I want to start learning programming

[Deathguard]

Hello there, people of MMO-Champion.
I am 16 years old, and I've already made my mind on what I want to study, when I go to university. And that is programming.... For the last 6 months, I have been using the Logo language for basics (as I've heard its one of the easiest out there), and I have also been using Textpad++ to "tweak" flash games, using a tutorial found on another forum.... Now, what I want, are suggestion on what I can do to get at least some experience on programming... Any kind of advice, would be appreciated... Thanks

[Hyve]

In all honestly I found VB.net & C++ to be fantastic.

They're not amazing languages, but they'll certainly teach you the very basics such as Variables, Loops, Ifs, Ands & Elses.

[Deleted]

I started with Bat files. So simple. Turn Echo off and you can make your own text adventures lol

[Nightbliss]

Visual Basic for Applications definitely for a starter.
Once you dominate this language, you can probably move further.

[Nemean]

I started with and have been working with java for the past 2 years. It is pretty simple and easy to learn, there's also quite a lot you can do with it.

[pyrese]

Google search for uva onlinejudge. Unfortunately I cannot yet post links to direct you to their site.(It is currently the first result: UVa Online Judge - Home)

The above site is for online programming challenges. There are hundreds of problems for you to solve in a variety of languages. I suggest approaching them in java so that you can worry more about solving the problem and less about whats going on at deeper levels in your computer. You'll be able to submit your solution to their servers and receive a response on if it was correctly solved and in the correct format as well as how long it took for your program to solve the problem.

For additional help, you might look at reading a design patterns text book; I've found Head First Design Patterns (Freeman & Freeman) to be a good one. I'd take a few stabs on the problems on UVA first and then start reading the design patterns book. As you are reading over each pattern, consider which problems you might be able to adapt to the new pattern.

[Deathguard]

Thank you everyone for your help! I have already started working with Visual Basic, and its great! Every other kind of help is still appreciated!

[Hellfury]

I started with Basic > Pascal like 15years ago then moved to Vb 6.0, now Java and C#

Pascal imo its the best learning Language, u can start with http://www.freepascal.org/ includes the basic IDE and a compiler runs on Windows7 32/64 and resembles the famous Borland Turbo Pascal IDE.

Delphi is for Pascal what Visual Basic is for Basic, but I dont recommend wasting time on Delphi because its mostly dead.

If you feel adventurous u can skip Pascal and go VB.net

[Deleted]

I can recommend msdn[dot]microsoft[dot]com/vstudio/express/visualcsharp/learning/default[dot]aspx. I used them som years ago to get from Java into C# and they are really explaining it down to basis.

[Kathranis]

Hello there, people of MMO-Champion.
I am 16 years old, and I've already made my mind on what I want to study, when I go to university. And that is programming.... For the last 6 months, I have been using the Logo language for basics (as I've heard its one of the easiest out there), and I have also been using Textpad++ to "tweak" flash games, using a tutorial found on another forum.... Now, what I want, are suggestion on what I can do to get at least some experience on programming... Any kind of advice, would be appreciated... Thanks

If your highschool has a computer science program, enroll in the classes, and soon. My school had three years worth of classes (CS, AP CS, CS2) but I started in my Junior year and didn't get a chance to do CS2. AP Computer Science also had an AP test that was good for two college credits.

There's also UIL and programming contests. Here in Texas they've got this thing called HP Codewars that we did every Spring, which when I was doing it, included getting a lot of swag like free copies of Windows XP Pro and Microsoft Visual Studio.

[Kivimetsan]

I cringe at the though of programming. I did it for a year at uni, hated it with a passion and failed it... now im loving business

[Baelic]

Here's how programming languages go for games in terms of what I know

Java: Great Cross-Platform but takes a fair amount to get shit done unless you have a library already
C#: Great for getting shit done, but you're limited to Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox 360
Actionscript(Flash): Great Cross-Platform and for getting shit done, you can even develop for mobile devices without too much extra effort.
C++: No, just.... no. Unless you want to spend years with Libraries, OpenGL/DirectX before you can even get started making simple games (let's not forget the potential for BSOD). C++ is for more experienced programmers.

Alternatively, you can use Game Maker and their in-house language (GML) to get some basic concepts down. Cause fundamentally once you learn the concepts of programming, the main difference between languages is syntax (putting more subtle differences aside).

