Learning code, where should I start?

[gifi4]

I plan on learning to code and well, I don't know where to start, is C# a good place to start or not?
Any tips? What language should I learn afterwards?

 

[Waflix]

I started with VBScript. The basics are quite simple, and it helped me understanding how it works.
Then I learned Python. Just because a friend of mine recommended it.
After Python, I started learning C++.
I don't have experience with C#.

I have also collected a few sites that helped me, and a few tutorials.

• W3schools - A site full of tutorials how to learn languages HTML, CSS, JavaScript, VBS, and many more.
• VBS Tutorial - The VBS Tutorial on W3schools.
• Python - The official site for the language Python.
• Python BG - The Python Beginners Guide. I used this as my tutorial for learning the language.
• C++ Tutorial - A good tutorial for learning C++.
• C# Tutorial - A site for learning C#. I haven't used it, so I don't know if it's useful.

 

[Issac]

I wouldn't bother with VBScript actually... I'd jump straight on to C++.
Java is also a good place to start...

 

[xist]

I bought this last month having no experience at all with programming. It's actually a really good resource and i *think* i'm doing ok working through all the examples, drills and exercises.

Having guides online is great, but nothing beats the ability to read 10 mins here and there when you don't have computer access.

 

[Wabsta]

I wouldn't start with VBscript. It'll only get you unmotivated to code.
You should start, or right on with C++, but that can be hard. Or Java or C#. I have personally learned programming with Java.

 

[Berthenk]

If you're interested in game development, I'd recommend C# with XNA. I use the book called Learning XNA 4.0, it's pretty easy to understand and there's source code available for every chapter, including sound, textures/sprites, etc.. This, however, only counts for the Windows, 360 and Windows Phone 7 platforms.

 

[Wabsta]

If you're interested in game development, I'd recommend C# with XNA. I use the book called Learning XNA 4.0, it's pretty easy to understand and there's source code available for every chapter, including sound, textures/sprites, etc.. This, however, only counts for the Windows, 360 and Windows Phone 7 platforms.

Is that book buyable in some dutch webshop by any chance? I've been looking to get into XNA. Also, how basic is it? Is it too, like, easy if you already know C# (pretty good), or do they just teach you XNA?

 

[nutella]

The programming language you choose isn't all that important, though I personally started with Java.

 

[gifi4]

I'm thinking about Java atm, every damn guide I find supposes I already know how to program, but I'll still try... About to look into the links Waflix provided

 

[Berthenk]

If you're interested in game development, I'd recommend C# with XNA. I use the book called Learning XNA 4.0, it's pretty easy to understand and there's source code available for every chapter, including sound, textures/sprites, etc.. This, however, only counts for the Windows, 360 and Windows Phone 7 platforms.

Is that book buyable in some dutch webshop by any chance? I've been looking to get into XNA. Also, how basic is it? Is it too, like, easy if you already know C# (pretty good), or do they just teach you XNA?

comcom has it, but I don't know if they're a reliable shop, and 27 bucks is a bit steep in my opinion. I "acquired" it by other means because I can't really be arsed to buy a book in a digital format.

Edit: it does teach some basic things but after a while it just assumes you know basic things like a construct; variables and such.

 

[pistone]

im starting to code my self and my choice language is c
ist very spread and also is simpler than c++
if you want to code try first a good ide .....those help alot
my choice here is code blocks
also some starting web page :
Page nr 1
Page nr 2
Page nr 3


edit:this one down..... isnt any good as @Mazor said but i will leave the link so anyone will not make the mistake to follow this tut

Youtube c programming tutorial!

 

[Rydian]

http://learnproglang.couch.it/

 

[Mazor]

and i saved the last page for last coz...............its a tutorial video in youtube !!! a great place to start

Youtube c programming tutorial!

As someone who knows C, I must say that tutorial was completely terrible and definitely an awful place to start.

Not only does the guy use and promote the use of the terrible obsolete Dev-C++ IDE that has not been updated for 6 years, he doesn't even know it's an IDE and instead refers to it throughout the video as a compiler (Dev-C++ does not even have its own compiler, it uses MinGW).

When talking about including the header file stdio.h, around half of what he says is messy and the other half wrong. When talking about printf included from stdio.h, he even admits he doesn't actually know what it stands for, making two wrong guesses. This would be bad for any function, but printf specifically stands for "print formatted" which indicates that the string it takes is a format string, which means that it can contain placeholders for arbitrary data of various types which is supplied as additional parameters after the format string parameter. The guy seems to be unaware of this concept as a result of not actually knowing anything about printf, and does not make any mention of it when he should have.

Also, he disregards the C90 standard by omitting return 0; at the end of main() which is generally considered bad practice.


To summarize, he pretty much made all mistakes he could have made. I would strongly advise against following this guy's videos. Read The C Programming Language instead.

 

[Gh0sti]

java is also good to know taking a class on it, use bluej to help create files

 

[waitaminute]

W3schools - A site full of tutorials how to learn languages HTML, CSS, JavaScript, VBS, and many more.

No, this site is useless, and will teach you the wrong things.

More info: http://w3fools.com/

 

[amrboghdady]

Hmm, I wanted to become a web-developer, so I first started with Html
There were many free websites teaching it, so learning it was extremely simple

Then I started doing Css as well, no books or tutorials, I just looked at the different Css files used on other websites and started from there

Then I purchased a book covering Php & MySQL, which really helped me a lot

That was all about 5 years ago when I needed to raise some money. I was able to work as a freelancer for a few months and earned around $1500 until I got a real job

 

[pistone]

and i saved the last page for last coz...............its a tutorial video in youtube !!! a great place to start

Youtube c programming tutorial!

