Professor Mick Grierson
This week we will be learning some fundamentals of C++. We won't be trying to become the world's greatest C++ programmers in one day. Instead, we'll be learning the simplest possible subset of C++ approaches that we will need in order to get things done.
C++ is about the most complex language there is. It's also probably the best language you can master in terms of speed, power and flexibility. However, you can do almost everything you need to do in C++ by following a basic C-style coding approach that is common in lots of languages including JavaScript, which you will know reasonably well by now. If you take this approach, then it's simply a matter of learning a couple of fundamentals, and then slowly developing your vocabulary over time.
Fundamentally, the rule of thumb here is don't try to understand everything all at once - just focus on the essentials, and worry about the complexities once you feel confident with the basics.
- main.cpp
- #include
- printing to the console
- data types
- conditionals
- loops
- functions
- preprocessing and compilation
- C++ objects / classes
- .h (hpp) .cpp pairs
- basic macros
- declaring and defining a class
- including and using classes in a project
Following this introduction, we're going to take a look at openFrameworks, which provides lots of functionality for you to explore whilst you settle in to your new C++ chops.