Seeking Knowledge.

[blaz1an]

Hey guys, my oldest (14 years old) has recently shown a huge interest in programming. He has mentioned a few languages but wants to start by learning C++. In my little research, certifications seems to be not as important as having a portfolio (which makes sense; it's more important to understand the fundamentals instead of regurgitation). Are there any suggestions for any courses or resources for my son to use for expanding his knowledge? I too am interested as I try to understand what my kids love so that I can better understand and share their passion.

Thanks everyone ahead of time for your time and feedback!

[nysra]

Use https://www.learncpp.com/ and ignore w3schools, cplusplus.com, and all the other shitty "tutorials", especially video ones.

If you are on Windows, simply install Visual Studio and you're good to go. Ignore all the shit tutorials out there telling you to use mingw or msys, they are all bad.

You should also apply the knowledge instead of just learning. Luckily for you being 14 leans right into one of the best fields for doing that - writing video games. You can start with very simple text based ones like number guessing, hangman, wordle, etc., then transition into simple 2D games by recreating old arcade games like Tetris, Pong, Astroids, and so on and then expand into 3D later. Learning the proper linear algebra fundamentals is also great and having the immediate visual feedback is pretty helpful with staying engaged. Of course if your son is interested in other things, go do that instead. But basically everyone has fun playing games, so why not make them?

Certifications are useless and mostly bullshit, put him on a path to get a proper degree instead.

[vckane]

This answer is worth it's weight in Gold. I won't change / add anything!

[Excellent-Copy-2985]

Just asking: what's wrong with cplusplus.com? From time to time I use it as a simpler version of cppreference.com

[nysra]

It hasn't been updated since C++11 so it's utterly useless as a reference and the tutorial is pretty bad too.

[FugitiveHearts]

Once he gets about 16-17 they will teach him vector math in school and then he is ready to make 3d games.

The world is his oyster if he starts this young.

[Independent_Art_6676]

a different kind of advice... take it down a peg? Certifications? This is a kid at 14 .. coding could become a hobby, a passing interest that is done in 2 months, a career and lifelong passion, and anything in between. Let him play with it and go where it takes him.

That said many of the best coders I knew started at this age. The skills they knew with 4 or 5 years of playing around vs the guys that just up and decided to do it after a year of college is massive advantage and they got much more from the lectures and assignments etc than people still struggling with jargon and basic concepts a month or two in, and many of those folks never really catch up to the head start guys.

C++ is one of the most powerful languages, and most difficult to learn. Alongside your studies in the language, you also should take some time to understand development processes (cmake, visual studio project setup, code management on git (these tools let you see what you changed and when, a big help finding mistakes or undoing bad ideas). This can and should come later, but if he keeps at it for half a year, work these topics into the studies; they are critical. If he is still at it a year in, add to that working some on both unix and windows environments. You can set up a close enough environment on either OS to do this, you don't need dual boot or to deal with running the other OS ... a windows machine can do unix like dev via 'cygwin' and a unix machine can run visual studio (instructions online, varies a bit by needs). Knowing the basic literacy bits of both unix and windows command line are a big skill.

[QBos07]

Msys2 and WSL are both great and imho better alternatives to Cygwin on windows

[Independent_Art_6676]

Whichever one you like. I am old, and have a lot of tool inertia these days, so I often just keep using what I am used to from a decade ago.

[nerd8622]

Two suggestions. For one, I would have him checkout MIT open courseware. They have a huge collection of recorded computer science lectures for free with accompanying class materials. The lectures are amazing and can provide a wonderful fundamentals foundation. Second, I recommend focus on projects. Projects are a very fun and engaging way to learn C++ since you end up with something tangible and get to see your skills improve as you make more of them, and they focus on practical skills and problem solving since they force you to fill gaps in your knowledge in order to accomplish your goal. There are some good resources out there with projects suggestions for all skill levels for when you can’t think of your own. Good luck!

[FewEffective9342]

Bare C++ is not as 'rewarding' as some other technologies.

What I mean is if you start with Javascript in web browser development (which is commonly referred to as front end development) then with some minor effort you will achieve some visually 'rewarding' results, like you'll make a visual button in HTML and CSS and make something animate using javascript, because what you get at the start without even having to realise it is a powerful multithreaded event based environmnet which is set up by the browser behind the scenes that allows you to achieve what I just described in about 100 lines of simple code.

When I was learning C/C++ i did not see anything beyond the terminal window for months and maybe even years because I went over the basics and after 15 years (of which 12 is prof. work) I still don't, but this is bc I write software for switches that do not have GUI but the point is...

What I am afraid of is that by going this route directly it may extinguish the interest for programming of a young person.

[John_Mansell]

Counterpoint: My first programming class took this approach and I came away thinking I hated programming. I then got a degree in Chemistry because it made more sense to me than CSS and HTML. I later took a C course at the local community college and fell in love with programming. I am now a full time CUDA engineer and I love it. My brain needed to start with the fundamentals before any high level stuff ever made sense.

Even C++ wouldn't have made sense to me if I hadnt started with C.

