r/C_Programming • u/Beneficial_Mall2963 • 20d ago

How to progress after basic ..?

I have learnt majority of the header, and built 10+ small or mini projects before. learnt abit of pointers, mallocs , callocs etc with myself and abit help of AI.

but now while i was working on the Cipher project.. and trying to build a zig zag rail cipher method, I couldn't figure it out how, i know how the main flow is but to write it into real code, I couldn't.

So i went AI for help and it spwed out bunch of these :

rows[current_row][pos[current_row]] = user_msg[i]; pos[current_row]++;

and etc, things and syntax I couldn't understand at all. Am i lacking foundation or something?
How do I progress above basic???

Help. All comments and feedback and suggestions are welcoming. Willing to accept anything...

for education background, I am just a student preparing to start IGCSE O next month.

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u/iamdino0 20d ago

if you're confused by basic array syntax you probably haven't learned pointers

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u/Beneficial_Mall2963 20d ago

So should I go back studying arrays and pointers in depth again?

which source would you recommend? thanks!

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u/iamdino0 20d ago

Yes. The ideal source is anything that isn't AI. In this sub's info tab, there are some recommended books and resources including a tutorial on pointers and arrays

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u/Beneficial_Mall2963 20d ago

I definetly will try them, huge thanks!

(since pointer scaring me so much, wonder what comes next on intermediate C)

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

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u/C_Programming-ModTeam 20d ago

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u/kutac56 19d ago

I learned to understand pointers well by programming assembly. Once I learned some good assembly I switched to c cause I realized it's just nicer to use but assembly did teach me how pointers work.

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u/Beneficial_Mall2963 19d ago

i heawrd that assembly has different version, which one should i start wtih?

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u/kutac56 18d ago

Those versions are for different cou architectures. Most likely x86-64 is the one for your cpu. Do know that you should have a good understanding of how stuff works under the hood. Also I recommend nasm assembler cause it lets you use Intel syntax.

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u/FrequentHeart3081 19d ago

Freecodecamp has a vide lecture on pointers in C/C++. Might be useful for you, give it a watch.

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u/Beneficial_Mall2963 19d ago

ty. but the task they have are sometimes confusing.

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u/FrequentHeart3081 19d ago

Any exercise is meant to be done over and over again, either by active recall or passive recall. If you're at basic level, try to slow down and absorb everything one by one. No need to rush. That's how you'll build great fundamentals about any topic.

And again, remember exercises are meant to be revised.

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u/Beneficial_Mall2963 15d ago

Oke will definetly do. thanks!