Learning Hdk

[sibarrick]

I'm thinking about diving into the murky world of HDK but I've really only done about a months worth of self taught C coding about 8 years ago, so I figure the first thing I need to do is get up to speed with C and C++. I've been looking at online courses and wondering if they are suitable.

So my question is what would one need to know if they are starting from nothing ( I can script and write basic code and other high level stuff ) and want to learn HDK? In fact is this even feasible give the tiny amount of help available for the HDK?

Any help much appreciated as ever.

[Guest xionmark]

I don't know how good the online courses are that you're considering, but I would suggest taking a look through the samples included with the HDK. There's not a lot of them but they will help. Also download the "Doxygenated" HDK docs off the odforce wiki at: http://www.odforce.net/wiki/index.php/HDKDoxygenPages to start to get familar with the HDK's structure.

Good luck.

--Mark

[Mario Marengo]

Hey Simon,

It's a pretty long road no matter how you slice it, but a fun and rewarding one (IMHO at least). It's been a long while since I've looked at introductory texts, so I'm not familiar with what's out there these days, but I'd probably recommend the "bible" to start with: "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup -- it's so good you can almost forgive its atrocious cover art... almost . Even after you've "learned" the language you'll probably use it as a reference every now and then.

I came to C++ through C (not that I'm recommending that route), and back around 1985 or so, there were these wonderful set of "Primer" books that got you up and running fast and were a pleasure to read. So I checked the ACCU Reviews (a good place to get pretty reliable reviews on C/C++ books -- check it before buying anything), and I noticed that there is indeed a "C++ Primer" book out there which they recommend highly (not to be confused with the Stephen Pratta book "C++ Primer Plus" !!!). Their list of reviews for "beginner" books is here.

After you get going with the language, my favourites (which I highly recommend) are "C++ Templates: The Complete Guide", and "Modern C++ Design".

At the end of the day though, I'd say you have to be pretty comfy with C++ to be able to use the HDK (so that it feels you're the one in control I mean ) -- at least that's my initial feeling after making a couple of OPs. But some of the perceived complexity has as much (or more) to do with the sheer *scale* of the HDK, than with the C++ language itself, since most of it is "straight forward C++". So I really, really hope I'm not scaring you off with all this stuff -- it's not *that* hard

Hope that helps

Cheers!

[Guest xionmark]

At the end of the day though, I'd say you have to be pretty comfy with C++ to be able to use the HDK (so that it feels you're the one in control I mean ) -- at least that's my initial feeling after making a couple of OPs. But some of the perceived complexity has as much (or more) to do with the sheer *scale* of the HDK, than with the C++ language itself, since most of it is "straight forward C++". So I really, really hope I'm not scaring you off with all this stuff -- it's not *that* hard

17484[/snapback]

Yes, it's really the scale of the HDK can be a little initimidating at first. The other thing I would recommend is to take your time in learning the way the GUI widgets are built, the "PRM_Template" class and all it's related classes and methods. It can be confusing at first but once you've done it a few times it's much easier (except for ROPs, which can be a bit trickier).

If yuo run into problems, post your questions here, we'll do our best to help you out. Spend some time writing C/C++ *without* the HDK too as to not throw too much new stuff at you at once.

--Mark

[sibarrick]

Thanks for the replies, I've decided to go down the reading a book route, those online courses sem to offer a lot but are very expensive for what you get.

I'm currently reading Robert Lafores Object Oriented Programming in C++. It's quite surprising how much is familiar from other languages.

When I get further into it I'll check out some of your suggestions for reading material Mario. ta.

Also download the "Doxygenated" HDK docs off the odforce wiki at: http://www.odforce.net/wiki/index.php/HDKDoxygenPages to start to get familar with the HDK's structure.

It was actually this document that had put me off for so long!

The only thing I know already is a problem is getting the compiler to work. I went through the wiki pages and did as it said then tried to compile one of Sesi's example files - no dice.

Need to figure this out first - i'm hoping the answer lies here

Issue with HDK install under Windows

If not I fear you may be hearing about it.....

It was that, just needed to modify the Windows path variable. Might be worth updating the wiki with that little gem.

Edited April 11, 2005 by sibarrick