In my spare time, I like to experiment with different languages and online tutorials. I'm always eager to learn something new and simple game development has been one of those areas.

I have created a few smaller things including a text-based Tic Tac Toe game, a 2D collecting game (similar to Snake), and a sensor-activated robot. Most of these were from YouTube or text tutorials. I followed the tutorials pretty much exactly how they were laid out with some originality thrown in when appropriate. I would definitely say I am at the beginner stage of C++, but I do understand concepts like classes, variables, and various algorithms.

I also have some experience with Java, and that was where I learned about the basics of back-end programming. I have taken a couple of university level course from Thompson Rivers University. These included COMP 1131 - Computer Programming and COMP 2231 - Data Structures and Algorithms. I learned about classes, objects, conditionals, loops, arrays, recursion, UML diagrams, searching and sorting algorithms, stacks, queues, lists, iterators, trees, binary search trees, heaps, graphs, and hashing. These are java files that I converted to text files, but if you are interested, check them out! The first is an example about using objects, whereas the second is a bit more useful and calculates the distance between two points after inputting the X and Y coordinates. The card program randomly prints 5 cards to the screen and states the number and suit of each (e.g. "Two of Hearts"). I also have a small example of my first time using a try/catch sequence.

• Bug Program
• Distance Program
• Card Program
• Try/Catch Exception

As you can see, these are just little assignments to show my understanding of things like variables, classes, objects, loops, etc. The exams were written on paper with absolutely no access to a computer or internet. I had to memorize everything and be able to write it down from scratch. There were no copy/paste shortcuts - I literally had to write entire programs by hand, by memory, for the exams. It was really hard but I feel like the concepts stuck with me more, even though I haven't coded in Java for a couple of years. Of course, I feel like I would need to review some of the harder concepts for me (hashing, binary trees, etc) before flying at it, but many of the concepts have stuck with me and have been used in other languages, like C++.

I received a subscription box from Robobox and created a sensor-activated robot with Arduino. The kit included 3D printed parts, electronic circuits, and instructions. I had to connect wires and write the code for it it work. It was coded in C# and I was successful at making the alarm go off when I waved my hand in front of it. It was fun! This is a field I have a strong interest in and want to explore more in-depth. The website I ordered it from does not have it anymore, but I did find a link to the RoboBox website. It is based in France, so you need to translate it from French, but here it is if you are interested. I did the first box with the infra-red alarm.

YouTube is a great source for tutorials. I have followed along with some tutorials to create text-based games in C++ like Tic Tac Toe, a knock-off of "Snake", and a very basic adventure ASCII game with the player battling against monsters using a random number generator to determine attack and defense. These were C++ based. I started to look up how to write games in Java, but quickly found that C++ was the preferred language so I decided to roll with it and see what happens.

The adventure ASCII game is about as basic as it can get for an adventure game. There is a text map and the player is shown by the "@" character. Other letters on the screen are various monsters. Walls are created using the "#" symbol. For fun, I wrote out my last name under the map. It doesn't have any applicable purpose for the game itself. Each dot is a space that the user is able to move to using the keyboard arrows. When approached with a monster, a random number generator involves a loop to determine if the player is successful or not. This was written in C++.

Tic Tac Toe is also very basic. The player inputs the x and y coordinates for the grid and it displays on the screen. Another player sitting next to the first player "in real life" will also use the keyboard to enter their own coordinates. This was also written in C++.

Some images below show the text-based games. It allowed me to get more familiar with C++ and the logic involved in programming. Although it isn't directly related to web design and development, the act of paying attention to detail, testing and checking, and keeping organized to make the parts and the whole work together are still key concepts.