lewis lepton

this year i have set some tasks for myself, not new year resolutions, but viable and good things to learn for the year and beyond.

* use dvorak keyboard layout. which i changed on christmas evening. so far I'm getting slowly better

* do more live gigging. have some events lined up and also should be playing a festival or two.

* do more physical things like yoga and stretching to help with my arthiritis in my back.

* learn a new computer language. this would be c.

* try and remember the different meanings of there and their, though this happens every year ;)

so far so good for actually all of them [except the their/there one :D], but the c programming is catching onto my interest more and more, in more ways than one, its really fun.

I'm obviously starting from the very beginning, starting to read books/pdfs, and more so, finding video tutorials. i love a good video to see what to do.

the main reason is because i would finally like to build a few externals and also code some fun things when the time comes, plus as well it can help in the long haul for the future such as work.

one reason for the externals is that i just think its nice to build things, and also, share your work with the public, freely. you could say, why not just share the abstraction of the patch. but on thinking, a well built external is just much better. its clean and faster.

so to kick start this thread, which I'm going to use for all my findings and helpful stuff. i thought i would share with you my current finds.

excellent video tutorial series that helps explain and work-through c programming. the guy also does cocoa and other geeky stuff, has a good voice as well ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BVD8JsOiDI&feature=BFa&list=ULmnOI2-lct-k&lf=mfu_in_order

instead of using xcode for everything [i even upgraded to lion, it is actually quite nice], even when just learning. i came across this very small program which is used to write and test code, run scripts, work with algorithms, or simply experiment with a new coding or scripting language. its really nice and stops you from just using xcode to just do simple learning. you can do c, c++, java and lots of others

http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/the_c_book.pdf

there is plenty more, but all this typing is taking me away from my own c learning. but will keep this thread open, just so i can post things i have found or discovered.

this year i have set some tasks for myself, not new year resolutions, but viable and good things to learn for the year and beyond.
my first one is
* use dvorak keyboard layout. which i changed on christmas evening. so far I'm getting slowly better
second
* do more live gigging. have some events lined up and also should be playing a festival or two.
third
* do more physical things like yoga and stretching to help with my arthiritis in my back.
fourth
* learn a new computer language. this would be c.
fifthly
* try and remember the different meanings of there and their, though this happens every year ;)

so far so good for actually all of them [except the their/there one :D], but the c programming is catching onto my interest more and more, in more ways than one, its really fun.
I'm obviously starting from the very beginning, starting to read books/pdfs, and more so, finding video tutorials. i love a good video to see what to do.

the main reason is because i would finally like to build a few externals and also code some fun things when the time comes, plus as well it can help in the long haul for the future such as work.
one reason for the externals is that i just think its nice to build things, and also, share your work with the public, freely. you could say, why not just share the abstraction of the patch. but on thinking, a well built external is just much better. its clean and faster.

excellent video tutorial series that helps explain and work-through c programming. the guy also does cocoa and other geeky stuff, has a good voice as well ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BVD8JsOiDI&feature=BFa&list=ULmnOI2-lct-k&lf=mfu_in_order

instead of using xcode for everything [i even upgraded to lion, it is actually quite nice], even when just learning. i came across this very small program which is used to write and test code, run scripts, work with algorithms, or simply experiment with a new coding or scripting language. its really nice and stops you from just using xcode to just do simple learning. you can do c, c++, java and lots of others
http://krillapps.com/coderunner/

a free pdf on c
http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/the_c_book.pdf

sharing-my-journey-into-c-programming-a-miniature-find

lewis: a shoutout to IRC in general, freenode in particular, and ##c/##c++/ in especial particular. Just make sure they know you're a beginner and they'll be happy to help.

Also - stackexchange (programming and stackoverflow) is your friend.

i need to give a thank you to a forum member - vanilla béchamel.

he helped me clear up silly questions and other things that i had questions about.

i need to give a thank you to a forum member - vanilla béchamel.
he helped me clear up silly questions and other things that i had questions about.

as i said, I'm going to use this thread on my discovery with c programming for max. and already one has helped a huge deal.

