Introduction - Hello

[Gandalf_PCHF]

I just signed up at this forum and decided to post an Introduction thread.

I'm new at real programming and was recommended to give QT a try by the folks at LinuxMint. So, here I am. As a graduate Engineer, I have programmed applications like Excel in the past to complement my assigned tasks, but I have never professed to be a programmer. Being retired now, I have the time to study subjects of my choice.

My main programming weakness has always been to try to make the language do somethings it was not designed to do. I hope the forum gurus here can keep me from bashing my my head into the walls to often. I'm running out of walls.

Respectfully,
Gandalf

[DerManu]

Welcome!

bq. try to make the language do somethings it was not designed to do.

You'll have a hard time finding something C/C++ wasn't designed to do ;).

If you have only "programmed" Microsoft® Excel®, maybe it's better to start off with plain C++ or even C, because Qt is quite high up and writing good Qt (and understanding its mechanisms) requires good C++ knowledge. Good C++ Knowledge requires at least some C basics. Else people tend to miss the point of C++ and write something one could call structured C.
Of course, you could just start hacking Qt, it's easy in that sense, but I don't recommend it to novice programmers for didactical reasons.
And you can do great stuff with C, too! Since you come from the field of engineering, I'm sure you'll have fun writing code that executes calculations and numerical simulations real fast. C is beaten only by fortran in that field, and even that only sometimes. (Have a look at GNU Scientific Library, OpenMP, FFTW3 for stuff in that area)

[Gandalf_PCHF]

Well, thanks for the support. I'm sure you are right, but I doubt I'd run into any walls that way.

edit: C is not really do-able in the Linux environment.
I am currently working with LinuxMint DE: Cinnamon