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Starting Programming


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If your a complete novice start with a forgiving language to teach you the basic concepts first. I recommend getting a good book on Java - it's a completely free, platform independent programming language. There are also a couple of free IDE's (integrated development envionments - encompases code editors, debuggers, compilers, interface designers etc) called Eclipse or NetBeans which work well with Java.

 

Once you have learned the basic concepts of object oriented programming in Java you can progress to more low level languages such as C or C++ or Objective C (if you want to have a go at mac application programming). Languages like this allow you greater control over things like memory management etc but can be confusing for a beginner.

 

There are of course microsoft specials like C sharp ( written with a hash but i can't find the key on my keyboard) which attempt to do the same things as Java. There is also visual basic but to be honest i would steer clear of learning proprietary languages. Once you have learned a couple they are all much of a muchness and easy enough to pick up addition ones later.

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Well there is nothing stopping you doing C/C++ (Java is based on them) but they are a bit more involved - you need learn a bit about how memory allocated and addressed and if your completely new to programming these are things that you can do without as you learn. Why C / C++ in particular?

 

I studied Java first, then went on to learn ansi C and C++ but given the choice i would always program in Java because it's just so much less effort :) (well to be honest given the choice i wouldn't program at all :blink: )

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm a "genX" programmer so can't help but think of C/C++ as a legacy language. It should be remembered for the great things it did - but it's time to move on. New paradigms, new languages etc :D Virtual Machines are the future for highly portable rapid development. Long live Java.

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I'm a "genX" programmer so can't help but think of C/C++ as a legacy language. It should be remembered for the great things it did - but it's time to move on. New paradigms, new languages etc :) Virtual Machines are the future for highly portable rapid development. Long live Java.

 

I started learning with FORTRAN and Pascal. But I wouldn't recommend those to you! I'm an old guy. C is a good language since it allows you to learn without the complexities of user interface programming. I find that using C++, you will use proprietary frameworks which will confuse you on which is the standard and which is not (ie Miscosoft MFC).

 

Get on your Mac command line and learn to compile "Hello world" and start from there.

 

It also depends on what your orientation is - IT, Engineering or Web? Obviously, C/C++ is not used for web design. You would have to go for Perl, Ruby, Python, Java.

 

 

Whichever one you decide, these guys have good books on many languages.

 

I do think that C is the base syntax for most of these languages. SO it's a good start.

 

Deitel and Deitel.

 

http://www.prenhall.com/deitel/

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  • 10 months later...

I'm also just starting out with programming.

I've done small stuff in the past but now i'm really getting into it ( inspired even more by the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" ).

 

for the past 2 days i've been reading and watching a C programming tutorial from VTC.

So far C programming has made me understand integers and how memory is within a 32bit , 16bit and now even 64 bit.

I think it does well to learn the memory parts of this stuff.

It can be a tad hard but just go over it a few times till it sinks in then you'll smile once you learned and know it.

I'm njoying what i'm learning.

Next i even have C# ( the character you couldnt find, hehe ) and .net to go over.

My final goals are to create windows apps ( i'd like to learn mac as well ), and hopefully some day create video games ( always wanted that since i was a kid creating our own versions of video game books, like Nintendo pro with school composition books, and creating our next version of games like Ninja Gaiden with features we'd like to see ).

 

Zfire, how have you been doin with your learning?

What language are you learning?

Maybe we can talk and put together what we have learnt sometimes.

I see this is an old topic, btw.

Aim is teknonrgkid303

Glad to hear from anyone else who wants to talk programming also.

Edited by yasuodances
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From people I've talked to, Java is a good beginner language. I'm taking a Java class this year and it is pretty daunting. One of the drawbacks to Java is that it's slooooooow which I'm guessing can be attributed to the garbage collector running all the time. I also started learning C/C++ on my own awhile back, and it's not too hard to get into. The other good thing about C is that it's small, portable and fast!

 

Good luck with your programming endeavours

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Yeah i read from another comparison site that says c is faster than c++. What i've heard , i like.

I have alot of high hopes on moving onto java also.

 

h**tp://www.vtc.com/products/cprog.htm has what seems to be a really good video tutorial teaching you c and also c# , .net one.

 

.net doesnt interest me as much, i dont like the idea of having alot of the coding work covered up to be easier through visual programmming.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd recommend a language like Object Pascal (Lazarus/FPC), definitely easier than Java or C++.

 

Only downside to object-pascal; Lazarus/FPC requires X11 ... and does not (yet) generate OSX apps but X11 apps.

 

They're currently trying to make it all native Mac OSX, if that get's done; then porting apps amongst MacOSX, Linux, Windows should be very easy.

 

Lazarus/FreePascal: http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/ (open source)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would say c# (so much like java, makes you confused sometime who's who). you get free IDE, free training video. and best of all, you can make a REAL window application as simple as in Xcode while you are still learning it. it is a rewarding and encouraging experience.

 

imho, C# is even better designed than Java, c++. although I dont really like ms. luckly people are porting c# to linux and osx .

 

so grab a book and you can start right way , hi programming in C# is like ...for dummys.

 

I personally programmed in c, c++, java, lisp, perl, visual basic.....(dont know much of object c)

Edited by flow
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I'm right now in the process of looking around for "ideal" development "tools".

 

I see remarks left and right that XCode is supposed to support "cross-platform"; I'm just wondering how difficult that really is? Anyone?

Do I need to completely redo the GUI for each platform?

 

I've also taken a look at RealBASIC, simple, but might be worth something as it allows creating binaries for Windows, Mac, and Linux by clicking the right button -- easy you'd say, but what are the consequences? how efficient is it? how compatible? what does the future look like?

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