Advice on learning C++ needed

[squishy]

I want to learn enough C++ to accomplish a couple of tasks.

(1) I want to be able to understand and change open source VNC apps (like
ultravnc) to suit my needs.
(2) I want to be able to write (or at least use) mirror drivers for screens
and printers (this also relates to #1).
(3) I want to be able to write kernel level code to control access to the
file system (like a DeepFreeze type app).

So, where do I start? I want to know what would be the shortest path to
take to learn how to accomplish these tasks, without wasting a lot of time
on things that may not contribute to these goals.

Honestly, I'd rather hire someone to do these things (as I am very busy
myself). But, I have been unable to find (on Guru or RentACoder, etc.)
learned individuals that can be counted on to deliver what they say when
they say. So I am forced to learn C++ and code it myself.

Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.

--
squishy

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,
in a state of civilization, it expects what never
was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson



[ See http://www.gotw.ca/resources/clcm.htm for info about ]
[ comp.lang.c++.moderated. First time posters: Do this! ]

 

[Maciej Sobczak]

I want to learn enough C++ to accomplish a couple of tasks.

(1) I want to be able to understand and change open source VNC apps (like
ultravnc) to suit my needs.
(2) I want to be able to write (or at least use) mirror drivers for screens
and printers (this also relates to #1).
(3) I want to be able to write kernel level code to control access to the
file system (like a DeepFreeze type app).

Learning C++ will be neither sufficient nor necessary for these tasks.
You rather need strong kernel- and system-level background here.

So, where do I start?

On newsgroups devoted to kernel programming.

 

[Jim Langston]

I want to learn enough C++ to accomplish a couple of tasks.

(1) I want to be able to understand and change open source VNC apps (like
ultravnc) to suit my needs.
(2) I want to be able to write (or at least use) mirror drivers for
screens
and printers (this also relates to #1).
(3) I want to be able to write kernel level code to control access to the
file system (like a DeepFreeze type app).

So, where do I start? I want to know what would be the shortest path to
take to learn how to accomplish these tasks, without wasting a lot of time
on things that may not contribute to these goals.

Honestly, I'd rather hire someone to do these things (as I am very busy
myself). But, I have been unable to find (on Guru or RentACoder, etc.)
learned individuals that can be counted on to deliver what they say when
they say. So I am forced to learn C++ and code it myself.

Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.

You're going to need to learn more than C++. VNC may, or may not, be
written in C++ (it may be pure C, not sure). Same with the drivers.
Kernal
level code is sometimes done in C, some assemebly. It may or may not use
C++ (memory access issues).

What you'll want to do is start with #1, get the source code and look at
it.
Try to figure out what langauge it's written in. And then try to
understand
it. How well you are able to understand it depends on how well it was
written and how good your grasp of programming is. If you haven't done any
programming before, it'll be beyond you at this point.