Programming Tutorials

Programming Tutorials Map

• Beginner tutorials
  • C++ Made Easy
  • C Made Easy
• Advanced Language Features and Concepts
  • Tutorials on advanced C and C++ features
  • C++ Standard Template Library (STL) tutorial
  • Understanding Floating Point Numbers
  • Remote Procedure Calls
  • Using Microsoft ADO with SQL Databases in C++
• Game Programming
  • Same Game - a Simple Game from Start to Finish
  • Designing an Object Oriented Animation Engine
• Graphics Programming
  • SDL Tutorial
  • OpenGL Tutorial
  • 3D Rotations Tutorial
  • C/C++ DOS Graphics Tutorial
• Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms and Data Structures
  • AI Tutorials
  • Basic Data structures (queues, stacks, trees, heaps)
  • Big-O notation, Sorting and Searching
  • Advanced Algorithms: compression, encryption, graph algorithms, and dynamic programming
  • The limits of computation
• Other topics
  • Coding Style
  • Compliation and Makefiles
  • Memory Management
  • Debugging
  • Other Programming Languages
  • Miscellaneous Articles

C++ Made Easy: Learning to Program in C++

• Intro to C++ The basics of C++ (Quiz)
• If statements If statements, and some boolean information (Quiz)
• Loops in C++ All you want to know about loops (Quiz)
• Functions Functions...all about them, making and using the critters (Quiz)
• Switch case About the switch case structure (Quiz)
• Pointers Using pointers to access memory locations (Quiz)
• Structures Structures, all about 'em, and how to use 'em (Quiz)
• Arrays All about arrays (Quiz)
• Strings About character arrays (strings) (Quiz)
• File I/O About file i/o (Quiz)
• Typecasting Typecasting: making variables look like another data-type (Quiz)
• Classes Introduction to Object Oriented Programming (OOP) (Quiz)
• Inline functions More information about functions (Quiz)
• Command line arguments How to accept command line arguments (AND checking file existence) (Quiz)
• Linked Lists The basics of singly linked lists
• Recursion Recursion--a function calling itself
• Variable argument lists Functions accepting a variable number of arguments
• Binary Trees Introduction to an important abstract data type
• Inheritance Inheritance - An Overview
• Inheritance continued Inheritance - Syntax and examples
• Initialization Lists and Inheritance Initialization lists are necessary for most classes that use inheritance or include objects
• C++ Class Design More tips and tricks for class design
• Enumerated types Learn to use enumerated types for type-safety and clarity
• Formatted Output in C++ using iomanip Learn how to create nicely formatted output in C++
• Generating random Numbers Tutorial by RoD on generating random numbers.
• Using Modulus Tutorial by RoD on the modulus operator
• Templates in C++ Learn how to use templated classes in C++
• Templated functions Templates can be used to write generic functions as well as generic classes
• Template specialization and partial specialization Learn how to optimize templates by creating specialized instances for certain types
• Understanding the C Preprocessor -- Constants, Macros, and other Tricks Learn how to use the C preprocessor

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C Tutorial - C Made Easy

This tutorial is based on the above tutorial, but uses only standard C language features.

• Intro to C The basics of C (Quiz)
• If statements If statements, and how to use boolean operators (Quiz)
• Loops in C All you want to know about loops (Quiz)
• Functions Functions...all about them, making and using the critters (Quiz)
• Switch case About the switch case structure (Quiz)
• Pointers Using pointers to access memory locations (Quiz)
• Structures Learn about grouping multiple variables together under a single name (Quiz)
• Arrays Learn about arrays--one variable with many values (Quiz)
• C-style Strings About character arrays (strings) (Quiz)
• File I/O About file I/O in C
• Typecasting Typecasting: making variables look like another data-type (Quiz)
• Command line arguments How to accept command line arguments (Quiz)
• Linked Lists The basics of singly linked lists
• Recursion Recursion--a function calling itself
• Variable argument lists Learn to write flexible functions accepting a variable number of arguments
• Binary Trees Learn about binary trees, a fundamentally important data structure!

