I can’t believe I actually finished a C++ course in my Cloud and Code Home Lab! I’ve been doing basic coding with C++ on and off for a long time but I had never completed anything substantial (I equate it to knowing my “ABCs” but never learning any English). I’m looking at a combination of factors that has led me to this point:
- Having had a long career in IT operations. I think all the concepts that I’ve learned with virtual machines, networking and how computers actually work (i.e memory addresses, active vs. passive storage) gave me an “under-the-hood” understanding of what I’m doing in scripting and programming.
- Powershell and Python scripting. I definitely have used Powershell more in the real world (Office 365 scripting and PowerCLI for VMware) but actually having that hands-on practice with loops and variables really gave me a better understanding of both the logic as well as (really important) the syntax of different scripting and programming languages.
- Teachers. Teachers definitely make a big difference. I really need to come up with a good set of teachers that I’ve encountered in my life. But Mike Dane on Free Code Camp helped me get a handle on Python a couple of years back and he got me understanding C++. Mike has his own channel on YouTube but if you search “freecodecamp Mike Dane” in YouTube, you can pull up the material he teaches and helped me.
- Maturity. When I was younger, I definitely was more rebellious. I would ask a lot of “Why” questions and if I did not get satisfactory answers, I would tune out the person talking to me. I didn’t understand classes, inheritance, pointers, and especially C++ syntax. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that a lot of what I needed is self-paced learning (so I could repeat the video over and over) as well as learning to take material as it comes and writing a lot of commentary on that material. I’ve noted that my C++ programs are more commentary on what is going on vs. actual code that executes. Even when I don’t fully understand the code, that commentary has helped me to debate with myself so that I can get to the point where I have some clarity with the material.
Anyway, it definitely feels cool to actual complete a C++ class. C++ has always been one of those truly intimidating things to me in IT…it’s a little less intimidating now. Thanks Mike.
Here is a link to the class I just finished: C++ Tutorial for Beginners
For those of you curious to look at my code: My GitHub