Programming newbie

cousin_borat

lighten up, the guy is having a joke.

As per previous suggestions Java is as good a place as anywhere to start.

jackdaw

of course im joking!!!!

it can be frustrating at times but its quite a reward when you get a
niggling bastard of a problem solved!!!

So i still stand by my original post .. Deitel & Deitel books are excellent
for beginners...

scojones

I had a big reply written up and I lost it. Damn power cut.

Every language has a big list of pros and cons. Language wars are common when trying to guide a newbie. Fact of the matter is, the language you choose should always be the best for the job. I wouldn't really listen to the Java heads on here, who talk of write once run anywhere because at this moment in time, how is that a benefit for you now though? It's not.
If you're picking up a language purely for getting dirty with programming, and getting used to the concepts (variables, functions, scope, etc etc) then I would recommend C as a starter language - for many reasons. Firstly, it's a procedural language. I firmly believe before anyone ever learns OOP, they need to dabble in procedural fun for a few months.

If I were you what I would do is have a read through http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/ before buying any C books, and please please stay away from The C Programming Language (all editions) for now. That book is NOT a book to be read by someone who is unfamiliar with the C language and also with programming concepts.
Once you are familiar with C, I would then take a look at The Pragmatic Programmer before looking at any other languages. Once you've read this, read it again and then you have a few choices to make. Do you want to go the Java route, C++ route, C# or stay with C and possibly do some lower level coding.

To be honest, by the time you've gotten comfortable with C, and read the Pragmatic Programmer I'm pretty sure you'll know what you want to do at that stage. This is definitely the path I recommend to get introduced to programming. Once you've done it, you'll know if this is for you.

Evil Phil

After the Pragmatic Programmer I'd recommend Code Complete 2 by the Microsoft Press.

a5y

scojones wrote:

I wouldn't really listen to the Java heads on here, who talk of write once run anywhere because at this moment in time, how is that a benefit for you now though? It's not.

Concerning the write-once-run-anywhere aspect of Java that's a good point and one I hadn't really given much consideration.

Currently I'm using an oldish Windows XP box, and in the next month I'll be getting myself a laptop (probably a 2.16Ghz white Macbook). For this reason I thought the write-once-run-anywhere bit was important.

(Though with the boot camp and parallels desktop stuff maybe this isn't as important; I imagine until I actually use the thing I won't know for definite one way or another)

DISCLAIMER.
This post is not intended to be be Windows V Mac flamebait or Java Vs C++ flamebait. Its just kinda turned into that on its own. Honest!

rsynnott

From the point of view of learning to program, this isn't an issue; both Windows and MacOS have C and C++ compilers.

Once you actually start writing applications, of course, Java applications are likely to be more easily made platform independent than C/C++ ones.