[Noxanna]

Work your way through the python challenge (Google it). Watch the intro to comp sci class on MIT's OpenCourseware sit (and sign up at open study.com for help if you need it).

Think of something you'd use and build it bit by bit. Or fork something on GitHub. You don't need a multi year lesson plan, just Google, curiosity and patience to learn from failing.

[Gisba]

To the OP.

I learned Programming at the start of my course ( im doing computer games arts) we only got taught basics at uni , but i decided to pursue it a bit more.

The program we started with was called Processing wich uses a VERY simplified version of java.

Its one of the best tools out there to get you started in programing and you can do anything with it.

So far I created 2 full games for the android phone with that program and countless prototypes.

market.android.com/developer?pub=GustavoCosta#?t=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDEsInByb2Nlc3NpbmcuYW5kcm9pZC50ZXN0LnR1 cnRsZXNsaWRlIl0

Thats my android developer ID.

USEFULL LINKS.

processing.org

Loads of tutorials, examples, one of the best communities i have seen so far always helpfull, and you can DOWNLOAD the program here.

Try it mate and best of luck!

[Deleted]

when you say you want to study programming - do you mean studying computer science at university or something else?
i just ask because if you plan to study CS you do not need to worry about programming yet...

[Dillon]

Hello there, people of MMO-Champion.
I am 16 years old, and I've already made my mind on what I want to study, when I go to university. And that is programming.... For the last 6 months, I have been using the Logo language for basics (as I've heard its one of the easiest out there), and I have also been using Textpad++ to "tweak" flash games, using a tutorial found on another forum.... Now, what I want, are suggestion on what I can do to get at least some experience on programming... Any kind of advice, would be appreciated... Thanks

I registered just to say to OP and everyone else, my brother introduced me to a guy that does extensive video tutorials on many different languages, like C++, C, C#, java, php, Android development, etc. and he is like some sort of sorcerer with programming languages or something.

He goes by the name Bucky Roberts and his site is "thenewboston.org"

You don't even need previous programming experience to learn from him. His tutorials are very easy to follow, understand, and grasp, even for C++. All tutorials are video based, he explains everything and is very upbeat and encouraging. With his help, anyone can learn.

Have fun!

[bikithalee]

My suggession is to study C# , becuse it is simple to study and you can learn from a user friendly environment such as Visual Studio. C# is Object Oriented and syntaxes are very similar to Java and C++. So lets start with C#, here is alink to study C# step by step.

< snipped; smells like advertising >

All the best
Bikitha Lee.

[chaud]

Lots of decent online classes here: http://www.class-central.com/

[Sykotic13]

I actually saw a topic on this on another forum a few weeks ago and apparently some guys decided to come up with their own community driven programming "class" and projects. Worth looking at.

Here is the original thread that started it all:
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/...gramming/page1

And then are the short courses/tutorials they have come up with so far:
http://gcgpg.fuzz.me.uk/


Overall I have been very impressed with what they have come up with. I also like that it is community/open-source driven and not someone trying to sell something.

[Deleted]

Don't really see the need to create a new thread to ask this question but anyway o/

Coming from someone doing a Games degree (It's a Programming first, design second type of deal), I just finished my first year where we were dealing with java. Next semester we are moving to C++, and from what I've looked at I feel confident enough with the syntax etc to jump into some stuff. Is there anything that C++ offers that Java doesn't that would be a good starting point to look at? I don't really want to have to start a C++ book from scratch or anything and repeat a lot of stuff.

We've covered basically making programs involving a Container object with an ArrayList and then incorporating Objects with inheritance, to give you a general level we're at, (Eg. Store -- Item -> Book | Film) although I'm confident with all that and have looked at some random stuff like regex.


At the OP:
When I started looking at some programming before college I literally only looked at the very basics such as how variables and methods worked, and didn't find it that great learning by myself. When I've got someone else teaching me I'm just flying through stuff though ^^ Once I had the general grasp of how programming is actually structured, the classes expanding on that are really quite simple.

Seen as you pretty much seem to have that down it, if you know what course etc you want to do it might be worth finding out what languages you are actually going to learn. If you know you are going to work with something particular you could look at something different instead, as the actual learning of a new language won't be hard at all. Getting an overall idea of how languages handle things, and how they differ especially seems to me at least like a big advantage to walk into a college with, as opposed to already knowing a language you are going to be studying inside and out from day one.