What is wrong with my tutorials?

[zmertens]

If it helps, I fall in the beginner / intermediate SFML and C++ user category, and I started out watching some of your tutorials but I was worried that they were "going against the grain" and I stopped. As you pointed out, you don't always explain the why but focus more on the how. It is also interesting somebody brought up the global variable / macro thing because that was one of the main reasons I stopped watching C++ tutorials online (not just yours, but YouTube in general) and picked up a recommended C++ book from here .

For what it's worth, my advice would be to keep your videos "symmetric" so to speak to what C++ / SFML standards are. I wouldn't consider myself the appropriate source to recommend how to make SFML tutorials; honestly, if I did they would probably downvoted. Maybe it would help if you specifically reference parts of the SFML API documentation so people feel like they have a static source of information that they can mentally link to your videos.

Also, I do really like one of your videos, the one where you talk about quitting college and the professors being trolls, because I'm a UNI student too and I know what it feels like to get trolled by the professors. One of them in my Intro to Programming Languages course is partly responsible for my addiction to #defines and global variables!

TheNewBoston was another site I had been watching, and similar to yours, I really enjoyed the  commentary and casual information it had to offer, but I didn't feel like I was getting all the information I needed.

[infinitebox]

... because I'm a UNI student too and I know what it feels like to get trolled by the professors. One of them in my Intro to Programming Languages course is partly responsible for my addiction to #defines and global variables!

Bit off topic. I really don't understand why anyone ever expects to learn(master) a programming language in university. Here down under where at the university I'm attending. We don't have any units that are focused solely on learning a specific language. Most lectures focus on the theoretical stuff and project codes usually have poor coding practice. Doesn't help the lab computers always come with out of dated compilers. I've come to understand that learning a language should be done on your 'own' time and unis only provide guidelines and deadlines on the theoretical stuff that you should be learning at best.

[CodingMadeEasy]

I used to watch a series of math videos which were considered very good ones, they aren't public and they aren't in English so I can't just paste them as example of 'video done right'. They did exactly these things you don't.

The person making them warned that some teachers might use slightly different notation or method of solving something and that other, harder, easier or worse ways exist
Every video listed all prerequisites to itself and stressed them and discouraged proceeding without them
Every video stressed that there IS a pdf attached to it, which contains problems, and that only good way to test skill is to learn by doing problems, not by eyeballing it and thinking you 'kinda get it'

Those are some good tips and I'll be sure to employ those methods in future tutorials series'

@Null Pointer

For what it's worth, my advice would be to keep your videos "symmetric" so to speak to what C++ / SFML standards are. I wouldn't consider myself the appropriate source to recommend how to make SFML tutorials; honestly, if I did they would probably downvoted. Maybe it would help if you specifically reference parts of the SFML API documentation so people feel like they have a static source of information that they can mentally link to your videos

Thanks some good advice

Also, I do really like one of your videos, the one where you talk about quitting college and the professors being trolls, because I'm a UNI student too and I know what it feels like to get trolled by the professors. One of them in my Intro to Programming Languages course is partly responsible for my addiction to #defines and global variables!

Lol that's unfortunate. I've had the pleasure of having some very good professors but the overall experience was just dull and a waste of time and money. There's so many places to get the knowledge you learn from Comp Sci for free on the internet and from books you just have to know where to look. I may head back in the future if the lack of credentials holds me back but for right now I'm doing alright .


@infinitebox

Bit off topic. I really don't understand why anyone ever expects to learn(master) a programming language in university. Here down under where at the university I'm attending. We don't have any units that are focused solely on learning a specific language. Most lectures focus on the theoretical stuff and project codes usually have poor coding practice. Doesn't help the lab computers always come with out of dated compilers. I've come to understand that learning a language should be done on your 'own' time and unis only provide guidelines and deadlines on the theoretical stuff that you should be learning at best.

That's true but that's a false misconception people get once they reach higher education. When somebody states that they want to be a programmer immediately someone mentions Computer Science. So in their minds they feel as though it's the place to learn programming and ultimately they get disappointed. In my mind however, it's the place to think like a programmer and to learn things that apply to any programming languages such as algorithms and data structures so that once you're faced with a problem you can solve it with the "tools" you have available to you.

[OutlawLee]

@CodingMadeEasy

Man, i watched a lot of your videos and they were really helpful. I didn't really notice any problems.

[CodingMadeEasy]

@OutlawLee

I'm glad my tutorials were helpful to you

[nikniknaks]

Okay I dont really want to reply but i also want to help you . Im also part of the beginner category. I too tried to learn sfml and c++ both at the same time, but i realized its just too imposible fo me as im a little slow learner.

