Teaching C++

[aeniug2]

I find that a constant roadblock in my learning C++ on my own is the IDE...
I have numerous books on C++, and have looked over several comprehensive online tutorials. The problem is that I always have trouble with the IDE, either it wont stay installed, I can't figure it out, it doesn't work well; and in the end I always forget anything I had learned.

This year I will be trying to teach younger members about programming at the same time as teaching them some basics about electronics.

We will be using arduinos, and doing activities with them that involve controlling motors and reading / interpreting sensor data. I feel that attaching the programming knowledge to a small scale physical demonstration might help them remember it better. Now, the arduino's programming language isn't exactly C++, but it is similar enough that they can go on from the arduino activity and start reading over our 2012 robot code, while me and the other existing programmer help them relate things in it to the concepts they learned on the arduinos. We will then re-write the robot code (almost) from scratch, having them offer suggestions for improvement. This should give them a decent understanding of the structure/organization of code for FRC robots, as well as a basic understanding of how various physical electronic components that will be controlled by the code will work, such as jaguars, victors, servos, gyroscopes, ultrasonic rangefinders, etc.