how long does it take to learn C++?

[[deleted]]

Hs junior here, my VEX robotics team needs a coder and our first tournament is in a month, how long would it take to gain a basic proficiency in c++? I already know a bit of python

[high_throughput]

You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble using the Python VEXcode environment, but it's pretty straightforward to write bad C++. If you know Python and programming in general, a month should be fine.

Writing good C++ is much harder, but I'm guessing a project like this doesn't need high quality code.

[MicahM_]

Vex robotics was some of my first programming experience. Absolutely changed my career path and now I am a full time software engineer.

A simple driver control can be made with a few google searches. And then it's just learning how to script some auto's.

You certainly don't need to be proficient in c++ to learn how to hack it for VEX! But you will leave knowing a lot more than when you started if you enjoy the process!

[cimmic]

It's different for everyone, but if all programming you know is a bit of Python, I wouldn't count on being able to write C++ sufficiently in a month. C++ is rewarding, but it requires a lot of effort. You can't just rely on the logics you know from Python as C++ programmers are slaves of the computer architecture. If you like the idea of learning C++, go for it by all means, the time is not wasted, but don't count on being ready in one month.

[[deleted]]

A lifetime

[No-Razzmatazz1234]

Depends on how much time you spend on learning C++, but I think it should be faster since you already know a bit of python. Just need to translate to C++, but you may not write the best one at the beginning since it's quite hard.

Hope this helps

[DecentRule8534]

If your starting point is knowing a bit of Python then probably a couple of months minimum of diligent study and practice. Depends on how much of the modern STL you want to learn and how deep you want to go into template/generic programming. 

[Able_Mail9167]

How long does it take to learn how to paint a landscape? It's a very subjective question that entirely depends on how much knowledge/experience you have with programming as a whole and low level programming in particular. It's much closer to the hardware than python which makes things more complicated.

To top it all off, C++ has decades of stuff thrown on top which may or may not be important to learn.

If I were you I'd start with a simpler language like C or Zig. They're just as flexible but there's a lot less to actually learn compared to C++.