I took some programming courses in school, c, c++ and java.

Im out of school and would like to keep my skills fresh and even furthur my knowledge. Im sure computer languages are like any other language, if you dont use them on a regular basis, you forget them. I have the compilers installed and Im ready to code. Unfortunatly Im not very creative and cant dream up exercises that will keep my skills maintained.

I was wondering if any of you know a good sources of programming exercises.

Programming is more of a hobby for me, I dont do it for a living. Finding new and different programs to create to keep me sharp is important if Im going to remember what I learned but like I said, Im not very creative.

thanks

That is the same with most people in the opensource community.

My quesion would be - what are your interests? Are you into music? Web development? Take a look at the projects on sf.net, and find one that interests you. You could help out to start with by testing and submiting some bugs and patches then maybe one of the project leaders will ask you (or if you want you could ask them) to join the development team.

There is no point in coding somehting you don't want/need or enjoy doing.

yeah its really hard to make up some projects for yourself...especially if you have a full life and are juggling job/wife/friends/kids etc...

The above idea is a good start, but not foolproof...I wish there was a foolproof way, it takes a bit of discipline I guess to stick with whatever projects you choose.

For me, I'm trying to work on stuff I'll use in daily life, specialized tools for stuff I do at work or stuff I want to use in my daily computing routine...

start small and work up.

Another option, once you feel comfortable is to join an existing open source project that interests you...

thanks