I'm not a max whizz, far from it because i only use a very small amount of objects, which are simple.

but since starting c programming did come to a wall regarding strings in max and remembered the sprintf object in max for strings, which is much like printf in c. wonderful, learning other things that have links to what i need. lovely.

as i said, I'm going to use this thread on my discovery with c programming for max. and already one has helped a huge deal.
I'm not a max whizz, far from it because i only use a very small amount of objects, which are simple.

but since starting c programming did come to a wall regarding strings in max and remembered the sprintf object in max for strings, which is much like printf in c. wonderful, learning other things that have links to what i need. lovely.
and it to the memory banks. ;)

is it wrong to say that i went completely doo-lally when my 'practical c programming' book arrived through the door yesterday to the point i went dizzy... possibly. but either way, it finally arrived through the door and have my own copy, woo.

already bookmarking key points and have something to read now of importance. i guess 'the shining' will have to wait ;)

just a little something something of even the most simple task that i actually remembered with no help.

'brain size has expanded to the spare flats i was renting out. sadly i had to kick out the other brain cells that were residing'.

just a little something something of even the most simple task that i actually remembered with no help.
'brain size has expanded to the spare flats i was renting out. sadly i had to kick out the other brain cells that were residing'.

nice thread, I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Coderunner looks interesting, think I'll go and check it out - a one stop shop for Java, C, Python, Perl and Objective-C can't be bad.

nice thread, I'll be keeping my eye on this one.  Coderunner looks interesting, think I'll go and check it out - a one stop shop for Java, C, Python, Perl and Objective-C can't be bad.


aye coderunner was just something i came across. very simple and fun because of its simplicity.

great if you are just starting out or just need to test things quickly. plus i think it was £5-6 which is really cheap

aye coderunner was just something i came across. very simple and fun because of its simplicity.
great if you are just starting out or just need to test things quickly. plus i think it was £5-6 which is really cheap


at the mo' I use a variety, depending on what I'm up to, vim, eclipse or xcode mainly.

so... on my search and learning path for c programming i have come up with a nice fair few things to add along.

i bought the lemur for padi application on christmas day, its awesome. i always wanted a lemur, but just not the cost, though do prefer the bigger size for lemur.

anyhow, since starting on it, i just never knew about scripting, or more so how to implement it to my works. so after i mass of searching and questions was told that it is a form of c programming. which made things even better.

what better way to learn both c programming and working with the lemur. all that study and work ive been doing for c has come in handy sooooo much and my lemur templates are working pretty bad ass now.

i bought the lemur for padi application on christmas day, its awesome. i always wanted a lemur, but just not the cost, though do prefer the bigger size for lemur.
anyhow, since starting on it, i just never knew about scripting, or more so how to implement it to my works. so after i mass of searching and questions was told that it is a form of c programming. which made things even better.

i'm on the same jorney like you. with learning C, max becomes more understandable in depth i think. right to left processing, data types everything makes more sense when you know that C is the mother of max. it is also cool to be able to think about ideas above the limit of the given standard object set. i wanna release externals for win, too. i'm unsure if a license or disclaimer is necessary when releasing externals. most of the time the 3rd p externals i came accross are not "do what the f--k you want with it" - why?

ok, still confusing. does it mean that everybody who wants to release externals is forced to choose a lisence. and what does "choosing it" really mean? is it just a matter of putting the correct txt-file to the package? I hope that my questions here do not destroy your "C-diary" kind of thread here lewis.

i'm thankful for any sources how to choose the suitable license for externals and software generally. thank you. O.

ok, still confusing. does it mean that everybody who wants to release externals is forced to choose a lisence. and what does "choosing it" really mean? is it just a matter of putting the correct txt-file to the package? I hope that my questions here do not destroy your "C-diary" kind of thread here lewis.
i'm thankful for any sources how to choose the suitable license for externals and software generally. thank you. O.


the main reason i wanted to learn c was because of building externals, now it has branched to lemur scripting, and now has gone on to processing and arduino a little bit more. i started on arduino a good few years back, the same with processing, but was a little bit put off. i think because i had so much on around that time.

but as for externals. i am more than willing to give the source, i wouldnt mind people taking my little max creatoons and building upon them, or even just using them as is. the thought of it does make me happy either way.

i think the only thing i would ask if people do use the source code is tell on their versions that the original concept and idea was by the original creator of the object.

and also to tell the person what it has been used for just so it can create more notice. it would work for everyone, we all tell people about each others work.

but as for externals. i am more than willing to give the source, i wouldnt mind people taking my little max creatoons and building upon them, or even just using them as is. the thought of it does make me happy either way.
i think the only thing i would ask if people do use the source code is tell on their versions that the original concept and idea was by the original creator of the object.
and also to tell the person what it has been used for just so it can create more notice. it would work for everyone, we all tell people about each others work.

thanks, very useful, i'll do further investigation on this.

thanks, very useful, i'll do further investigation on this.
O.


