Learning to program

Well, I'm prolly gonna get in over my head with this, so don't kick me too hard(& please, noting the face
:D )

I've been looking into the security scene for about 7 years now, 6 of it has been trying to learn something. Unfortionatly, I must be retarded because I've learned very little about computers. I learned HTML, all well & good, then I tried to learn Java(no good), then C(no good), C++(no good), Basic(no good). I've been going in circles now for 6 years trying to learn something, but all I've managed to come up with is being "that guy who comes over to fix the computer". II know more than most of the people I've meet, one person I'm dead even with, & one person I can learn from. He's a hardware guy. I did learn alot about electronics, but that has little to do with learning about security. So I'm up against something I've heard about for years but haven't tried yet, Assembly Language. I really want this to be my breakthrough into a new level of understanding, to push me over the level of just another guy who can set up a computer/network. It's been 6 years of not getting it, if you have anything that can help this sink in, I would appericiate the help.

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So I'm up against something I've heard about for years but haven't tried yet, Assembly Language.

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Here's a thread I posted on assembly.

Assembly is beautiful but I would not begin with it. Have you tried Visual Basic? Just a thought -- you didn't mention it in your post. Hope this helps.

that's beautiful tutorial. yea, start out with something simplle programming language. Like Visual Basic or C++

Aseembly is hard if youre just starting out.

I'm an assembler programmer. It is a simple language, but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. You have to have a pretty good idea of how the computer internals work and how they interact.

C++ isnt good to start with. Its really complex and hard. I recomend visual basic first because it gives you a base. I tryed c++ first and had no idea what i was doing. Then i tried vb and then went back to c++ and knew what i was doing.

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then I tried to learn Java(no good), then C(no good), C++(no good), Basic(no good). I've been going in circles now for 6 years trying to learn something

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Maybe you should look into being a tech support guy? :p jk

I started with VB. Learned it all well and fine, but now I'm learning Java, and some of the ideas that are in VB aren't in some of the better languages like Java or C. Like when you program in VB, you make a syntax mistake, Visual Basic will either fix it for you, or prompt you. In Java, you make ONE TEENY, LITTLE, WORTHLESS syntax error, and your brooding over it for hours.

So what I would do, is try and learn Java again. I created bad programming habits for myself by starting on VB. Plus once you learn Java, you can easily branch off into other languages like C and C++.

And of course, the best thing you can do out of all of these, is read. Read anything and everything.

To learn c++ is like put a three year old on a motar bike in the middle of the freeway and tell him to learn how to drive a bicycle. Try learning from visual basic it is easy and you will enjoy it.

Definatly assembly is not a language to start with.

When you say basic no good what exactly do you mean by this. I learned alot by reading tutorials online but found gaps in my knowledge preventing me from moveing on. Tutorial writers often miss out important peices of information, it is dificult as the tutorial writer has information he/she wants to share, but does not know what the reader already knows or doesnt know. These knowledge gaps act as large pebbles on road. We all start out small and work up the ladder. Maybe you can ask this friend of yours how he started. Everyone starts somewhere. I myself started to learn programming with Qbasic. I was driven by curyosity after talking to a new friend I met at college. My curiocity got me far. After hearing and reading so much about google the search engine I decided to give it a try, I then stumbled across a search engine tutorial and read that. This gave me many pointers.

Perhaps this has given you some guidence.

I'm just about to write a review on this book in the book reviews forum, but check out getting a copy of SAMS Teach Yourself Begininning Programming in 24 Hours. It's a good basis starting from BASIC and moving into C/C++. It's by no means complete, meaning you'll have to build upon the basics you learn in the book to move into a specific programming language. However, it's been very helpful to me, it's not condecending, in fact I think it's one of the best introductory books, with many working examples, and even a CD of examples and compilers for you to try and run.

It covers BASIC, C/C++, Java, JavaScript, and some HTML (mostly for example purposes). I got this copy at the library.

Sometimes it's just a matter of sitting down, and really reading the material. There's no reason you couldn't get this book. A 10 year old could take this book and fly with it. But it's also adaptive for older readers and those wanting to retouch upon basic programming skills.

A good programming language for beginners is python it's quite a poweful language if you are interested go to www.python.org they are good links to tutorials at python.org to have fun

Maybe it's not what you've been trying to learn, but how you're going about doing so...
if you really want to learn how to program, i assume that you are very interested, it might be worth the money to take a class. to me- having someone explain the basics, makes all the difference in the world. and if you don't want to shell out any cache- GOTO your local community college and sit in a few of the classes (i do this all the time, it's free education- you can even get away with this at a nice university, if the classes are large enough)- but, before i start to ramble on: taking a class might be the way to do it? or even find a friend who wants to learn the same stuff, and study together...

i hope this helps :-)

btw- i love to program, and wouldn't mind answering a few questions...

Personally i'd recommend perl for beginners. It uses c syntax, and allows the use of objects, and is VERY good at manipulating text. Along with TK, perl can create windows applications pretty easily. And once, you've gotten a good handle on perl you can switch to c and c++ quite easily. Add all this to the fact that perl is completely free, and the perl community is extremely helpful and knowledgeable it all makes perl very easy and powerful.

but that's just my opinion.

Start with Qbasic. That was my first language=0)

1 If Fallen_Hobbit = Dork
5 Goto 20
10 Else Goto 25
15 Kill Fallen_Hobbit
20 End

eww, yuck spaghetti code- blah! (j/k it's a joke)
it's not 1984, get out of your cave ;-)

Basic is great (in fact i started with it too) but it does make it a bit harder to move on to more complicated/powerful languages... If all else fails, learn visual basic- rapid application development (really quick) although it can be a resource hog and relatively simple programs require large bulky DLL's

in my opinion the easiest programming language to learn...
c'mon, think about the name BASIC...
[B(eginner's) A(ll-purpose) S(ymbolic) I(nstruction) C(ode).]

First, I have to say that I admire your tenacity! Everyone has a different learning style and you should take that into account when you are learning to program.

If you don't do well with tutorials, then go take a class and learn some of the basics. When I first started out, I purchased a book "Absolute Beginner's Guide to Programming" by Greg Perry.

It as a basic intro into the world of programming that touches on a variety of Programming Languages; i.e. FORTRAN, C, C++ Visual Basic, QBASIC, etc. I would suggest that you read this book first. From there, you should have an idea as to what language is being presented
and what you think you understand. Otherwise, you could be like the dog chasing his/her tail. Going around in circles and getting nowhere fast.

Hope this helps!!!


Some people are wise and some are otherwise!

SpIdErMaN1954

Learning VB 6 first gave me a good base to start learning C and C++. Once you understand the logic, mostly the syntax just changes an maybe there are a couple added features. Well definately theres added features but VB is a good start

as you've already discovered, learning to program is NOT an easy thing to do. it's important to realize very early that no one in the world can learn everything there is to know about any one language. there is no one good language to start with and no one language that fits every job. what you have to do is decide what it is you want to accomplish and then find the best tool for the job. it takes years to be an effective programmer.

i always highly recommend c++ b/c many language borrow from its syntax, and as you prbly know by now its very portable. but i won't lie and say its an easy thing to learn. you're really going to have to spend time reading and programming. stick with it, nothing feels better then writing an elegent algorithm.

good luck!

If you want to lear to program perl is a good start. You can find a lot of books about perl programing on the internet. I mean free books. A place to get your books for perl is freebooks.by.ru .You will find there other programing books if you decide to learn something else.
Hope that helps!

kinda cool for me cause im taking a programming course in school [c++] so i kinda have to learn it or i fail