Where to begin?

Undergod

I'm interested in learning about programming, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

What would you recommend? I'm able to get my hands on a Visual Basic 6 compiler, would this be a good place to start?

Seth Brundle

What have you done before?
What do you want to do?

PhantomBeaker

Ok. Personally, I have no experience with VB. I am learning Java and perl though... Both of which have free compilers available

At any rate, whatever language you choose, the best way to learn is to get someone to sit down and help you learn. They can walk you through basic variable types, if/then/else statements, loops, arrays and objects. Once you know that you're set to go bounding off into the world-wide web learning things as you want to (pretty much).

So, a friend who knows a language or one of those evening courses would be among the better ways to start. Reading your profile, the evening courses probably aren't an option.

I say learn it from another human because it's easier than book-learning how to program.

That said, O'Reilly do some really really cool books on programming. Their "Learning X" series where X is the language in question is generally a safe bet.

If you're interested in Java, you can get their compiler for free from http://java.sun.com/ and click on JavaSE 1.5 or JavaSE 5.0 (same thing - they just like to mess around with version numbers on occasion) and download a copy of the JDK (that's the developer kit - it has a compiler in there, which is something that's essential for writing software).

If you have any friends in college who are doing CS, see if you can get their first-year notes - it'll probably be in Java or C, and you'll learn pretty much all you need to start learning the rest off the web.

Enjoy,
Phantom Beaker (former CTYI kiddy)

Undergod

kbannon wrote:

What have you done before?
What do you want to do?

I've never programmmed before, I'm kinda familiar with DOS and HTML but I don't know any actual programming languages. THe VB compiler I was talking about comes with a thick manual of commands and tutorials and stuff, but I wasn't sure if it'd be any good. I've got a bit of spare time at the mo and I was thinking of learning some over the summer.

As for what I want to do, I'd just like to understand how computers work better, but the idea of web desgn or learning about security seem interesting.

PhantomBeaker wrote:

Reading your profile, the evening courses probably aren't an option.

I'm in the middle of a CAD course in my local IT right now! But you're right, it's not really an option. Thanks for your help.

Evil Phil

If you wanted to go the C# route http://www.sharpdevelop.com/ is a free IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the C# programming language. Although I've only briefly looked at it myself I've only heard good things about it. There's more free IDE's for Java (afaik) somebody else can point you in their direction.

VB6 is a good language but I think Java or C# maybe better for learning to program. They have more universal concepts involved.

scojones

It all depends on personal preference tbh. Do you want to program on windows or UNIX/Linux? Maybe both (java)?

Are you doing this as a hobby or do you want to make a career out of it?

You could learn C, and read some Linux Development books so you can get the idea of make files,gtk,QT, read the gcc manual => brilliant for those sunday afternoons on the toilet.

You could learn C# for windows, there's alot of resources available online e.g. http://www.codeproject.com

Or you could learn JAVA. It's really up to you man!

At the moment I'm fairly good with JAVA,C,C#,php,SQL, but i'm going down the developing software under Linux road. I'm doing a Linux Kernel Development course with the company I work for. Pretty interesting stuff.

jessy

Undergod wrote:

I'm interested in learning about programming, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

What would you recommend? I'm able to get my hands on a Visual Basic 6 compiler, would this be a good place to start?

TBH No. programming is language independent, you learn to break problem down into there smallest parts, VB does not accommodate for this to well, I would recommend you learn C.

Pinhead

Even though I sing praise of Java nowadays (I honestly don't think it can be bettered), I started out by teaching myself C. Once I became good at it, every other language seemed to fall into place.

Go for C.

scojones

C is the language of the gods

rsynnott

Pinhead wrote:

Even though I sing praise of Java nowadays (I honestly don't think it can be bettered),

Sorry, WHAT? It's probably the best sucvh language around, but it can be bettered alright...

Syth

Best way to learn programming is to programme. Read a bit, then code a lot. Repeat.

And I recommend Python. (And everyone will recommend their own favorite language, so you'll hear 1000 different recommendations). It takes a while to 'get' programming. Once you get it, it will be very easy to learn other languages.

PhantomBeaker

Only thing about Python is what a friend said to me about perl.

It's a language that will introduce some habits that you'll probably find anywhere else... for the reason that it's written for humans, not computers.

like
a, b = 5,3

Try doing that in c or java. Eep!

It's extremely handy, I'll admit. But it could cultivate some bad habits. So if you start there, you may not want to go back. However, one thing about Python is that it will FORCE you to indent properly

Steveire

sjones wrote:

C is the language of the gods

LOL

#include <Heaven and Earth.h>
#include <Light.h>

void repetition(){
printf("And it was Good");
}

void firstDay(light, dark){
day=light;
night=dark;
}

etc.

Pinhead

rsynnott wrote:

Sorry, WHAT? It's probably the best sucvh language around, but it can be bettered alright...

I should have phrased that better. I meant, compared to other languages available today, it can't be beaten.

tempest

sjones wrote:

read the gcc manual => brilliant for those sunday afternoons on the toilet.

ROFL !

jmcc

C is good. It teaches you the concepts of programming without having to resort to such perverse teaching languages as Pascal. Many of the concepts in programming apply in all languages.

Once you understand these concepts, it is merely a question of knowing how to express them in whatever programming language your are using. A major factor in all this should be the kind of programming you intend to do. If you are going to be doing a lot of high level user interface stuff on a Windows platform with some functions attached then VB is probably the way to go. For serious power work, C is a better choice.

The script languages like Python, TCL, PHP etc are good for web connected work in a web or Unix environment. (Though Perl is a seriously powerful language that makes some compiled languages seem like toys.) Java is probably a good language for something but it would be better to have the solid grounding of C first as many other languages have grown from it.

Regards...jmcc

nadir

Syth wrote:

Best way to learn programming is to programme. Read a bit, then code a lot. Repeat.

And I recommend Python. (And everyone will recommend their own favorite language, so you'll hear 1000 different recommendations). It takes a while to 'get' programming. Once you get it, it will be very easy to learn other languages.

I agree , python is a sexy language//

What you really need is a nice fat linux install, with gcc and vim.

damnyanks

nadir wrote:

I agree , python is a sexy language//

What you really need is a nice fat linux install, with gcc and vim.

He wants to learn to program

I think that may be a bit too much for a beginner to take on. Although C would teach all the concepts of programming (Bar oop) just do it on windows to start off with

nadir

no point in learning bad habits. Get stuck in.

Undergod

Thanks all. That's plenty of summer days wasted...

delanest

go with VB. Good to start off as you get cool results quite early.

This way you don't get pissed off spending hours on a program that simulates a vending machine (first college project in java, a few years ago now), O the pain and effort

pickarooney

Start by learning some of the theory of programming, philisophies of different approaches to problem solving, object-orientation etc. Don't go too far into it but get a good feel for what languages are out there, which ones are commonly used for what purposes and which ones have the most in common.

rsynnott

delanest wrote:

go with VB. Good to start off as you get cool results quite early.

This way you don't get pissed off spending hours on a program that simulates a vending machine (first college project in java, a few years ago now), O the pain and effort

If you MUST go for VB, then at least go for .NET (you can get the beta of the new VisStudio.net free). They've managed to turn it into something resembling a programming language, an impressive achievement. It's still horrible in absolute terms, tho. Go for Java, or C.