Beginners frustration........
Hi guys & gals,
I wonder if anyone could give me some pointers to relieve this beginners frustration?!
At the moment i'm going through the learncpp.com tutorials and that's going fine. I have no doubt i can get my head around the language if i put the time and effort in.
My frustration comes from the desire to implement what i'm learning in anything other than the good ol' win32 console.
Maybe i should first just explain (A) what i want to achieve long term and (B) what i hope to achieve short term as a jumping off point.
(A) Long term i'd like to create software (music) synthesisers in standalone and VST formats. Initially for desktop windows and later for Mac, android etc. My main focus will be on the interface, which should incorporate moving envelopes, waveforms etc. Here's an example on Youtube of the kind of thing i want to create: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGWehmUbvCc
(B) Short term i imagine what i need to do is create a simple windows program that creates simple lines in the interface. Then i can learn to manipulate (bend, animate, re-draw) the lines according to algorithms and then at some point introduce audio processing that relates the sound to the changes in the interface. I'm NOT expecting to achieve anything like the Youtube vid in the short term! Only to work with simple lines and simple audio like sine waves.
And this is where the frustration starts. I have no knowledge about how to break out of the win32 console. Obviously the above described program can't be achieved in the console. So i need to make some other kind of program. But what kind? When one chooses "New Project" in Visual Studio, one is confronted by a plethora or choices: Win32 console app, MFC app, Win32 project, Empty project, Makefile project, Windows, ATL, CLR, General, MFC, TEST, Win32, Cross Platform, Extensibility etc etc etc.
Where on earth does one make a start? I can find nowhere a description of what all these different choices mean. Of course i can google them, but then one is immediately confronted by detailed info on that particular type without any way to reference it to the other choices or to make the right choice.
I can find nowhere a tutorial that shows you how to make a simple program that gives you an interface like a normal Windows program, only a thousand different descriptions about how to make the win32 console "Hello World" which i already know how to do!
Sooooooo, i would really appreciate some pointers about where to start in order to break out of the Win 32 console and to actually produce a real windows desktop program, however simple and banal (like a straight line in the middle of the screen). And just to reiterate, i'm planning to keep going with the study of c++ via learncpp.com and other books, but i want to also start creating real programs, otherwise i fear my motivation will drop without attempting this two-pronged assault on my end goal!
Thanks in anticipation / advance!
I wonder if anyone could give me some pointers to relieve this beginners frustration?!
At the moment i'm going through the learncpp.com tutorials and that's going fine. I have no doubt i can get my head around the language if i put the time and effort in.
My frustration comes from the desire to implement what i'm learning in anything other than the good ol' win32 console.
Maybe i should first just explain (A) what i want to achieve long term and (B) what i hope to achieve short term as a jumping off point.
(A) Long term i'd like to create software (music) synthesisers in standalone and VST formats. Initially for desktop windows and later for Mac, android etc. My main focus will be on the interface, which should incorporate moving envelopes, waveforms etc. Here's an example on Youtube of the kind of thing i want to create: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGWehmUbvCc
(B) Short term i imagine what i need to do is create a simple windows program that creates simple lines in the interface. Then i can learn to manipulate (bend, animate, re-draw) the lines according to algorithms and then at some point introduce audio processing that relates the sound to the changes in the interface. I'm NOT expecting to achieve anything like the Youtube vid in the short term! Only to work with simple lines and simple audio like sine waves.
And this is where the frustration starts. I have no knowledge about how to break out of the win32 console. Obviously the above described program can't be achieved in the console. So i need to make some other kind of program. But what kind? When one chooses "New Project" in Visual Studio, one is confronted by a plethora or choices: Win32 console app, MFC app, Win32 project, Empty project, Makefile project, Windows, ATL, CLR, General, MFC, TEST, Win32, Cross Platform, Extensibility etc etc etc.
Where on earth does one make a start? I can find nowhere a description of what all these different choices mean. Of course i can google them, but then one is immediately confronted by detailed info on that particular type without any way to reference it to the other choices or to make the right choice.
I can find nowhere a tutorial that shows you how to make a simple program that gives you an interface like a normal Windows program, only a thousand different descriptions about how to make the win32 console "Hello World" which i already know how to do!
Sooooooo, i would really appreciate some pointers about where to start in order to break out of the Win 32 console and to actually produce a real windows desktop program, however simple and banal (like a straight line in the middle of the screen). And just to reiterate, i'm planning to keep going with the study of c++ via learncpp.com and other books, but i want to also start creating real programs, otherwise i fear my motivation will drop without attempting this two-pronged assault on my end goal!
Thanks in anticipation / advance!
Last edited on
Windows-specific code won't compile on other platforms.
Check out Qt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_(software)
Check out Qt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_(software)
Qt is huge. While it's awesome, I know it would have intimidated me like crazy when I was starting out.
It sounds like you're using windows, so I suggest creating a "Win32 project" (Note: Not a win32 console application). It should be one of the choices available to you in Visual Studio's new project dialogue.
Here's a hello world strictly for win32 applications, not win32 console applications:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb384843.aspx
It sounds like you're using windows, so I suggest creating a "Win32 project" (Note: Not a win32 console application). It should be one of the choices available to you in Visual Studio's new project dialogue.
Here's a hello world strictly for win32 applications, not win32 console applications:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb384843.aspx
Last edited on
To create cross-platform GUI applications, you can try
https://www.wxwidgets.org/
Although you should know that GUI programming in C++ might not be easy.
Much easier, for beginner's introduction on how to do graphics, try:
http://www.programming4beginners.com/tutorial/allegro
https://www.wxwidgets.org/
Although you should know that GUI programming in C++ might not be easy.
Much easier, for beginner's introduction on how to do graphics, try:
http://www.programming4beginners.com/tutorial/allegro
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