Want to learn programming

CLAWS

CLAWS

CLAWS

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Joined
13 Jun 2005
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1,416
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West Midlands
As the title suggests really.

Just to give you a bit of background. The last time I was programming was back in 2000 and that was in C#. Nothing massive, just enough to get me through the first semester at university.

For a long time Ive looked at Programming as one of my major achilles heels as try as I might I just could not get it to click in my head. Working through books was fine, but tell me to sit down and create a program that does such and such function would knock me sideways.

I have created this thread as I am looking at getting out of IT Support and moving into the Application development/Application Support side of things.

Any pointers on where I should start? Treat me as though I am a noob and please feel free to be brutal if you think that I am out of my depth on wanting to do this :)
 
Ugh, programming can be so so boring. I'm just about to fail my first year and uni and it's just, mind numbing sometimes. Are you sure you want to do this?
 
Seems like a lot of the money in IT is in programming/developing unless Im mistaken.

Cant really see myself going further down the IT support route.
 
Hi Dean,

Remember Im a noob to this despite my (limited) experience of programming back in 2000.

Is learning Pythong pretty much getting a book from Waterstones and ploughing through it?
 
Download any IDE and start having a play :) This thread might be more appropriate in the programming section.

Which language are you interested in learning?
 
CLAWS said:
Seems like a lot of the money in IT is in programming/developing unless Im mistaken.

Cant really see myself going further down the IT support route.
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what kind of support, I was in HW support for 2 years (coming from a basic IT support role of 6 years - (you know looking after a room full of pcs and printers) am now am in web dev/support and loving it, I changed ever so slightly as I was bored of HW support and its paid off, perhaps tis something to look into :)
 
Sorry for posting this in the wrong section initially.

Sniffy, am I right in thinking that Java would be a good "all round" programming language to learn? Dean advised "Python" but will something like that be too heavy for a noob like me to digest?

Exentia - I am currently doing remote access, blackberry, machine rebuild support et al for a law firm. Its ok but it gets a bit same same.

Para, my C programming was more towards the end of 2000 and early 2001. Either way I can definitely remember doing C programming when I started my degree late 2000 :confused:
 
CLAWS said:
Sorry for posting this in the wrong section initially.

Sniffy, am I right in thinking that Java would be a good "all round" programming language to learn? Dean advised "Python" but will something like that be too heavy for a noob like me to digest?
Click to expand...

Python is a far simpler language than Java and is much better suited for beginners :)

CLAWS said:
Para, my C programming was more towards the end of 2000 and early 2001. Either way I can definitely remember doing C programming when I started my degree late 2000 :confused:
Click to expand...

C and C# are rather different languages ;)
 
C doesn't necessarily have to be C Sharp, could have been C++, or even just Borland C.

EDIT: Beaten like an ugly child :( :p
 
Hi Inquisitor,

Thanks for that. Looks like Ill be heading down the Python route with a bit more digging first of course.

Im thinking that it was C++ back in 2000. See? This is how noobish I am:o

Any other pointers you guys can give me? How about if I decided at some point to head down the SQL route?
 
SQL route? SQL is not a traditional programming language it is for querying databases that's it. My advice to you is learn C#, it is a very nice language to learn. You learn about OOP and you have the power of the .NET framework. You can use it to develop web, windows or even mobile applications.
 
I'd echo what other people have said, you can't really lose if you go .NET.
It's always handy to know your way around SQL as well, though. :)
 
I'd advise c++, you will learn programming, rather than some of programming with the computer hiding the nasty bits from you. It's really not too tricky, and if you can code c++ you can code just about anything else.
 
I'd advise a proper OOP langauge like C++ AND a 'traditionally' scripting language - php, python etc.

I'd recommend Borland/Codegear C++ builder for an IDE - it's a lot nicer than MS VisualStudio - and doesnt put autogenerated code in header files!
 
These threads are always pointless: I'd recommend this; I'd advise that; NO! Don't do that; ad nauseum :p

OP: which language would suit you best depends entirely on what you want to do with it.
  • C# is a fantastic language for Windows-based general application development. It has excellent GUI support which will allow you to put together a Windows Forms (or WPF) application in no time.
  • Java is similar to C# (though perhaps not so straightforward to jump into), but is geared towards multi-platform development (i.e. will work on Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.). Personally I much prefer C# as IMO it's much nicer language to use ;)
  • C++ is more complicated but generally more powerful. Personally I don't think you'd have any need for the advantages C++ has over the likes of C#, especially as a beginner.
  • Python is a very good general purpose scripting language which is also good for making websites, etc. Easy to learn and good for beginners.

One thing to be weary of with C# and Java is that you'll be plunged straight into OOP at the deep end, so you'll need to learn that from the get-go.

Btw, if you choose to go with C#, you'll get to use Visual Studio (or at least the free version for C#: Microsoft Visual C#), which is one of the best IDEs out there :cool:
 
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Inquisitor's right; nobody agrees so it's up to you to decide.

Personally, I would never recommend anyone start programming using C# unless it was purely a career move thing (i.e. C# pays better than VB). I simply don't like it!

I'd say VB.Net to get the logic in your head (I know, it's very similar to C# - although that's partly the reason I'd tell people not to bother with C#... but lets not go there :p), and some php/scripting language which will enevitably entail javascript/css/html, then a year or so later you'd probably get hungry for some wholegrain C++ goodness.
 
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