Re: cpp help!
- From: Alex Midence <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:54:32 -0500
Hello,
I think you need to reread my message, Tyler. I never said I thought
pointers were useless. I said I personally couldn't imagine myself
ever needing them. I then proceeded to list instances where I thought
someone else might use them. Another poster who happens to share my
name said he saw them and understood why other languages dispensed
with them which is where I think you were thrown off. Secondly, other
languages seem to allow the user to learn how to write gui
applications at a much earlier stage in the learning process than c++
does. I do realize it is a low level language. My point was why
doesn't it include some of the gui-producing libraries in its standard
library? Why can there not be an incorporation of all the gui
toolkits out there into the standard library along with some sort of
way to create them using a built-in type or even a type specified in
the library as is the case with string. This is a clumsy example but:
cout << "This is a message.";
could have something like this analogous to it:
msg_box << "This is a message.";
Or, another thing:
dlg <preferences>
{
chgx background;
chbx font;
chbx icons;
btn ok;
btn cancel;
... definitions and manipulations could then follow
}
Windows and controls would have a default set of specifications that
set the window size, its placement on the screen, and a generic
foreground and background which could perhaps be changed by the
developer with parameters.
The way it's set up now, you have to use nonstandard libraries which
are, in fact, written in c or some other language like that to make a
gui program. If you use the pure standard library form of c++, you
can make some nice utilities it seems along with all sorts of console
applications that most people do not want to use. I'm sure there are
ways to make graphics with it but, I only keep finding references to
them in game programming. I am not interested in writing games
text-based or otherwise. I want to work with business applications.
Hence my question, did I choose the wrong language? Have I wasted my
time? Is this a language that is actually going to become obscelete
in a few years because the core of the language seems so heavily
geared towards console applications in a world where gui is what most
end users want.
Alex M
On 8/26/10, Littlefield, Tyler <tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Um, they're not murder, and the fact that you haven't found a use for
> pointers doesn't make them useless. They can be very powerful.
>
> Second, you want to run before you've learned to crawl. C++ -is-, amazingly
> enough a low-level language.
> Yes, this does mean more code, but it's not all that much once you get down
> to learning what it does.
> No, you will not find a tutorial that teaches you to write a hello world
> program in a GUI and be able to learn c++ while you also learn gui
> programming--it just won't happen. There may be something, but the fact is,
> you need to understand the language before you start using libraries such as
> the windows API.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Midence" <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 3:50 PM
> Subject: Re: cpp help!
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> They're murder! I can't imagine when I'd want to use one in an
>> application short of some cellphone app for antiquated models.
>> Pointers are a bit scary. What really gets me about c++ is what a
>> pain it is to write a gui application in it. It is an undeniable fact
>> that most people want to use gui applications whether it's for
>> windows, gnome, or Mac. Console applications make your average end
>> user flinch away in horror. Why then, isn't there a standard library
>> component that quickly and efficiently addresses writing gui
>> applications in c++ without requiring about 70 or 80 lines of code for
>> a Hello World application that takes like 10 lines to write in console
>> form? I don't buy the whole platform constraint argument. I can see
>> that for the windows api but qt, gtk+ and wx widgets are all touted as
>> cross-platform gui libraries that make your application portable and
>> keep much of the same look and feel regardless of where they are
>> deployed. Instead you have to spend lots and lots of time slogging
>> your way through tutorials that teach you pages and pages of code
>> using things like iostream, cmath, fstream, string, conio, and cstdlib
>> instead of oh, I don't know, windows.h, wxsetup.h, and so forth which
>> appear to be the sorts of things you need to make a real application
>> somebody might actually want to use some day. Just got through
>> reading a book by Herb Schildt last night. Has 12 chapters of this
>> sort of thing. He's got another that has even more chapters about it.
>> It takes some serious digging to find a c++ manual that teaches you
>> how to write gui apps and most of them are written by volunteers and
>> are consequentially sketchy, and at times poorly written. Before bed,
>> I then opened up a Teach Yourself Java in 24 hours and there's a gui
>> app close to the middle of the book using swing for me to write which
>> I will probably be able to do saturday. Can anyone shed some light on
>> the madness? Did I choose a language that is over the hill? Have the
>> past months I've spent on c++ been a total waste?
>>
>> Alex M
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/26/10, Alex Hall <mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> Thanks. There is a good tutorial there... I can see why pointers have
>>> been left behind in newer languages!
>>>
>>> On 8/26/10, qubit <lauraeaves@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>> www.cplusplus.com is good
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Alex Hall" <mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: "programmingblind" <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 12:39 PM
>>>> Subject: cpp help!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> I am working with a few other people on a project. I am the only one
>>>> that speaks Python and Java, not cpp. We hope to package this as an
>>>> executable, so cpp makes the most sense, plus some source code we hope
>>>> to use as part of the project is written in c already. Does anyone
>>>> know of any tutorials for cpp, mainly about classes, objects,
>>>> subclassing, file streams, and other semi-advanced topics? I know how
>>>> to do the basics, like conditionals or functions, but that is it.
>>>> Again, I was taught Java through my first two years of college, then I
>>>> found, and fell in love with, Python and have used that as my primary
>>>> language since January.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Have a great day,
>>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
>>>> mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Have a great day,
>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
>>> mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
>>> __________
>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
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>>>
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