Interested in programming, where do i start?

[nakedape]

I have been playing with computers for some time now, and id like to start learing programming. The only problem is i don't really know where to start. Any ideas pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

[B-MAN]

You can use tutorials to get you started.. but you really need a good book. I can't advice you on books tho. Also looking a snipets of code other people wrote can get you very far.

You also need to choose a language you wan't to program in. I heard delphi is good and made to learn programming. But people prefer c++ wich is more symbolic. There's also visual basic wich is really easy but it isn't really populair since it's not very strickt about your code. This makes code really hard to ready and makes bugs hard to find. And it's slow (you won't see much of a difference in smaller programs).

Don't stick me to my words plz... i'm just a nublet myself.

Edit: If anyone knows a good book plz post i'm searching one myself... for a beginnning programmer.

program Lotto;

uses Crt;

function GetUserNumber : byte;
var
   x: byte;
begin
     read(x);
     result := x;
end;

function GetComputerNumber : byte;
var
   x: byte;
begin
     randomize;
     x := random(5) + 1;
     result := x;
end;

procedure GameStart(var money: integer);
var
   prize: byte;
   x: array[1..5] of boolean;
   counter: byte;
   usernumber: array[1..5] of byte;
   computernumber: array[1..5] of byte;
begin
     writeln;
     write('Please fill in your numbers (from 1 to 5) one at the time followed by an "Enter"');
     writeln;
     for counter := 1 to 5 do
         begin
              usernumber[counter] := GetUserNumber;
              while (usernumber[counter] < 1) or (usernumber[counter] > 5) do
                    begin
                         writeln('Please choose a number from 1 to 5');
                         usernumber[counter] := GetUserNumber;
                    end;
              computernumber[counter] := GetComputerNumber;
         end;
     ClrScr;
     counter := 0;
     writeln('Your Number    Computer`s Number');
     for counter := 1 to 5  do
              writeln(usernumber[counter], '              ', computernumber[counter]);
     counter := 0;
     for counter := 1 to 5 do
         begin
              if usernumber[counter] = computernumber[counter] then
                 x[counter] := true
              else
                 x[counter] := false
         end;
     if (x[1] = true) and (x[2] = true) and (x[3] = true) and (x[4] = true) and (x[5] = true) then
          begin
               prize := 5;
          end
     else if (x[1] = true) and (x[2] = true) and (x[3] = true) and (x[4] = true) then
          begin
               prize := 4;
          end
     else if (x[1] = true) and (x[2] = true) and (x[3] = true) then
          begin
               prize := 3;
          end
     else if (x[1] = true) and (x[2] = true) then
          begin
               prize := 2;
          end
     else if (x[1] = true) or (x[2] = true) or (x[3] = true) or (x[4] = true) or (x[5] = true) then
          begin
               prize := 1;
          end
     else
          begin
               prize := 0;
          end;

     money := money + prize;
     writeln('You have won ', prize, ' credit(s)!!! You now have ' , money , ' credits left.');
end;

var
   money: integer;
   act: byte;
begin
     money := 20;
     writeln('Welcome to Lotto! written in Dev-Pascal by XXXXXXXX!');
     writeln('You have 20 credits and every bet costs 2 credits.');
     writeln;
     act := 2;
     while (act <> 1) and (money > 1) do
     begin
          money := money - 2;
          writeln;
          writeln('You have ', money, ' credits left!');
          GameStart(money);
          writeln;
          writeln('Do you want to quit?');
          writeln('Type 1 to quit or 2 to continue');
          read(act);
          while (act > 2) or (act < 1) do
          begin
               writeln('This option is invalid, please choose 1 to quit or 2 to continue');
               read(act);
          end;
     end;
end.

This is about the best i ever wrote

 

[OvenMaster]

If you want to learn programming for your own use, books on their own are great.
If you want to learn programming in order to earn a living, a college diploma will be required.
Tom

 

[mikekelly]

Keep a look out for Ebooks or cheap books on Ebay, Visual Basic is about easiest as far as I know, I am currently learning Java with a learn from home college, its about a 12 month course depending on how much you put in each week and they find you a job on completion of your exams after the studying has finished.

If you want to learn just bits and peices for a one off project or don't want a career in programming then look on google for tutorials.

Mike

 

[thebeginning]

i'd recommend C++, Java, or C# for starters. try one of those 'learn C++ in 24 hours' books, they're usually quite good.

 

[LITHIUM]

i wanna learn C++ really bad lol

 

[i.Angel]

I know HTML (easy) and I'm almost done with Visual Basic. Visual Basic was very easy, but I also had a teacher helping me. Check to see if their are any classes available at your school. I know right now that I am taking BCP and I have learned HTML, Visual Basic, a little of C++ and a little of JavaScript.

