Any computer programmers here?

[general_kill]

i want to start making my own computer programs but i have no programming experience at all. ive been told i should get c++ down before going on to anything else. i searched around but didnt find anything beginner friendly readings so i decided i'm going to make a trip to the bookstore tomorrow. so doesnt anyone have any recommendations for good beginner books? please post ur personal experience with it.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

We have lots in the CompTalk forum. Moved.

 

[Grisu]

I started with c++ too. It's not the easiest language to start with (VB and Java or C# are way easier). but once you master it, the other languages will come very easy to you.
I really can't recommend any books to you, since those I used are all in german, but generally I'd take a book that explains the basic concepts to you and then offers you a few examples and (most important) exercises, to apply these concepts.
You can't learn a programming language by reading, you have to code, start with very small programs and take it from there.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

I got Sams Teach Yourself C++ ... any book will do fine. For a free tutorial, which I consider very good, check out http://www.cprogramming.com
, and if you have questions, you can ask them here or in their forum for C++.

 

[Padma]

Once you learn one language, then next becomes easier - you already have most of the concepts, etc. By the time you know 5 or 6 languages they seem like nothing more than dialects.

If C++ seems too daunting, try something like VB or Java. Once you have a firm grasp on concepts and practices, it will make C++ easier.

(BTW: as "favored" as C++ is, it really is a crap language. There is usually something better to write any program in. )

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Best way to start, if you want to just know the basics is BASIC. If you want to pursue deeper, give C a try. It'll take slightly longer to learn, but you can do much more with it.

But programming is less about the language itself than about concepts and algorythmics (the fun part).

I started off with Pascal and fiddled with Visual Basic for a while. I'm now in deep down in the trenches of C++ and Assembler (note the irony ).

(BTW: as "favored" as C++ is, it really is a crap language. There is usually something better to write any program in. )

Well, as a professional programmer, care to give some pointers ? (no pun intended )

 

[Chieftess]

Well, as a professional programmer, care to give some pointers ? (no pun intended )

*groan*



Anyway, I think it's best to start out with C/C++, and get a good handle for the syntax. Basic is a bit different, and Pascal (Delphi now I think) seems to be a hybrid of the two. But, once you're familar with those, you can easily translate between them. I've got a small programming tutorial on my website if you want to take a look. It's not much though, but just the basics.

 

[homeyg]

Definately start with C++ (and don't switch to anything else, unless, of course, you want to get into something like web programming), and I'm not gonna mention why because I basically got yelled at by other forum members when I stated my beliefs.

I use C++ all the way!

I also think that this has to be the easiest language to use, except for a few parts.

Try the tutorials here to get started.

 

[Bluemofia]

I use VB programing.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Anyway, I think it's best to start out with C/C++, and get a good handle for the syntax. Basic is a bit different, and Pascal (Delphi now I think) seems to be a hybrid of the two. But, once you're familar with those, you can easily translate between them. I've got a small programming tutorial on my website if you want to take a look. It's not much though, but just the basics.

I'm past the basics already. In about a month or I'll be wrapping up C++ and start doing some serious coding. But I was thinking of diversifying, learning new languages... And since I don't have a nack for practicality I started messing around with these obtruse and useless languages like brainf*** or befunge. Fun but useless

 

[RedWolf]

If you're interested in programming as a hobby then great - I wish you all the best.

If you're looking forward to a career - I'd choose something else. The industry in in the crapper and what few jobs are left are being shipped overseas. Failing that, since every teenager knows how to program these days they also function as a cheap source of labour. My company ends up having summer students do most of the programming for $11 per hour.

 

[homeyg]

Failing that, since every teenager knows how to program these days they also function as a cheap source of labour.

Actually most people I know don't even know what programming is, so I kind of keep the fact that I do major programming secret from all of my friends.

 

[microbe]

Java is the best laugnage for beginners. Don't waste time on VB, which is about one particular platform and not laugnage.

For myself I am a C programmer and nothing else beats it.

 

[Padma]

I generally have to agree with RedWolf about employment prospects. I work in a "vertical" environment, with some very stringent requirements, and we still manage to farm out some basic stuff to interns every summer. (A vertical environment is one where everything is "in-house". No software we write is released outside our customer's workplace(s); it is not sold in the marketplace; it solves a specific requirement for a specific customer. As for our stringent requirements, we have to be cleared for access to Top Secret (plus), with everything that entails.)

As for C++, all you have to do is read a lot of the code written in it. While it is a very powerful language, it is incredibly easy to obfuscate it, and to shoot yourself in the foot with it. Part of that is because it is based on C, which is even easier to screw yourself with, and part of it is the *way* it is based on C: many people wrote "extensions" to C, and C++ basically collected all these together, pruning *some* of the duplicate methodologies. So there are often multiple, incompatible ways of doing the same thing.

At work ("serious" programming), I prefer using java, largely because of its platform-independence. At home, on my Linux box, I am finding Python to be very useful.

 

[Chieftess]

It's also like that at the State level where I work, except it isn't top secret. (I doubt anything in the Department of Education is) All programs are in-house. Right now, I use Visual Basic, C#, (both .NET, and some older versions, too...) and Javascript.

 

[ainwood]

I learnt VB, but would actually recommend that you steer clear of it. Whilst it is very easy to learn, support will be stopped for it very soon. It is not a true object-orientated language, which makes it much less powerful than languages like C++ or C# (I use, and am learning, C# now). You could perhaps try VB.NET, which is still relatively easy to learn, yet a lot more powerful.

 

[homeyg]

I learnt VB, but would actually recommend that you steer clear of it. Whilst it is very easy to learn, support will be stopped for it very soon. It is not a true object-orientated language, which makes it much less powerful than languages like C++ or C# (I use, and am learning, C# now). You could perhaps try VB.NET, which is still relatively easy to learn, yet a lot more powerful.

Just stay clear of BASIC all together. It's not a powerful language at all and it's too old.

 

[Chieftess]

From what I've noticed of BASIC programmers is that they really like the point-click-drag-drop and run part... Very little code.

And I really hate it when I have to look at Visual Basic code with only "dim" and the variable. "Dim" as WHAT!?

Int? Float (err, double in VB -- I actually wrote (float) once in VB code until I remembered that it doesn't have that... and they have this wierd thing called "currency" and "memo".)? Object? String (this seems to be a favorite...)?

Atleast I have C# programming to keep me occupied... once I get access to that development server...

 

[ainwood]

And I really hate it when I have to look at Visual Basic code with only "dim" and the variable. "Dim" as WHAT!?

Why - Variant of course!

Int? Float (err, double in VB -- I actually wrote (float) once in VB code until I remembered that it doesn't have that... and they have this wierd thing called "currency" and "memo".)? Object? String (this seems to be a favorite...)?

Currency is a 64-bit floating-point data type. Strangely, because VB doesn't support bit shifting, the currency data type offers a useful enabler hack to do it.

 

[homeyg]

If you decide to go with C++, general_kill, I would highly recommend this book. It does a very, very good job of teaching the language to you. I wouldn't have wasted money on my numerous other C++ books if I had known about this one before I did.

-Just my input

If you're looking forward to a career - I'd choose something else. The industry in in the crapper and what few jobs are left are being shipped overseas.

You could always start your own programming company.