New

[thankyou1123]

Hello all, as you can easily see, I am new to these forums. I found them to be very helpful to read through and was looking for some insight for myself.

I'm also new to programming as a whole. I want to learn programming in its entirety (At least as much as my brain can hold) and have no clue where to start. I've been looking for weeks at books online and then I heard books wouldn't help me very much. I tried several websites promising to start me on the right track but to no avail. I just need a foothold, a place to start.

1. Which code (language) would you recommend I start off with? Preferably free to start with.

2. Which way should I try learning? (Websites, books, classes, etc)

3. Which code is most widely used?

4. Which languages have free compilers?

As you can see, I know close to nothing. I know a few JavaScript commands and some C++ commands and started with VB 2008....all of these never really helped me understand code. Please help.

Thanks everyone.

-Thankyou1123
~Apologist of Christ~ || ~Jeremiah 1:7-8 ; Habakkuk 1:5~

 

[beginner99]

I suggest I start with Java. There most of the stuff (IDE and compiler) are free with all features enabled. Plus it is platform independent.

The most important thing is to get your hands dirty quickly. Just reading wont help you need to program yourself. For that think of a (simple) Project and while reading try to apply the learned stuff to that project.

I suggest to focus on Object Oriented Programming and to create the program logic and not waste time with creating a nice looking GUI.

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/concepts/

(note: above link isn't that great but it is the official Java tutorial)

 

[ringtail]

Another suggestion is Ruby

 

[Ken g6]

I agree: Ruby's good.

Alot of people seem to like Why the Lucky Stiff's Poignant Guide to Ruby. Although I'm not one of them.

 

[velvetpants]

Check out this http://learncodethehardway.org/
Python is a good start, it's interactive and no clunky syntax getting in the way.

Don't just learn from books though. Find an interesting project to work on to keep you motivated.

 

[thankyou1123]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am checking all of the suggestions out right now.


-Thankyou1123
~Apologist Of Christ~ || ~Jeremiah 1:7-8 ; Habakkuk 1:5~

 

[BrightCandle]

Get a beginners book in any of the languages above (for the first language I would say Ruby or Python over something like Java!). Then program in most of the programs they show you in the book, modify them and confirm they work the way you expect. Do the exercises and by the end of the book you'll know a language fairly well.