A while back at The Hole (R.I.P.) I posted about becomming a programmer, knowing the challenges and obstacles the industry is faced with I am proceeding anyhow. I started working on C++, going to be doing at least 2 hours a day until I have it down, many more hours on a lot of days. going to obsess over it for a while, like I used to do with music. I figure if I get really good with it, SQL, dotNet and Java, I should be able to find some kind of work coding, even if it isnt a six figure job or whatever.
Aside from that, I have dozens of applications that I have been wishing somebody would make, ranging from games to usefull office and PC maintenence programs to phone apps and so on. I will finally have those, and who knows, maybe I can sell some of them.
You should move to C#..... Way easier and safer than C++
I did it this year, and I'm very happy with....
Now, if you need some help, I'll be glad to help you if I can... ;)
Having just had to do this, I can second TB's recommendation (about learning C# instead of the older and more dangerous C++) and add the following:
There are tools and new frameworks out there now that make life FAR simpler than before. You'd be doing well to learn Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET protocols.
A lot of training videos can be found on the Internet for free and even the programs have free versions that are still very powerful.
C++ is a long in the tooth expert language.
The plus side is you can do really interesting things with it as it is close to the machine - stick in some assembler if required (yes - it happens even now - recently)
So if you want to learn it - then challenge yourself to do something interesting.
Download the VST api/toolkit and write something audible.
I would probably hire you if you wrote a decent VST.
Not something you can do with C#.
But if you want to earn money quickly from your studies - learn C#.
I want to learn C#, but I chose C++ because I wanted to learn something very close to assembly, as well as the fact that I have read that other languages like Java and such owe much of their syntax and logic to C. I know it is a harder road than learning the Visual Studio stuff, but I believe it will give me a good foundation to build on.
Long ago, when I was very young and had a TRS80, I knew the old BASIC language. I realie that today things are infinitely more complex, but I am very comfortable thining about arrays, nested hierarchies, etc...
So far, in VS2008 Express, I have found some "how to" knowledge, also have bookmarked a few C++ beginner to expert type pages.
I for one do not miss triple dereferenced pointers.