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More Advanced C and C++ Language Features

• Removing the Mystery of Function Pointers Function pointers are a powerful tool for C and C++ programmers
• References C++ references let you write cleaner, more efficient code
• Const Correctness--Why bother? Find out what const-correctness and, more importantly, why it should matter to you
• How and When to Use Private Inheritance Understand what private inheritance means and how to use it
• Bitwise Operators in C and C++ Learn how to use bitwise operators
• When To Use Goto: A Partial Defense of the goto Statement Goto can actually be used quite profitably as a means for handling errors cleanly!
• Using Exceptions for Error Handling in C++ What are exceptions, why do we use them, and how can we best take advantage of them?
• Using Namespaces in C++ Namespaces are a useful way of maintaining logical divisions in your code and encapsulating functionality
• Getting out the static Keyword A multipurpose keywords, static can be used globally, locally, and on class variables, with different meanings in each context
• File I/O in C Strict C file I/O and binary file I/O
• Templated Classes in C++ Templates in C++
• Using auto_ptr to manage memory Learn how to use auto_ptr to help avoid memory leaks
• C++ style strings C++ strings can save you a lot of time and frustration when used correctly
• The friend keyword and data encapsulation Learn how to use the friend keyword to simplify class interaction while preserving data encapsulation
• Secure Coding Learn how to make your programs safe against buffer overflow and double free attacks
• Unicode: What you Can Do About it Today Do you have an international audience? Do you need to support multiple multiple languages? Learn to write programs that support Unicode!
• Multiple Inheritance Learn how to use multiple inheritance to structure your C++ code
• Solving the Diamond Problem with Virtual Inheritance Learn how to use virtual inheritance to solve the complications introduced with multiple inheritance.
• Operator overloading How and why to use (and not to use!) operator overloading for more readable code
• Constructors and Destructors Learn about some of the subtleties of C++ constructors and destructors

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C++ Standard Template Library (STL)

• An Introduction to the Standard Template Library (STL) An introduction to and explanation of the Standard Template Library and its features
• The STL Vector Container A tutorial on using the vector class
• STL Iterators A tutorial covering iterators, an important component of the Standard Template Library for accessing elements of collections
• STL Map Container Learn how to use associative arrays in the C++ Standard Template Library to store (key, value) pairs
• STL List Container Learn how to use linked lists in the C++ Standard Template Library to store data

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Understanding Floating Point Numbers by Jeff Bezanson

Every programmer should understand enough about floating point numbers to avoid the pitfalls of assuming perfect precision.

• Background: Accuracy vs. Precision
• Floating Point Representation
• Bonus: Printing Floating Point Numbers Cleanly

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Using Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) by Jeff Bezanson

• Background and Using the RPC compiler
• Writing the Server Code
• Writing the Client and Putting it All Together
• Get the code

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Same Game - A Simple Game from Start to Finish by Ben Marchant

Do you want to learn how to create a game? This series will teach you how to create a game, starting from the very beginning and ending with a fully playable game.

• Same Game - Part 1 Introduction to technologies and drawing the game board
• Same Game - Part 2 Creating a real, playable game
• Same Game - Part 3 Adding difficulty levels and other menu options
• Same Game - Part 4 Changing the game board size and the block count
• Same Game - Part 5 Adding undo/redo functionality and keyboard accelerators

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Object-Oriented Animation

Learn how to design a framework for doing animation--a foundation for many games and graphics engines.

