A First Start to Computer Programming

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Tonten
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A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by Tonten » Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:59 am

Where is the best place for me start learning how to write programs for the computer? Right now I don't know anything about Visual Basic or C# or C++ other than C++ is difficult to learn/use. Which language would you say is the easiest and best one to start with and please link me to some tutorials where I can read how the programming works. If you feel like writing some excerpts of a program and explaining what it means, you can do that too.

I looked at a tutorial that tried to explain the C programming language. I see it uses instructions like printf() and I'm sure there's going to be a lot of different commands to use. I'm guessing there's hundreds or even thousands of them. How will I ever remember them all and what they do? I'm getting worried just thinking about it because it seems like there's so much to do and the challenge looks insurmountable to me. I really hope you can help me here.
Sintendo
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by Sintendo » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:18 am

The language you start with doesn't really matter all that much. Your first challenge isn't learning a specific language, but learning how to program in general. I tried starting with C++, but I found that a bit too confusing, so I switched over to C and I found that to be a lot easier to grasp as a beginner. C and C++ have a lot in common, so switching doesn't mean you have to start over from scratch.

As for the commands/functions, don't worry too much about them. In fact, remembering these functions isn't all too important when learning how to program. What is important, is that you understand all the different control structures (while and for-loops, pointers and arrays, etc.) and how to use them. You'll eventually start to remember some of the more commonly used functions, and the others you can just look up as you need them.

Another suggestion is to keep things fun. Think of a simple program/project that interests you and try to work towards that.
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emu_kidid
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by emu_kidid » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:40 am

Functions in a programming language are not "codes" that you must remember. A function like printf() for example is documented, explaining what it does. You might write up a function that prints out the first 3 numbers to the console window which is called print3Numbers(), and as an example, in C, it might look like:

void print3Numbers() {
printf("1\n");
printf("2\n");
printf("3\n");
}

A programming language itself is all about the syntax to a beginner. You need not worry about the inner workings possibly ever, until you start worrying about things like optimizations or bugs that are beyond your control. For now, I'd say, read a bit about C for dummies, look at some code and start to understand the basic syntax. Write up a few applications such as one to print out a string to the console window etc.

Later on though, I strongly recommend learning about computer hardware. It's important to know as much as possible about the device you're programming on, but more importantly about them (cpu's/etc) in general. Learning each level is good like this as it helps bridge your learning.

(Computer Science at University helped me quite a bit, even though I was programming from before in high-school - you wouldn't believe how much it helped.)
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NeoCortex
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by NeoCortex » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:29 pm

I personaly startet on a C64 as a child 10 print "w00t" 20 goto 10.... stuff like that.
That fascinated me and i startet quick basic on an old 386er. Took a look on all the free games written in QBasic and published on Game Magazine CD's back in this time.

After i "learned" a bit that way, i bought the book "Now I'm learning Visual Basic 5.0". 756 pages full of fun ;)
I guess that would be a good start. Get a book like this and read it from the beginning to the end, regardless if you understand it the first time or not. Then read it a second time and follow all the examples in it.
I learned VB pretty good that way, even it was hard not to threw the book away sometimes.

After i understood how programming languages work (functions, variables, the windows api, etc...), i started learning c++., assembler, stuff like that...

It's basicly all about getting over the first "ahh screw it i never gonna understand this shit" feeling.
Tonten
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by Tonten » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:25 am

I think what I will do is get the source code of some programs I use such as audacity, gimp and camstudio and read through it and try to understand what some parts mean. I got the source code of audacity and I'm trying to find the best way to view it. I saw someone doing programming on a computer before so I have an idea of what it should look like. What would you say is the best way to read source code and change some of it if I wanted to?
Sintendo
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by Sintendo » Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:36 am

I'd say that's a bad way to start off. You need to know the language before you can read a book written in it. Same thing with programming. If you don't know the programming language yet, the source will be mostly meaningless to you. Especially with rather big projects like the ones you've mentioned.

If you want to learn have to write code, you need to write code, not read it.
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emu_kidid
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Re: A First Start to Computer Programming

Post by emu_kidid » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:50 pm

Yes, I'd recommend taking a small (very small) demo and messing around with it to learn the basics of compiling etc and then slowly go into more complex things. The big projects you've mentioned even make a seasoned coder scared as they're quite large and complex.
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