Programming - Need Advice

Billythekid

Billythekid

Billythekid

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16 Oct 2011
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Hello im a BTEC National Extended Level 3 Student. Im at a bit of a crossroads, im thinking Computer Science would be a great degree once the university time comes, however i would like to get a headstart, so im wondering wheres the best place to start, what language to start off?? how long do they usually take to learn and then what should i do?

Thanks
 
C
Java
Infact, any language will give you a good concept of 'Programming thought process and principles'. I pick a language that works best for what I need to do.

Google
Mess around
Start small
Have a project with a goal and code for it

Edit - Find samples, hack out what you need, adapt it. Just get stuck in really. No learning beats learning by trial and error.
 
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Download the course curriculum and get a idea of what language they use....

I'd say start with c++, make some console programs. Learn the basics like functions, strings and variables.
 
If its specifically a headstart for a comp sci course you're after then most universities teach Java on comp sci courses - ergo probably best to learn Java.

You'll perhaps have a module on functional programming too - Haskell is quite common.

Might also be worth taking a look at matlab - though you might not want to fork out for a license just yet so perhpas try Octave which is quite similar and, more importantly for you, free.
 
C++
C#
Java
.Net

All based around the same principles (I know ++ isn't!) just learn one, once you have a hold of the ideas. The programming process required to give the correct output. It's just a matter of syntax. And semi-colons...
 
Try to use some high level language, but if you want an edge, try to learn a low level one too; pick for example a small 8 bits processor like PIC or AVR, and try a few programs in C then assembler. Don't do "arduidiot" or anything that try to hide the lower level, DO work a bit on understanding how a processor works.

Knowing how a machine actually works will /always/ give you an edge, even when using higher level languages; and all in all, processors are all working in the same ways.. do "learning" a small one allows you to (mostly) extrapolate; oh and it's fun!

it's very likely your course will teach you using fisher-price languages afterward, so this is your opportunity to pick up something valuable.
 
i'm on my 2nd year of a very similar course. we started using C and quickly moved onto C++, but i would have much preferred to have ignored C and start with C++ because its much more beginner friendly, especially if you use something like visual studios to write it with because it will catch most of the little errors that you are guaranteed to make at some point.

to get the basics and be able to write a program that does something interesting shouldnt take more than a few months if your doing it in your spare time, but theres always something more to learn with any programming language
 
general answer seems to be to learn c++

thenewboston youtube channel seems like a great learning tool.
Will start tommorow, i'd say dedicating an hour to an hour and a half a day should be good to get things up and running, really want to learn this, sounds interesting and i heard it pays very well.

whats the best program to code with.
 
B&W said:
general answer seems to be to learn c++

thenewboston youtube channel seems like a great learning tool.
Will start tommorow, i'd say dedicating an hour to an hour and a half a day should be good to get things up and running, really want to learn this, sounds interesting and i heard it pays very well.

whats the best program to code with.
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my uni gives the option of visual studios and something else. you can probably tell already that i use visual studios. cant see anything wrong with it myself, but since ive only been programming for a year and havent used much else there could well be something else much nicer around

*edit*
just remembered that my dad sent me a website thats very helpful for learning C++ last year. i havent actually tried it myself because i didnt have any problems with my work at uni, but you might find it helpful:
http://cpp-tutorial.cpp4u.com/
 
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Haircut said:
:(
Why do places still insist on teaching Visual Basic these days?
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Because like it or not a hell of a lot of people seem to still use VB in the industry, and while there is demand, people will still teach it. I'm even worse off. I'm a VBA programmer.
 
The "Programming Methodology" lectures from Stanford are really good, the lecturer, Mehran Sahami is great. Java is the language used but it isn't really relevant as it's the concepts that are most important.

Watch a few minutes, see how you get on, it does start from the basics:


It's also on iTunes U if you have an apple device.
 
Learning pretty much any OO language is a good starting point, just to get your head around the concepts.

I started with VB but now I primarily do web development so I use PHP.

I have done a bit with java as well which I thought was a very easy fun language to pick up
 
im off to bed lads.

Please keep giving your brillaint advice, thoughts and knowledge and if possible and you have the time, your own stories on how you got started, how you started and what you learned.
 
Think the majority of universities will teach Java to make sure you have a good grounding in OO programming. I don't really think you can go wrong with any of the popular languages as the basics will mostly have the same ideas behind them.
 
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