i want to stop being a beginner

Yeah so I've taken a few c++ classes at college, up to data structures. But just because I know how to write a bs-tree doesn't mean im an EXPERT PROGRAMMER just yet. The most complicated program I've written so far is one that solves the Towers of Hanoi by brute force. I still consider myself a beginner-level programmer.

Does anyone have any tips on how to improve my skill? Like a large one-man project that will teach me how to write & manage larger programs? Whenever I got the book store and look at the programming sections everything is either TEACH YOURSELF JAVA IN 24 HOURS or like START C++ FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED. Everything is aimed at beginners but I want to move on.

protips?

>>37
*sigh*
Segmentation faults and and garbage at the end of poorly allocated char* C-strings. Adding strings to other strings, which is as old as 1960's BASIC itself, is one of the most unmanageable chores for any beginner programmer faces in C/C++.

Schools don't teach you the pitfalls of char arrays, and I'm just trying to help a guy out, so they won't waste as much time chasing crashes and bugs