As someone who knows C, I must say that tutorial was completely terrible and definitely an awful place to start.

Not only does the guy use and promote the use of the terrible obsolete Dev-C++ IDE that has not been updated for 6 years, he doesn't even know it's an IDE and instead refers to it throughout the video as a compiler (Dev-C++ does not even have its own compiler, it uses MinGW).

When talking about including the header file stdio.h, around half of what he says is messy and the other half wrong. When talking about printf included from stdio.h, he even admits he doesn't actually know what it stands for, making two wrong guesses. This would be bad for any function, but printf specifically stands for "print formatted" which indicates that the string it takes is a format string, which means that it can contain placeholders for arbitrary data of various types which is supplied as additional parameters after the format string parameter. The guy seems to be unaware of this concept as a result of not actually knowing anything about printf, and does not make any mention of it when he should have.

Also, he disregards the C90 standard by omitting return 0; at the end of main() which is generally considered bad practice.


To summarize, he pretty much made all mistakes he could have made. I would strongly advise against following this guy's videos. Read The C Programming Language instead.

thnx .i will follow your recommendations ,so now only the other links remain .............

 

[Snailface]

and i saved the last page for last coz...............its a tutorial video in youtube !!! a great place to start

Youtube c programming tutorial!
As someone who knows C, I must say that tutorial was completely terrible and definitely an awful place to start.

Not only does the guy use and promote the use of the terrible obsolete Dev-C++ IDE that has not been updated for 6 years, he doesn't even know it's an IDE and instead refers to it throughout the video as a compiler (Dev-C++ does not even have its own compiler, it uses MinGW).

When talking about including the header file stdio.h, around half of what he says is messy and the other half wrong. When talking about printf included from stdio.h, he even admits he doesn't actually know what it stands for, making two wrong guesses. This would be bad for any function, but printf specifically stands for "print formatted" which indicates that the string it takes is a format string, which means that it can contain placeholders for arbitrary data of various types which is supplied as additional parameters after the format string parameter. The guy seems to be unaware of this concept as a result of not actually knowing anything about printf, and does not make any mention of it when he should have.

Also, he disregards the C90 standard by omitting return 0; at the end of main() which is generally considered bad practice.


To summarize, he pretty much made all mistakes he could have made. I would strongly advise against following this guy's videos. Read The C Programming Language instead.

It's funny that you chide the 6yr old Dev C++ IDE for being obsolete and then recommend a textbook that is 22 years old. Here is its "Hello World":

CODE

#include

main()
{
printf("hello, ");
printf("world");
printf("\n");
}

Good Lord, where to start here?
I'll take that youtube guys Hello World over this, at least you can see it after compile and run, lol.

Seriously, Master00d, just get a good (modern) C++ book. The one Xist recommends is a good choice. It was written by the creator of C++ in fact.

http://www2.research.att.com/~bs/programming.html

Or if you don't want to be overwhelmed-- try C++ for dummies. I know dummie books can vary in quality, but this one isn't so bad. It's not too rough, not to easy -- just right. You can branch out to other books after that if you think it's too easy.

 

[mrwienerdog]

Most people are split between java and C++. Truth of the matter is, once you get used to object oriented programming, it doesn't much matter which you go with. The syntax is obviously varied, key words are different, but the actually fundamental concepts are what you need to wrap your head around. Java is the choice of most programming schools for a first language, because memory allocation is taken care of for you, and you don't have to mess around with it at all. With C++, memory allocation is just one more angle you will be concerning yourself with, and it can be a bit overwhelming. I started with java.

HTML is not really a *PURE* programming language (sorry, not trying to insult anyone - I am in web applications development). It is extremely easy to understand and code.

 

[Mazor]

It's funny that you chide the 6yr old Dev C++ IDE for being obsolete and then recommend a textbook that is 22 years old. Here is its "Hello World":

It's funny how you attempt to thwart my statement by comparing the age of a software IDE with that of a book. Would you say the same thing to someone who said that their old computer is obsolete and then went on to say that the wheel is a rad invention even today? Whether something is obsolete is definitely not determined by age alone and implying that some object would be obsolete because a newer unrelated object of some sort that is obsolete exists is completely ridiculous.

Dev-C++ is obsolete for a long list of reasons. It lacks all the features you would see in a modern IDE/editor. It lacks editor features such as advanced replace, closing brackets, highlighting errors, debugging features such as variable quickwatch, stepping through assembly where there's no source code available, editing memory, other features such as a gui designer and a whole lot of other things. Furthermore the code optimization options offered are very limited. The gcc version it comes with is of course also very old by now.

CODE#include

main()
{
printf("hello, ");
printf("world");
printf("\n");
}
Good Lord, where to start here?
Cool story bro. Here's the actual hello world from the book (first edition on top, second edition below):

A lot has changed since The C Programming Language was written, which indeed does happen to show even in this hello world. However, there's no doubt that general consesus is that it is the de facto book on C (see for instance the wikipedia page to get an idea of the general opinion of the book). Of course reading it alone is a bad idea as much changed the following years in the 90s after it was written, but reading any one single book wouldn't be sufficient anyway. This is a great place to start, and that's certainly not coming from me alone.

I'll take that youtube guys Hello World over this, at least you can see it after compile and run, lol.

Go ahead and ask on a programming forum which of the two would be most suitable. Surely they would all agree with you.

mrwienerdog

HTML is not really a *PURE* programming language (sorry, not trying to insult anyone - I am in web applications development). It is extremely easy to understand and code.

Actually, while HTML can vaguely be called "code", it certainly cannot be called a programming language at all. It has nothing to do with one, it's a markup language.