Yes, I too want to get a very good book because after this year I am not going to be taking and more computer classes in order to persue a career in the health field.

 

[mrbagrat]

Ruby is really easy. No compiling, and the commands (is that what they're called?) are easy to remember.

 

[kobaj]

HTML is quite easy and can come in handy with other programs. I have tried learning C++ with a couple of the "learn in 24 days" books but attention span wasnt long enough to finish. Good luck with what you choose.

 

[i.Angel]

I just checked Amazon.com and they have 5,869 books on programming... It's got everything in here from C++ to graphics. Check it out, I'll give you guys the link if ya'll are interested.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref...g books,i:stripbooks,n:1000,n:5,n:3839&page=1

 

[nakedape]

You guys rock. this has been a big help, and i appreciate it immensely.

 

[LITHIUM]

i just wish i knew someone who would teach me lol

 

[nakedape]

yeah, i have a feeling it would be much easier a thing to learn if there was someone instructing. but that doesnt seem to be an option at present, so you make due. i feel retarded though, i didnt even think to look up online tutorials.

 

[texmex]

I have learned (and used) most programming languages in my time. I started with Basic, then moved onto Z80 Assembler, Z86, PIC, X86 (I used to write BIOS code for IBM and then Phoenix), C, C++, Pascal, Visual Basic, Javascript etc.. I have aslo taught, Z86 Assembler, C++, and perl to graduate level. (along with SQL, Networks and Datacomms, etc..)

Each time you learn a new programming language, it becomes easier than the last. The important thing is to actually start doing it. The more you do, the more proficient you become.

Personally I'd suggest you learn HTML first, as you can compile this using nothing more sophisticated than Notepad.exe. You can then instantly see the results by opening the file with your browser (no need to learn the idiosyncracies of linking and compiling, heaps and stacks).

Next you can start introducing Javascript. Now you're actually programming. Next you want to learn the DOM. So you can really start to produce some remarkable results.

For programming of serious windows applications I'd recommend C++, but this is not a very easy language to pick up. Unfortunately you need to learn a lot of the symantics of the language before you can actually start programming. If you've already got some experience of writing Javascript, a lot of it's features will, by this time, be fairly familiar.

You could also start writing macros in Word, Excel, or Access. These all use thier own flavour of VB.

I wouldn't bother with books at this stage. There are a multitude of tutorials available on the internet. I have a bookcase full of Programming books, but nowadays, I find it quicker to do a google on a key word than bother looking it up in an index.

Once you start programming it's worth regestering with an active developers forum. The Mozilla forum would be a pretty good one for HTML and javascript. (This would also encourage you to stick to the W3C standards, instead of learning proprietry IE stuff.)

You'll then be able to post your code and find out where you are going wrong. In response you'll have experts queing up to show you every possible way you could do it differently.

Once you get into programming, you never stop learning. My latest foray is into XUL to write extentions for Firefox and Thunderbird. At the end of the day, if you want to make a living, you'll never do it in one language alone. Even if you just want to develop web applications, you'll need to learn HTML, Javascript (along with a complete understanding of the DOM) and perl, as an absolute minimum. Idealy you'll also want to learn ASP, VB, SQL, AODBC plus a few other bits along the way.

Best of luck.

 

[Liam]

Well you obviously need to learn the basics before jumping into the deep end, I tried to learn C++ without actually knowing HTML quite well, I'm now learning PHP, HTML and flash; my ICT teacher is going to teach my VB.
Anyway goodluck! :]

Edit: Oops sorry for the double post :x

 

[Liam]

Well you obviously need to learn the basics before jumping into the deep end, I tried to learn C++ without actually knowing HTML quite well, I'm now learning PHP, HTML and flash; my ICT teacher is going to teach my VB.
Anyway goodluck! :]

 

[thebeginning]

i just wish i knew someone who would teach me lol

heh, yeah it's tough finding someone. i used to be into that stuff, but fell out of it after learning some C++ and a little HTML. My dad taught a small class on it (he has like 23+ years experience, so he knows alot )

 

[texmex]

I didnt even think to look up online tutorials.

There are plenty of them online. I just did a google search on the phrase online HTML tutorial This was the first one in the results. If you just ignore the ads splattered all over the sides of the screen, the content looks OK. Just give it a whirl. Like I say, you never start learning until you actually start doing it.

 

[i.Angel]

I just talked to my BCP teacher and I've gotten a paper about programming tutorials at one of my local universities.

Idk, hopefully my mom will let me go to one of them. My parents think computers are a waste of time and money