah that's definitely a thing.

I've read an article that says that is one of the biggest problems with teaching something to someone. They get it while you're explaining it, but then draw a blank when it comes time to implement what you have learned. I went through the same thing.

The way to overcome it, or what I did was just think of something simple. You have a pixel on the screen, move it around. Make it move to the sides of the screen, the top and bottom. Make it bounce around. Soon enough, you'll start to get ideas of what to create and you'll have the experience and confidence to get going on more complex things.
If you think paging some data from disk into RAM is slow, try paging it into a simian cerebrum over a pair of optical nerves. - gameprogrammingpatterns.com

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chili
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Re: am i retarded?

Post by chili » March 4th, 2017, 4:01 pm

Hmmm, there's some good advice in these posts by don and papa. Thanks guys for answering and neuron for asking.

I'd say pretty much that it is important that you get the practice in yourself. So if you end up peeking at the solution videos, that's fine. But then go back after a day or 2 and try and solve it yourself, having already seen the solution. If you can't solve it yet, look at the solution again, maybe rewatch parts of the tut video and figure out what you're missing. Then come back to it in a few days.

Don't just give up, watch the solution, and move on. Until you are able to code it up on your own without peeking, keep going back. Just one idea for a technique on how to view these videos if you're having trouble.
Chili

freqit
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Joined: February 18th, 2017, 4:47 pm

Re: am i retarded?

Post by freqit » March 7th, 2017, 1:25 pm

I think you and many others same as me has some issues with problem solving and logical concepts. This will get better and a bit easier as you get some millage under your hood. Practice, practice and more practice.

As a person I'm more of a creative mind (drawing, music, creating shit, ideas and so on) which makes it a bit harder to implement logical concepts (math) into code. I'm now starting to understand it a bit(4 weeks) and currently doing some fun stuff with code. Moving lines, pumping boxes, balloons.

Just don't give up! :)

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