I also watched your videos before.

main problem i got is that its just too slow. I mean(for me) its better to read. IMO youtube vids tutorial should not last longer than 10 mins. Im really sorry about this, sometimes i got bored and felt sleepy and your voice really adds up to that. sorry again. (im too rude). Could please make your voice sound like a little light and energetic like for example bucky from thenewboston. Add a little joke sometime. you know youtube tutorials is like teaching in school. You have to make a joke to make your students feel alive again and to make them more interested.

Try to watch some youtube tutorials, learn from them. Observe how the way they teach.


as for c++, i started not to watch c++ videos because a lot of people doesnt recommend youtube tutorials. instead i bought c++ primer and read that before diving in on sfml and sometimes when i cant understand some thing in the book I searched youtube and there i could get it. I remember sometime about map container and your tutorial help me understand it better. So i think your doing great. Dont mind the people saying that. Start your own forum where people could ask question. Help them even if its a very very stupid question. If still they dont understand, make another topic on your youtube explaining about that. about every concern.

[BaneTrapper]

Personally, i stumbled upon your videos, i am experienced c++ and sfml user.
On more then one occasion you saying/stating something that is clearly wrong and incorrect or confusing something with different thing. While teaching newbies its a bad thing to do. So i agree with most, use dedicated sfml tutorials, they cover everything you require, and are mistake proof.

[magneonx]

Hi CodingMadeEasy! Hi you do not know me but I benefited from your videos and I am very thankful! I saw some of your tutorials and by God I swear I never been so thankful in my life! They say that your tutorials are wrong and some of it are a mistake but the hell I know for sure, I am just as newbie. How am I suppose to know if its right anyway? But I discovered it myself, some difficulties that arises with the code I wrote based on what you have shown and learn my own way on programming the 'Hard Way' learning design patterns and not how to abuse them and how not to use them most of the time, and that I only should use them because that is the best way to do. I learn about OOP what is the best strategy to OOPized a concept. Writing your first game is difficult and you don't know where to start, heck now I know what OOP is for, it helps you to disintegrate such a large concept and break to smaller pieces. You write them classes and its member variables/functions, you make it to components/modules, make it communicate it to other objects, combine, extend, interface to other objects and achieve your ultimate goal(your product)! You just show how practical to use OOP to organize your thought. You taught something most programmers will never learn in programming books is the ability to have good sound and logical judgment and make good and practical decisions. For instance, there are some part of my codes which I felt wrong. Totally wrong. But no! Programming is not emotion. I need proof, so here I am searching and scouring the web for articles. I learn how to learn and apply my sound judgment carefully and take the right decision before I refactor my such big codes (at the time, it was big for me). I learn the impracticality of my ways and learn from it. It such a huge blow on my ego! I have to learn more.

Right now, I might say I am now a better programmer, unlike before which I am reckless, no true knowledge of the concepts of programming and all that. I have a lot to learn and you videos inspired me to learn more! I am proud to say that I am now better than before. Now I can write better codes. I am excited to someday post my Tetris game I am developing on open source code using the framework that I am designing since my college final project. I am proud of it, it is clean and stable. It is my work which I highly grateful because of you internet guys! I never enjoyed programming like this in my life. Though it is not actually my career, but it become my hobby and my true passion. I am writing game as my personal project on my spare time.

I am so thankful, TheNewBoston, to you CodingMadeEasy, SFML from Scratch, StackOverflow and these forum. These sites help me a lot in making me learn how to tackle emergencies and how to solve problem, presto, that is neat, logical and concise! No wasteful coding! Just to achieve your goal and finishing your project.

I am thankful, you never know how thankful I am and ,definitely, believe me, others as well, to teach us to acknowledge our mistakes and learn it the right way. Your videos might be criticized that it is wrong, that what most people do nowadays is to criticize. They might be right about their comments about your video as others said here but it is great otherwise! I believe the community is ever thankful of such effort because it makes SFML more popular by having more videos about it and showing how powerful it is. But I believe, there are benefits of teaching the wrong ways and of how impractical a source code can be and then showing them that it is wrong and there are better ways to do it! I think it works for me and for others as well. I saw few books teaching that kind of way, showing a particular code which basic and impractical and showing that it is wrong and explaining why and that there is a better and shorter (advance) ways (or technique even) on the later chapters on their books. I always learn that way. It is best for instead of teaching the right way without knowing what is wrong in the first place or making you spot the wrong way. I find it boring, information overload, I found no sense of it, I can't see the why, I see no science. I have to question it, I have to investigate, I need proof or examples of why its wrong and why its right. I read books (mostly on python) written this way. Heck even Effective C++ is written this way! Well, you can always improve, you can always make new ones, that is better and resourceful, right? Just my 2 cents though.

But yeah thanks. You are such a nice guy to upload such needed videos for starters like me . I appreciate your work and the learning resources it provided for beginners. Though, I hope they are like me who have to be careful on what they see on the internet.

Best regards.

P.S. Please make more videos.