Preliminary C++ Ranking System

AKA: C++ Belts
Students must understand/accomplish the following criteria to obtain the given ranks.

6th Kyu: IDE installed; Hello World compiled
5th Kyu: Variables, strings; functions; console I/O
4th Kyu: Arrays; loops; structs
3rd Kyu: Classes; recursive functions; pass-by-reference; using std::vectors
2nd Kyu: Inheritance; pointers; template functions
1st Kyu: Polymorphism; dynamically-allocated variables; template classes
1st Dan: Basic data structures; basic graph theory (DFS, BFS)
...

And so forth.
The basic idea is a way to quantify proficiency in programming languages, aside from an mildly arbitrary "X years of experience". That, and so I can say I have a black belt in C++.

Addendum to Favorite Games

Portal 2

The first Portal was intentionally omitted from the previous list, because even though Portal is definitely a must-play, it isn't one of my go-to games for a list of favorites. Portal 2 was omitted not for similar reasons, but because I hadn't played it yet. I beat it yesterday. Portal 2 isn't necessarily a must-play - it feels redundant sitting next to Portal 1 in that regard - but it definitely goes on the favorites list.

My Favorite Games

In no particular order:

Mass Effect 2

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy X

Super Metroid

Chrono Trigger

Demon's Souls

Disgaea (series)

Half-Life 2

Star Fox 64

Pokemon (series)

Kingdom Hearts II

Super Mario Bros. 3