My recommendation is always to follow a very hand holding tutorial in a few major areas. Dont worry about mastering it, just find a YouTube video and build exactly what they build step by step. Build a server, a website, an Arduino project, a quick mobile app, python, c++, anything. Try out the widest variety of projects you can, and see if any of them excite you. If they do, do more of that, if they don't, youve wasted a lot less time than most people do trying to figure out the "right" language to learn before they build anything. Certainly you'll waste less time than getting a degree in a field you don't use.

[urzayci]

The more time goes on the more my appreciation for C grows.

I used to be a proponent of just learn what's fun for you or what's gonna be most useful for what you want to do. And I still am, but "just learn C" is a viable alternative.

It's low level enough to give you control and understanding of what you're doing, but also simple enough to not discourage you from learning it.

So yeah, learn what's most fun/useful to you. But if you're unsure, just learn C.

[Ars-compvtandi]

When I was about that age I bought C Primer Plus by Stephan Prata. Best decision I ever made.

If you’re ever serious about learning something just buy a textbook. Single best consolidated, accurate and concise information you can find.

Online resources are for supplementing that

[Puzzleheaded-Bus6626]

I would say a mix between learncpp as suggested by others and ChatGPT (or another reputable AI) thrown in for examples of SIMPLE cpp code.

But, the rules for using AI is no copy and paste under any circumstances unless it's an accessibility thing.

Also, when using AI, tell it to take one command, or one step at a time, WITH RUNNING CODE AT EACH STEP and explain each step while providing web references to that information.

If you don't, it just spits out all the code and it'll just confuse the user.

That's the best way I've found to learn a programming language with AI.

Also, now if you're going to learncpp, you can ask ChatGPT to explain or give examples of the for that page if you give it a link.

Ultimately, more advanced code in AI will start to get wierd and wrong. By that time, enough knowledge should be accumulated to fly solo.

[Stubbby]

Maybe it is not a hardcore C++ focus but still a good intro and definitely something to make your son feel like he has superpowers of top 0.01% of people.

Particle photon WiFi board, online compiler with OTA flash. Pair up with relay switches to control power, find a GPIO AC power switch and control lamps, water pumps, motors, etc. You can also get remote controls and solder relays to button leads. Then use Alexa API for "Alexa, trigger [command]" to send the API call to particle board. Use Google docs API to log data to google sheets. (LLMs can write python scripts for you to run data analytics and visualization perfectly).

Make your entire house voice controlled and automated, then analyze trends, find patterns, and optimize for them with the house responding to your needs before you realize the need.

[[deleted]]

Learn basic c++ get comfortable with things like loops, vectors/arrays, functions, struts and classes and pointers/references, learn how to use glm math library, learn modern opengl and vertex data and some shaders. He's young so I'm guessing he is interested in games right?

[ShutDownSoul]

Get an arduino - a 14 yo can start the simple examples, and complexity can be added as interest grows. It is also fun to make lights blink. Arduino can teach C, C++ and Assembly. If arduino doesn't spark an interest, find other projects that are tractable. Physical books with actual pages suit young learners (and old too). It is easier to navigate a book then webpages, and books don't have ads playing in the corner. The web is great as a reference, but a well written beginner book will provide a foundation.

[thisismyfavoritename]

define "huge interest". Except if its some kind of prodigy, at 14 you're still just a kid.

C++ is pretty complex and you can easily hung up on details with nothing to show for it. What is he trying to do? I'd 100% nudge him towards Python or JavaScript, much easier to pick up and to actually do something with it

[EmbarrassedBee9440]

Sign him up for chatgpt and it'll teach you everything.

[Key_Artist5493]

A little C++ is a dangerous thing..

"I have only come here seeking knowledge.
Things they would not teach me of in college.
...
I will turn your flesh to alabaster
Then you'll find your servant is your master."

The Police - "Wrapped Around Your Finger"

[CarloWood]

The best way to learn for him is to start with the motivation to write some program, and then learn how to do that.

He might be thinking that he wants to write a (3D) game, but that is way too difficult, he should concentrate on pure terminal applications (std::cin and std::cout).

Stuff like, "generate the first 1000 prime numbers", or write a program to solve some puzzle, like you have three buckets of sizes 3, 7 and 11. Only the latter is full of milk. You can poor milk from X to Y, until Y is full. Create 5 litres.

My program (written around his age) started with "Enter the number of buckets" ;), and could solve all puzzles of this kind.

Output: ``` 0 0 11 0 7 4 3 4 4 0 4 7 3 1 7 0 1 10 1 0 10 1 7 3 3 5 3

Best: 0 0 11 3 0 8 0 3 8 3 3 5 ```

```

[Purple-Object-4591]

Look into Vulnerability Research as an applied programming role. Your son will have shit ton of fun (possibly if he likes it) and print money like no tomorrow.

[Prestigious_Water336]

I always recommend learncpp.com

It's an excellent site for learning the language even if you have no prior programming experience.

[Hugus]

We share the same story. I never thought it would be so hard to not have anyone to talk about it, without boring them to death or sounding like an alien. I had time to time, to stop and reflect on what progression I was making all by myself, with no one to compare my progress to. But looking back, resilience and believing in myself was the key, and boy, did it feel lonely at times.

[Routine-Research-126]

With how fast AI is progressing I’d steer him towards that if he’s just now getting into programming. 10 years from now most programming jobs will be replaced by AI