[mythtv] OT: Learning C++ and QT
Justin Hornsby
justin at mythtvthemes.co.uk
Thu Jan 17 09:16:21 UTC 2008
Matt wrote:
> Hello Devs!
>
> I've been using myth for almost 4 years now... so a veteran I suppose.
> I'm upgrading to SVN Head about once a month, and read the commit
> mailing list every day to see everything that's going on. However,
> I've got lots of ideas that I'd like to see find their way into myth
> but, being around for a while I've learned the familiar motto: if you
> want it, build it yourself. I don't really have a problem with that,
> except for that I haven't been able to "build it myself".
>
> Well, I've finally decided to do something about it and learn C++ and
> QT development. I have a very small background in terms of
> programming. A little bit of experience with Java, and got pretty
> good with VB6 several years ago when I was in school. However, I
> never really pursued becoming a developer for a career or hobby. Now,
> I consider myth to be a hobby that I'd like to start giving back to
> the community (eventually).
>
> What I'm looking for is any advice you folks might have for a newbie
> in this arena.
> - Resources
> - Books
> - Websites
> - IDEs
> - Examples
>
> Etc...
>
> Basically - I've got to start somewhere. Obviously I'm expecting an
> initial learning curve, but I've already got a logical understanding
> of programming under my belt (in the windows and web space).
>
> I appreciate any advice you folks can help me out with... maybe
> someday down the (hopefully-not-too-distant-road) I can start joining
> the ranks of some of you.
>
> Thanks!
> Matt
>
I wouldn't call myself a programmer by many devs' standards but I just
got stuck in there without knowing very much about even 1st c++
principles. Wasn't too hard IMHO but had its moments. I guess it
depends what you're setting out to achieve & whether or not similar code
already exists.
Now though I'm finding I want to do even more all the time so I'm
starting to become motivated to learn 'proper' ways. I think I might be
turning over to the dark side ;) I haven't yet felt the need to use a
full-on IDE though. All the stuff I've done so far is pretty trivial &
only really needed a text editor. Syntax highlighting & auto-indenting
helps a lot - makes for far less compile time problems because of
missing/misplaced braces etc. Next to absent-mindedly trying to mix
types those were my biggest compile time problems at first.
FWIW I'm a big advocate of "if you want it, build it yourself" - but not
in a bad way I hope. It's fun, challenging and very (VERY) rewarding.
I think one of the tricks to not becoming disheartened early on is by
starting on very small things & working your way up... i.e. don't bite
off more than you can chew ;)
The single most useful thing to me when hacking around so far has been
the doxygen stuff over at http://www.cuymedia.com/mythtv-trunk/ and of
course the occasional nudge in the right direction from people who
already know the code but I'm always wary of being a drain on them -
being too needy would have a negative effect IMHO - never expect anybody
to give you anything on a plate or do it for you ;) The existing source
code is a great resource too. How does a popup menu work? How do you
use a textarea from an xml file in a theme? It's all in the source :)
Actually at this point I'd like to give a really heartfelt thanks to
everyone who's ever given me hints & pointers - I couldn't have got as
far as I got without them and it's fully appreciated.
Now I feel I've just got started and there's still a lot to do. Bring
it on.
Justin
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