Ok So i'm thinking far ahead but I'm going to college this september and I dont know what to do. The courses in c/C++ are only part time courses and are on one night a week which I dont think is enough. They do not do full time C/c++ anywhere I have looked in Uk. How ever there seems to be this course that they all do which covers a bit of programming which is "BTEC higher national certificate and diploma in computing hnc/hnd (np). It covers:
Computer platforms
System Analysis
Software constructs and tools
Computing solutions
Networking
Advanced database design
introduction to programming using c and c++
visual basic programming.

Do I really need to do all that if I just want to learn c/C++ or am I limiting myself by just wanting to learn those languages? Hopefully someone is from the Uk here. Thanks for any help. James

Speaking from the biased viewpoint of someone planning to go into Computer Science academia for life, I'd recommend CS if you want to learn things that transcend individual languages (if you like math, that is). It is entirely unncecessary to do anything but use Internet-available resources to learn ANY language as an end in itself.

I actually am parcial to books... though I would suggest you buy a book that gets a lot of praise on amazon.com, rather than goto your local lamer library. My local lamer library, had, until it start selling them, books that were hopeless out of date. I could've learned ASM on a Timex or Radio Shack brand PC using the Z89 chipset, but I decided not to, just proving how out of date a lot of books are. I've found books at the library that you could not find a semicolon in them anywhere, and others that were written before ANSI C standard >_<.

I would also suggest you learn some language before C/C++, a MORE simple langauge. I started off by learning PHP (apparently nobody has smack me for it either), but that was after I had attempted to learn either C or C++ for about two years.

After you've learned the basic syntax, it helps if you disect code. I cannot say I have learned too many langauges other than PHP by doing that, but you can learn a lot by looking at somebody elses code. You can find code at various online resources.

Also, join various newsgroups, that will help too.

I forgot to mention how to get jobs...

The best way I heard (though its just second hand) Is to make various programs, demos or full programs. Them show them to people you want to get a job from.

So your saying that I can have sod all qualifications but be able to program well and I would get employed. Sounds a bit far fetched to me.

As I have noted, I have only heard this second hand...

The next thing I heard, which is sometimes (keyword) a qualification is years of experience. I have heard people whinying that they cannot get job X at company Y, cause they do not have 7 years of experience (seems to be a standard... but where did that number come from?).

If you want to get a job without 7 years of experience, take a technician or engineering course.

Please note that I am not speaking this as first hand knowledge, but instead second hand knowledge.

I think the message is that if you just want to look good to employers, then get a certification that proves you have some level of competence in such and such area (after learning it yourself with books and Internet resources). If you want to learn new and challenging things, get a degree in something like Computer Science.