Beginning C++ in FreeBSD

[Daniela]

On Friday 16 April 2004 19:13, Miles Lubin wrote:
> On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 17:20:36 +0000
>
> Daniela <dgw at liwest.at> wrote:
> > On Thursday 15 April 2004 11:10, Lucas Holt wrote:
> > > Many universities teach C++ exclusiveley now.  Java and C++ share some
> > > common ground on syntax and the fact that they both support Object
> > > oriented programming.  Aside from that, there are many differences. 
> > > C++ is native code and executes faster than java which uses a virtual
> > > machine.  C++ code is compiled into C code by the compiler and then
> > > assembly.  Java is converted into byte code for a virtual machine.
> >
> > What? C++ code is converted to C? Which compiler are you using, and why
> > the hell would a compiler do this?
> >
> > I would definitely recommend to start with assembly. It gives you a good
> > understanding of the hardware, and every programming language you learn
> > afterwards will be a piece of cake. Then get a good reference (some have
> > already been mentioned) and start coding a real program right away, skip
> > that boring "hello world" stuff. I learned seven programming languages in
> > five months with this method.
> >
> > Daniela
>
> I believe origionally that C++ compilers converted C++ to C.

Why would one need C++ if it's converted to C anyway?

> I'm not sure about starting with assembly, it could be overwhelming.
> I started with Basic, and I learned all the other languages fine.

ASM knowledge really doesn't help with the simple stuff. But later, when you 
need to debug a buffer overflow in a big complicated program, you'd be glad 
to have a basic idea of what the processor is doing. And if ASM is your very 
first language, you are less likely to become a sloppy and lazy coder.

Besides that, I think ASM is the most logical thing in the world. There's 
almost nothing you really have to learn. Actually, that's not so true for 
assembly, but rather for the opcodes themselves. I have always wondered how 
one could remember what all these cryptical numbers stand for, until I 
recognized that I don't have to. There are just a few basic rules, and if you 
know them, you have already won the game.
I think that's a lot simpler than remembering complex syntax rules with many 
exceptions, reserved words, includes, ...

Just my $0.02.

Daniela