On original post: a big +1 for the DVORAK keyboard! Stick with it, it took me a few months but I'll never go back unless I have to. The only downsides are the control-characters which are all over the place instead of nicely grouped by the left hand. Other than that...wow...QWERTY is a totally inefficient anachronism. Think rotary-phone versus speed-dial. (though rotary is cool in its own way I suppose...but not if you have to use it for hours every day...)

If you're branching out into other code environments too, may I suggest Lua, mainly for this lovely application called Corona:

You won't have to wade through tons of Objective-C or Java to write apps. Your apps compile to BOTH major mobile platforms at once...not to mention Nook and Fire as well. It's amazing...a wrapper which makes so many things so much easier, yet still has plenty of power to do just about everything you want (and you can call lower-level routines if you need to). It made the entry into app-development (for me anyway) a pleasure rather than inscrutable, which I think it would have been otherwise. Lua is a bit different syntax-wise (as they all are) but IMHO it's one of the most readable around. And seeing your first app show up on your iPhone or Droid is...shall we say...totally addictive...

Of course there are many pros and cons---there are some great built-in things that mobile development offers (multi-touch, gestures, physics etc)., but I guarantee you'll have a new appreciation for the ease of creating even simple UI objects with Max, let along crazy awesome ones like multislider or matrixctrl. Or being able to debug in 10 different ways, read and write files of all kinds, save presets, pattrstorage, etc. All these (if even possible) would take a ton more effort to implement even in a wrapper language like Lua. That said, there are a number of basic widgets available to get you started, so you just have to stick with it...and let go of the ability to so easily customize things, change them on the fly, etc. Max dominates in this area!

i just felt the need to post up my findings and also my 'now' things im up to with this whole code thing.

i have decided to get on with playing with c++/openFrameworks. still doing some c, but thats coming with oF learning ;)

of late i have been interested in making really special graphics and more 'hard-core' things. so i have [sort-of] knocked max on the head, though i still use it for my vj gigs i do, mainly because its a fully built system that i do still update when i think of something new.

ill still use max. im currently teaching some people it, and as well, it is really good for getting an idea down to see if it will work first. so if it runs in max, i can make it oF.

plus as well, my working life in art and visual based things is growing quite big now, and i just need something that will even better than smoothly, run a lot of things. ive already completed some really nice patches, that im using for future exhibitions.

code just makes everything better in the end.

i was going to do processing instead, then move over to oF, i even bought the processing handbook second hand. but later on i thought to 'why bother learning one language, to then change'. but it was not as easy as that, it took a while to finally decide and also a few days of going through 'just doing small things' when the internet connection went out.

plus as well, even though it is a longer way round to get what you need, the speeds are just stupidly great. this practice will be put into music systems i have an eye to make, as well as a new vj patch i want to do.

and to be honest i know i made the right choice. its c++, whats not to like ;)

i even updated my system to mountain lion, to take advantage of xcode and the really nice frameworks for oF ;)

but im not gone, just doing other things.

i have decided to get on with playing with c++/openFrameworks. still doing some c, but thats coming with oF learning ;)
of late i have been interested in making really special graphics and more 'hard-core' things. so i have [sort-of] knocked max on the head, though i still use it for my vj gigs i do, mainly because its a fully built system that i do still update when i think of something new.

ill still use max. im currently teaching some people it, and as well, it is really good for getting an idea down to see if it will work first. so if it runs in max, i can make it oF.
plus as well, my working life in art and visual based things is growing quite big now, and i just need something that will even better than smoothly, run a lot of things. ive already completed some really nice patches, that im using for future exhibitions.
code just makes everything better in the end.

i was going to do processing instead, then move over to oF, i even bought the processing handbook second hand. but later on i thought to 'why bother learning one language, to then change'. but it was not as easy as that, it took a while to finally decide and also a few days of going through 'just doing small things' when the internet connection went out.
plus as well, even though it is a longer way round to get what you need, the speeds are just stupidly great. this practice will be put into music systems i have an eye to make, as well as a new vj patch i want to do.
and to be honest i know i made the right choice. its c++, whats not to like ;)
i even updated my system to mountain lion, to take advantage of xcode and the really nice frameworks for oF ;)

so, here i am. about 9 months later. so where have i been on this journey?

i am still using openFrameworks, though to be honest it has recently gotten the better of me. purely because i went from a none-know-it-all of c++/oF, to a more understanding none-know-it-all. c++/oF is hard in one retrospect, but am happy i did break the ice. but a bit like what happened to me with max at first, i didnt use it for a while, then came back too it when the time was right. this is what will happen to c++/oF.