• An Introduction to Object Oriented Animation

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Using Microsoft ADO with SQL Databases in C++ by Patrick Mancier

• Tutorial index page
• Part 1: Introduction to SQL
• Part 2: Introduction to ADO
• Part 3: ADO Wrapper Classes
• Part 4: Creating the ADO Manager Class
• Part 5: Using the CADOManager in Practice

SDL Tutorials

(By Thomas Carriero)

• Setting up SDL

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OpenGL Tutorials

(By RoD)

• Intro to OpenGL
• OpenGL vs DirectX Comparison of OpenGL and DirectX
• OpenGL and Windows Intro to Windows Programming for OpenGL
• The WinMain procedure More Windows Programming background
• Windows Programming The guts of Windows Applications
• Intro to WGL Intro to Windows Graphics Layer
• Getting started with OpenGL The first OpenGL program
• Projections Using Projects in OpenGL

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Rotations in Three Dimensions by Confuted and Silvercord

This is a series of tutorials detailing the math required for performing three dimensional rotations.

• The Basics of 3D rotations
• Rotation Matrices
• Rotation about an Arbitrary Axis
• Uses for what you've learned
• Using Quaternions

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Graphics Programming Tutorials

I offer these tutorials more as a relic of programming lore than a serious study in how to program graphics today; nonetheless, if you are searching for C/C++ DOS graphics, these tutorials may be helpful. They are written by Grant Smith, aka Denthor of Asphyxia. You can find the source code mentioned in the tutorials here.

• The MCGA mode and how you get into it in C++ without a BGI
• What is the Pallette?
• Circle and line algorithms
• What is a Virtual Screen and why do we need it?
• What is scrolling?
• Why do I need a lookup table? What is it?
• The Principals of Animation
• Optimisation
• 3D System

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AI Tutorials

• Perceptrons Learn about a simple way to simulate neurons
• MiniMax Game Trees Learn about coding a decision-making program
• Chess Board Representation Learn about efficient chess board representations
• Solving problems with genetic algorithms An overview of how genetic algorithms work, and how they've been used.

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Data Structures

• Stacks Learn what a stack is and when it might be used
• The Queue Read about what a queue is and how to implement it
• Heaps Learn what a heap is, why, when and how to use heaps
• Graphs in computer science Learn the difference between directed and undirected graphs and why they're useful
• Two-three trees Learn about a data structured that helps with balancing the search tree

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Algorithmic Efficiency and Sorting and Searching Algorithms

• Algorithmic Efficiency and Big-O notation How to determine the efficiency of your program and understand common algorithms
• Efficiency, Time and Space Learn how time and space are balanced in the design of algorithms
• Search Algorithms Covers various techniques for search algorithms, from linear search to advanced versions of binary search
• Comparison of Sorting Algorithms See how the various sorting algorithms compare (and how to compare them) and pick which ones to use
• Intro to sorting algorithms: bubble sort Learn about sorting algorithms, bubble sort, and how it compares to other sorting methods
• Selection sort and Insertion sort Two sorting algorithms usually superior to bubble sort
• Heap Sort A sorting algorithm based on heaps that runs in O(nlog(n)) time.
• Merge Sort A stable sort running in O(nlog(n)) time, generally faster than heap sort, but requiring scratch space.
• Quicksort [By Jakub Bomba (axon)] Quicksort is the fastest sort in the average case, requires no additional space, and is stable
• Radix Sort Learn about radix sort, a special case sorting algorithm for certain inputs

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Advanced Algorithms

• Exclusive-OR (XOR) Encryption A tutorial on Exclusive-OR encryption.
• Dijkstra's Algorithm Learn how to find single-source shortest paths on graphs
• Dynamic Programming with Examples from Graph Algorithms Learn how to use dynamic programming to solve interesting problems including the all-pairs shortest path problem.
• Minimum Spanning Trees and Prim's Algorithm What is a minimum spanning tree, why we care, and how to compute them
• Huffman Encoding Learn how to compress data using the Huffman encoding algorithm

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Computer Science Theory

• An introduction to the topic of computer science Learn a bit about the history and goals of computer science
• Base Systems - Binary, Hex and Octal Find out how binary, hexadecimal and other bases work
• The Halting Problem Not for the faint of heart (or beginners), this tutorial covers an advanced topic in computer science: the nature of what can and cannot be computed -- what types of problems computers simply cannot solve
• What We Cannot Know: Consequences of the Halting Problem Learn how the theory behind the halting problem can be applied to questions about what we cannot compute

