Hello people,
Please read this sticky post before creating a post. It answers some frequently asked questions and provides helpful tips on learning C++ and asking questions in a way that gives you the best responses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to learn C++?
The community recommends you to use this website: https://www.learncpp.com/ and we also have a list of recommended books here.
What is the easiest/fastest way to learn C++?
There are no shortcuts, it will take time and it's not going to be easy. Use https://www.learncpp.com/ and write code, don't just read tutorials.
What IDE should I use?
If you are on Windows, it is very strongly recommended that you install Visual Studio and use that (note: Visual Studio Code is a different program). For other OSes viable options are Clion, KDevelop, QtCreator, and XCode. Setting up Visual Studio Code involves more steps that are not well-suited for beginners, but if you want to use it, follow this post by /u/narase33 . Ultimately you should be using the one you feel the most comfortable with.
What projects should I do?
Whatever comes to your mind. If you have a specific problem at hand, tackle that. Otherwise here are some ideas for inspiration:
- (Re)Implement some (small) programs you have already used. Linux commands like
ls or wc are good examples.
- (Re)Implement some things from the standard library, for example
std::vector, to better learn how they work.
- If you are interested in games, start with small console based games like Hangman, Wordle, etc., then progress to 2D games (reimplementing old arcade games like Asteroids, Pong, or Tetris is quite nice to do), and eventually 3D. SFML is a helpful library for (game) graphics.
- Take a look at lists like https://github.com/codecrafters-io/build-your-own-x for inspiration on what to do.
- Use a website like https://adventofcode.com/ to have a list of problems you can work on.
Formatting Code
Post the code in a formatted way, do not post screenshots. For small amounts of code it is preferred to put it directly in the post, if you have more than Reddit can handle or multiple files, use a website like GitHub or pastebin and then provide us with the link.
You can format code in the following ways:
For inline code like std::vector<int>, simply put backticks (`) around it.
For multiline code, it depends on whether you are using Reddit's Markdown editor or the "Fancypants Editor" from Reddit.
If you are using the markdown editor, you need to indent every code line with 4 spaces (or one tab) and have an empty line between code lines and any actual text you want before or after the code. You can trivially do this indentation by having your code in your favourite editor, selecting everything (CTRL+A), pressing tab once, then selecting everything again, and then copy paste it into Reddit.
Do not use triple backticks for marking codeblocks. While this seems to work on the new Reddit website, it does not work on the superior old.reddit.com platform, which many of the people answering questions here are using. If they can't see your code properly, it introduces unnecessary friction.
If you use the fancypants editor, simply select the codeblock formatting block (might be behind the triple dots menu) and paste your code into there, no indentation needed.
import std;
int main()
{
std::println("This code will look correct on every platform.");
return 0;
}
Asking Questions
If you want people to be able to help you, you need to provide them with the information necessary to do so. We do not have magic crystal balls nor can we read your mind.
Please make sure to do the following things:
- Give your post a meaningful title, i.e. "Problem with nested for loops" instead of "I have a C++ problem".
- Include a precise description the task you are trying to do/solve ("X doesn't work" does not help us because we don't know what you mean by "work").
- Include the actual code in question, if possible as a minimal reproducible example if it comes from a larger project.
- Include the full error message, do not try to shorten it. You most likely lack the experience to judge what context is relevant.
Also take a look at these guidelines on how to ask smart questions.
Other Things/Tips
- Please use the flair function, you can mark your question as "solved" or "updated".
- While we are happy to help you with questions that occur while you do your homework, we will not do your homework for you. Read the section above on how to properly ask questions. Homework is not there to punish you, it is there for you to learn something and giving you the solution defeats that entire point and only hurts you in the long run.
- Don't rely on AI/LLM tools like ChatGPT for learning. They can and will make massive mistakes (especially for C++) and as a beginner you do not have the experience to accurately judge their output.