Beggining Programming

[slick8790]

Ive recently decided to begin to learn how to program...i've heard that BASIC or delphi are good choices to start out...what do you guys think is a good language to start with...thanks in advance...

[keezel]

What do you want to do? If you're going to learn multiple languages then you should learn one that others are semi-based on so that you'll know a little about every language. I'd say C, C++, or Perl is good to start with, but I know others who'd disagree.

[HANDzCLEANx]

I'd say start with with C.

If you get yourself a "made simple" book, if you struggle(i know i did 1st time round) ,read it again, and again, and if you still strugling try PASCAL

PASCAL is not a "stupid" or "NOTHING" langauge , no , its a langauge that would get you on your way to being a great programmer, so when you see " hey this programming jumble is not ALL THAT HARD" then you go TACKLE(go bokke ;)) that C book of yours and then it will be like learning PASCAL all over again(quite easy).

Just one thing you should keep in mind is that , you should not say "Today i'm gonna start programming , tomorrow i'l be selling my games",
eveyone dreams(even me(and even Negative)) but there's a hard road to getting there.

THUS, pick a langauge(EENY MEENY MINY MOW) and stick to it(NO MATTER HOW SIMPLE THE PROGZ ARE THAT U MAKING) jus stick to it.

[MemorY]

i'd say for the kind of basic programming ...so you get the idea about programming ...the best language is Python .. i started with that language ..was very easy :) ...but it all depends on the person learning it ..

www.python.org
if you decide to start with this one http://www.python.org/doc/tut/tut.html

but you should probably take advice from the more experienced programmers than me ;)

[spools.exe]

I would recommend C. If you would like to start with a very easy language the i would say VB. Vb is a little more graphical. C, not to be confused with C ++ is more command prompt oriented.

[HANDzCLEANx]

i've never tried VB but some ppl recommended me to start with it aswell, bahhh i skipped on that and started with C++, things did'nt work out all that well( the book about C++ i bought with all my money was for CONVERTING from C to C++) so i did some PERL and PASCAL then tackled C.

U might even consider starting with HTML and JAVASCRIPTING to get some fundementels of programming while creating websites, and then switch to a real programming lanauge like C or VB.

[spools.exe]

Ah yes... Pascal. Its a very basic language, if wanted you can write very complex program with it. Its is very goof for beginners. I belive that was what we learned in Comp Sci 1 in school.

Here is a web site where you can download Compilers for most of these languages
http://www.bloodshed.net/

www.planetsourcecode.com is a very good website for looking at source codes of programs. Its a very good way to learn is just looking at a source code, changing something and seeing what happend when you run it. Thats how i learned.

[Deaflamb]

I think it depends on what sort of programs you want to develop. If you want to create fast simple programs, and have something that you can somewhat impress your friends with, try VisualBasic from microsoft. If your more into web design and such, start with HTML (you may know this language, but not consider it "programming"), and javascript. PHP is good if you want to get into some server side things such as database access with web sites. No matter what you start with though, if your serious about programming you'll end up moving towards C/C++. If you want to combine web programming with serious programming learn JAVA becasue once you know JAVA you know about 90% of C++.

Basically it all depends on what you want to do, i say try them all, you can never learn to much.

My only warning is that if you want to serous learn multiple languages, stay away from VisualBasic as your first one Your first langauge will usualy be where you learn the Logic behind programming, once you move to a knew language it is basically just picking up syntax. VisualBasic however does not follow most of the conventional programming practices.

DeafLamb

[Limpster]

I would really reccomend Visual Basic. Thats what I really started getting into. Its basicly all easy to understand. To make a text box say something you type text1.text = "Hello". Easy! VB can also help you learn the basics of all programming languages. For example Variables and Loops. At first I tried learning C but it was way too confusing for a first language. If your wanting to get into high level languages like C I would reccomend starting with Pascal. Its easy to understand and it teaches you the syntax of C/C++. If you need more info, tutorials, or help feel free to PM me.

[mikem0327]

VB can also help you learn the basics of all programming languages.

I will have to agree.

I started out with VB. It taught me the if, else, for, while commands that i use in c++ and java.

I would say learn VB then learn c++ and java.

the book about C++ i bought with all my money was for CONVERTING from C to C++

How the f*** did you buy a book which you thought was going to help you learn c++, but was for converting c to c++???

I flip through the book (before i check it out from the library) which is what you should have done. Didnt the title tell you anything.

Could you pm me the title.

[Q-bel]

OKAY OKAAY so from what I hear, since Ive done nothing but program on C++ for about 2 years VB should be easier to learn then??? If this is true then this is great news YEY
(okay let me not get all my hopes up)

ohh and by the way dont let any language scare you, C is not that hard to learn if you put your effort to it.

[White_Eskimo]

i tried to learn VB before i started to take a course on C++ and i thought that VB was hard. lol sounds stupid but i couldnt even get my programs to print my name. i was ten at the time, but still, i had a lot of trouble. Now that i am a fairly experienced C++ programmer, i am taking Java because i herd it was suppose to be really easy...which i think it is, but i have never built up the courage to learn VB...anyways, as a first language, i would recommend learning C++. I liked it a lot and you can do a ton of cool stuff with it

[r8devil]

I personally would recommend C. C is deep enough to let you learn most programming concepts. VB is just too much tied to M$ and this will lead you to thinking in VB when learning other programming languages. From C, it would just be a small step into C++, Java and other different programming languages out there.

my 2cents

[spools.exe]

that is correct. C is a lot like other languages. Javascript looks very simular. With a knowledge of C you would have quite an easy time with javascript and other languages.

[AxessTerminated]

I started with QBASIC as an elective in 7th grade. I soon moved to TI-BASIC for the TI-83+ (a graphing calculator). From there, some HTML , and then I dove straight into C++, picking up on VC++, and a tidbit of VB and JAVA on the way. C++ is not that difficult once you have a foundation of some sort in programming. I'd hold off on VB and try some things like QBASIC and JAVA first. Then you can move to C++ which is one of the most used languages in x86 development today. C# (see-sharp) would be an investment afterwards due to the fact that it's built on .NET framework.

my $.02
A_T


I apologize, I just realized how old this thread is.

[SexyBadGirl]

Whatever language you choose to learn, stick with it. Don't be one of these people who bounce from VB, to C, to Java, to Pascal, to AWK, to fortran, to god knows what. You'll only waste your time. Learn 1 language well, and you will be 100% better off, than learning the "basics" of 5 languages.