How to push further as a programmer?

Question

For the last, hmm, 6 months I\'ve been reading into Programming in C, I got myself K&Rv2, BEEJ\'s socket guide, Expert C programming, Linux Systems Programming, the ISO/IEC

Answer 1

Some project ideas:

• Small database projects: contact list, DVD collection, etc. Emphasizes file I/O, searchable data structures, etc.
• Simple calculator: Emphasizes interactive I/O, parsing, tree-like structures, etc.
• Simple NNTP (Usenet) or chat client: Networking and protocols

Answer 2

You need to challenge yourself with a bigger, more complex project. Working through code snippets, as most book examples tend to, will not get you far past the chapter exercises.

You're working on being a book-smart developer. Do something real world and become street-smart!

Answer 3

Code Hello World, then code Hello World distributed over a network, or in 3d, or using a database. Don't think things are too trivial until you've done them. Implement algorithms to make sure you know how. Do code you think is fun.

Answer 4

What would really help you learn is to start a project. It could be anything, implementing a chat client/server, a unix shell, a simple program to store grocery lists, whatever. The point is by picking something that you are interested in and working to implement it, you will be surprised how much you learn along the way, and you won't want to quit because you are working on something meaningful to you.

Basically, you will only learn so much by reading. To gain true knowledge you will need to work through real problems.

Answer 5

Try to implement a few non-trivial algorithms. I do not know what examples are included in the books, but you might try to write

• An algebratic calculator. Input "sin(2) + 5! * 3^(1/2)" and you get 208.755394335 as an output.
• A syntax-highliting text editor from scratch.
• Write a PNG (or any other image or sound format) encoder/decoder from scratch.
• Write an image editor (for instance flood fill is not entirely trivial)
• ...

Answer 6

"read" and practice what you read which is the best way.