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?

>>64 (>>36 here) Getting linux doesn't have to be a computer-wipe away. If you don't want to repartition, you can use a Live-CD. Ubuntu, Mandriva, Knoppix and other flavors (http://distrowatch.com's sidebar on the right has 100 links to download ISO's) have "boot-from-CD and leave hard drive alone" technology. Matter of fact, you can't save things unless you have a USB memory stick handy, for, say, saving code you wrote while under the live boot.
>>65 Thanks. I swear I learned this somewhere, and it wasn't for virtual function initialization --it was someone's C code.