How should I learn to program?

the_brainaic

the_brainaic

the_brainaic

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I want to learn to program, with a specific purpose in mind. I've entered into a code-cracking competition where the codes get harder each week, and although it's perfectly possible at the start to work out the codes manually it gets to the point where you will need a computer to do it for you. This is expected, it's not cheating. I need to learn how to program so that I can start this week with a simple program that takes a text input and outputs the character frequency analysis (ie how many times each letter comes up) but that I can add to later when the program gets harder. I don't want to simply download programs to do this for me (although I'm sure it's possible), I want to do it myself, as I am applying for a Computer Science course for uni and need to be able to talk about what programming I've done when it gets to interview stage.
I have no idea about languages, but if theres something that will provide a good foundation for programming in harder languages in the future (C++, etc) then that would be good.

Thanks for your help.
 
Well it depends what you really want to do. There is a lot of difference between languages. Pick a language and stick with it. Read everything you can get hold of, and keep practicing.

Python is a good beginners language to learn and is very simple. Your likely to study an imperative language and a functional language doing CS (We do Java and Haskell).

Doing letter frequency analysis is pretty easy, if you know how to turn your ideas into code. Easily possible in a week.
 
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Perl would also be a good language to try, particularly if you're going to be writing code that uses quite a bit of string handling. I must add that I've never really used Python so can't compare it's string handling capabilities to Perl.

A copy of ActiveState's Perl (which is free from their website) and the O'Reilly book "Learning Perl" (rather than their Programming Perl book) would get you going pretty quickly.

Jim
 
JIMA said:
I must add that I've never really used Python so can't compare it's string handling capabilities to Perl.
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It handles strings VERY very good. I've used Python for nearly a year now and whilst it's 'power' is no where near as good as C++, as a language it's absolutely gorgeous.
 
durbs said:
My recommendation would be VB.NET. Very easy to pick up and extremely powerful.
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I'm with you mate, fancy hiding behind this brick wall whilst we await the c# fanatics. :p
 
A good foundation (and more basic language with excellent principles) is Pascal.

It's an industrial language but is more often used throughout education now.

While it's procedural (not OO) you'll not be getting to grips with OO. However, it still teaches you plenty of programming techniques that you'll use later and much of the syntax is derived into C# / Java etc.

Being procedural you'll also get a taste of this style and appreciate the benefits of OO magic.

Good to see someone thinking about learning from the beginning and getting the fundamentals in place.

(edit - if you don't actually want something basic and want to jump in at the deepend - I'd advocate C#, purely because it's a hottie.)
 
Personally if you're a beginner to programming i would say go for a language that pretty much takes care of string handling for you. Although C++ does add the data type for strings it takes a lot more practice than say VB.Net or Java. I would go for VB.Net considering your requirements. It will cut down the amount of time to actually get something working considerably.
 
A vote for C# / Java.

Very similar, but both provide a good object-orientated platform for leaping onto other o-o languages. If you know one, it doesn't take much to know the other.

I, personally, would avoid VB as I get annoyed with all the syntax stuffs. Its a step backwards! :p
 
Any language would do really, to a certain extent. Just get a 'Getting started' sort of book, and away you go!
 
Yeah to be honest the language does not matter very much. So long as you understand the concepts of programming it is quite easy to learn another language in future. You say your applying for Computer Science degree, well none of them require any previous programming experience. You are best to learn your maths well because those are the sort of interview questions you will get. (I was asked to do a proof by induction for some recursion)
 
~J~ said:
I'm with you mate, fancy hiding behind this brick wall whilst we await the c# fanatics. :p
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BURN THEM AT THE STAKE!!

:p

But yes, C# or VB.NET would probably be well suited to this, as the .NET Framework comes packed with all kinds of tools to help you out, so you can concentrate on the task at hand. I agree, though, that this is easily doable in any language, and it's really up to you :)
 
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