so ive put oF on the backburner until i really have nothing to do except learn. it takes too much time up. and really, i missed max. especially its complete 'lets make something for a minute' way of working.

plus as well im good in max, many people compliment me on my patches that i can just build right where i am with no pre-built modules.

well... to help with myself in getting into c/c++/oF, i FINALLY bought the eric lyon book to build externals. if anyone has seen my previous posts, these asked about such a book to help. so i finally bought it. i have always wanted to make externals every since i made my first few abstractions. only problem is the wait for shipping, but its coming ;)

i also got hold of the 'max for sound design' book from giri and cipriani. though many of the things i do already know, it nice to just have the info around when you need it. on the plus i bought it as well for my wife, which i have been teaching max [she uses my old max 5 licence], so its all good.

also, i stopped making and selling softworks. this took too much time up for what i want/wanted to do, which really is just make music. it was nice, but just cant do that anymore. though when i jump back into c++/oF, i already have many different games and ideas ready to be built. but that would be it then, something simple.

but since i stopped making them, they were just gathering binary dust, so have made them all available for people to grab from my github account. i see it as a community based program and hope that people do add too them as they are very fun tools to play with.

lastly, there is MIRA. jesus this is nice. just super slick and bloody awesome that i can have a max patch on my padi without having to cock around with osc messages. just a simple drag and drop and it works. this was something i couldnt pass up. it wasnt the main reason, but a damn good one to stay with max. so far ive already made some nice things that im happy with.

so yeah, ive been gone [but have been around] but am back. plus have sorted my website [i now own my domain, wooo] and also sorted out what it is that i should stick to the most, music and max.

lets get rid of the coding thing for the time being until i feel it starts making sense. that and i have a major amount of music to release

and yes, my last name is now 'nine'. changed because of mine and my [recent] wifes OCD with multiples of 3. her favourite is three, mine is six. so we went for nine. i figured its more fair that we both change our names rather than just herself

so, here i am. about 9 months later. so where have i been on this journey?
well...

i am still using openFrameworks, though to be honest it has recently gotten the better of me. purely because i went from a none-know-it-all of c++/oF, to a more understanding none-know-it-all. c++/oF is hard in one retrospect, but am happy i did break the ice. but a bit like what happened to me with max at first, i didnt use it for a while, then came back too it when the time was right. this is what will happen to c++/oF.
so ive put oF on the backburner until i really have nothing to do except learn. it takes too much time up. and really, i missed max. especially its complete 'lets make something for a minute' way of working.
plus as well im good in max, many people compliment me on my patches that i can just build right where i am with no pre-built modules.

what else?
well... to help with myself in getting into c/c++/oF, i FINALLY bought the eric lyon book to build externals. if anyone has seen my previous posts, these asked about such a book to help. so i finally bought it. i have always wanted to make externals every since i made my first few abstractions. only problem is the wait for shipping, but its coming ;)
i also got hold of the 'max for sound design' book from giri and cipriani. though many of the things i do already know, it nice to just have the info around when you need it. on the plus i bought it as well for my wife, which i have been teaching max [she uses my old max 5 licence], so its all good.

what what else else?
also, i stopped making and selling softworks. this took too much time up for what i want/wanted to do, which really is just make music. it was nice, but just cant do that anymore. though when i jump back into c++/oF, i already have many different games and ideas ready to be built. but that would be it then, something simple.
but since i stopped making them, they were just gathering binary dust, so have made them all available for people to grab from my github account. i see it as a community based program and hope that people do add too them as they are very fun tools to play with.

what what what else else else?
lastly, there is MIRA. jesus this is nice. just super slick and bloody awesome that i can have a max patch on my padi without having to cock around with osc messages. just a simple drag and drop and it works. this was something i couldnt pass up. it wasnt the main reason, but a damn good one to stay with max. so far ive already made some nice things that im happy with.

so yeah, ive been gone [but have been around] but am back. plus have sorted my website [i now own my domain, wooo] and also sorted out what it is that i should stick to the most, music and max.
lets get rid of the coding thing for the time being until i feel it starts making sense. that and i have a major amount of music to release

p.s.
and yes, my last name is now 'nine'. changed because of mine and my [recent] wifes OCD with multiples of 3. her favourite is three, mine is six. so we went for nine. i figured its more fair that we both change our names rather than just herself


and yes, im still using dvorak. it just makes sense. EVERYONE should convert. it is easier than you think.

youll see me around more now.
and yes, im still using dvorak. it just makes sense. EVERYONE should convert. it is easier than you think.

[sharing my journey into c programming] a miniature find.