Coding Style

• Programming Style, Part 1: Whitespace Improve your coding style and understand why whitespace matters
• Programming Style, Part 2: Naming Conventions Improve your coding style and understand how to choose good names and what traps to avoid
• Programming Style, Part 3: How you can write readable code, and why you should
• How -- and Why -- to Comment Why commenting makes you a better programmer

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Compilers and Makefiles

• Unravelling the mysteries of makefiles Learn how make works and how to write a makefile
• Advanced makefile tricks Learn how to write more sophisticated make files
• Dealing with the compilation process Learn how to handle compiler warnings and errors
• Why you should fix compiler warnings Learn why compiler warnings matter, and what some of them mean

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Memory Management

• Using auto_ptr to manage memory Learn how to use auto_ptr to help avoid memory leaks
• Dynamic Memory Allocation, Part 1 Part one in the memory allocation series, covering basic use of new and delete, including allocating multidimensional arrays
• Dynamic Memory Allocation, Part 2: Virtual Memory Part two in the memory allocation series, covering virtual memory
• Dynamic Memory Allocation, Part 3: Overloading Operator New and Delete Part three in the memory allocation series, covering overloading operator new and operator delete
• Dynamic Memory Allocation, Part 4: Common Memory Management Problems Part four in the memory allocation series, covering common memory management problems and how to avoid them

Once you're done with these tutorials, take the C++ Memory Management Quiz 

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Debugging

• GDB Tutorial an introduction to the debugger GDB
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 1: Debugging Concepts Part one in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 2: Setting up the IDE Part two in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 3: Using Breakpoints Effectively Part three in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 4: Setting up Code for the Debugger Part four in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 5: Using Trace and Log Messages Part 5 in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• Debugging with Visual Studio, Part 6: Remote Debugging Part 6 in a series on debugging with Visual Studio
• 5 Awesome Visual Studio Debugger Features Discover time-saving debugger techniques available in Visual Studio
• Debugging Strategy Help prevent small problems from becoming big headaches with bug prevention, debugging strategies, tips, and gotchas
• Segfaults Learn to hunt segfaults and pointer errors in this tutorial
• Valgrind Find memory leaks and other problems with Valgrind
• Skip Stepping into Functions with Visual Studio's NoStepIntoOption Keep your debugger from stepping into common functions
• How to Avoid, Find (and fix) Memory Errors in Your C/C++ Code Explore the different types of memory errors and how to use Intel Parallel Inspector to debug your code

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Other Programming Languages

• Java for C++ Programmers: A Syntax Cheat Sheet A cheat sheet providing a list of numerous small differences between Java and C++.
• A Summary of C# A discussion of the C# programming language, Microsoft's language based on language principles from C and C++
• A Programming Language Comparison Learn more about the different types of programming languages available!

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Miscellaneous Programming Articles

• Test Driven Development, The Philosophy Learn about why writing tests first makes sense and how to use unit tests
• Where C and C++ Differ If you're moving from C to C++ (or vice-versa), watch out for these gotchas.
• So you want write a game? Find out what goes into writing a game!
• How do you tell how large an object is? Find out how to determine the size of a class object.
• How to Start Writing a Program Tips on how to avoid getting lost when writing a large program
• Module Development for Game Design Learn some tips and tricks for developing a module system for games
• Debugging binary search: the difficulty of getting your code right the first time The story of a small bet between friends -- can Joe write a perfect binary search function without testing?
• New Year's Resolutions for C/C++ Programmers A few fun resolutions for you to keep this year, or just suggestions of ways to spend some time
• Thinking about Programming A Guide to Program Design for beginners
• Common Coding Mistakes An overview of commonly made programming mistakes.
• The 5 Most Common Problems New Programmers Face--And How You Can Solve Them Discover the solutions to problems that trip up beginning programmers
• The Secret to Learning Anything
• 5 Ways You can Learn Programming Faster Five tips and techniques that will help you learn and remember the most information you can