MPGHB

Learn C++
Beginner's Quick Start Guide

Index:

1. Introduction
2. Why Learn C++?
3. What you'll need
4. About the forum
5. What's next?

Introduction:
Do you want to learn C++, but have no idea where to start, well this guide is for you. If you also are simply looking for beginner level guides, tutorials, books, etc. this guide might be able to help you as well. It is my hope that by the end of this guide any newcomers will have a good idea of what to learn and how to get started.



Why Learn C++?
As many of you probably already know, this is a gamehacking forum, so you are most likely here to learn how to create gamehacks. Well in that case it is well known that most gamehacks are coded in C++. It should come as no surprise to you that one of the best languages to code gamehacks is the very same language used to program the games you want to hack. (surprise... surprise) If you don't understand what programming is or what a programming language is then consult the FAQ. If at anytime you don't understand a concept there will most likely be a FAQ to help you. If not just post a question and one of the more experienced members should help you out.

What you'll need:

• Compilers
  
  • Visual Studios 2008 Express The free version of Visual Studios, this compiler is capable of handling large projects very easily, as well as importing a variety of SDK's, it contains so many features it would be impossible to list them all. I wouldn't recommend using this compiler when first learning C++, because learning just how to use VS could interfere with learning C++. However there are a few who start off with this compiler right away. If you decide to go ahead and start off with VS it will keep you from having to learn how to use VS later on, like I am having to do now. In the end every programmer advances to VS, whether you want to jump right in or simply wait to learn the basics first is just a style preference.
  • Dev-C++ A very simple IDE to start off with. It's good for beginners. It allow your to quicky test codes right away without having to worry about to many elaborate features.
  • Other: Code::Blocks, Eclipse C/C++
• Books
  
  • Amazon.com: C++ Primer Plus (5th Edition): Stephen Prata: Books
  • Amazon.com: C++: A Beginner's Guide, Second Edition (0783254043275): Herbert Schildt: Books
• Online Tutorials/ebooks
  
  • C++ Language Tutorial
  • C++ Beginner's Guide
  • C++ - Free computer books
  • 60 C++ Video Tutorials
  • BluePortal.com This site is a bitch to navigate through, but if you look it has tons of free stuff.
• Useful links
  
  • MSDN- Pretty much the only link you'll ever need.

About the Forum:
Before you go posting you should know that this is a learning and development forum. This forum is meant as a launch pad to give people with no experience gamehacking the appropriate knowledge to be a successful gamehacker. It is NOT meant to help copy&pasters fix or tinker with pre-built hacks of which they might have no understanding of how they work. WarRock hacks are especially bad because the same source code is simply reused over and over again. This forum is here so that newcomers to the world of gamehacking can learn how to construct and build their own hacks from scratch. It will be very difficult to do this if your using a crutch such as prebuilt code. Many people are just tempted to just jump ahead and build a hack and skip all the intermediate stuff which will leave huge gaps in their knowledge, and those who skip will always end up depending on others' code because they won't have the knowledge to construct their own code.
What this forum is meant to do is help new gamehackers learn and develop the appropriate knowledge to begin gamehacking and then hone these skills. If you really have a desire to learn the art of gamehacking then you will find this forum a great resource to help you grow and develop.



What's Next?
Once you learn all the basic concepts of C++(classes, pointers, virtual function, etc.) it's time to move on to some cool stuff. But make sure you learn the basics first. If you skip over this it's going to come back and bite you in the... well just trust me you NEED to know the basics first. Once you have completed the basics you can move on to DirectX, and some basic Windows API. There is more information here in the Intermediate Concepts of Game Hacking.