new programmer in need of help

[kelso1987]

hello, i am new to programming and would really appreciate some advice from people as i have no previous experience and do not know where to start. C/C++ java basic..... so many! someone suggested REBOL but that requires previous knowledge.. im am very interested in learning the language and am determined to follow through, some help and advice would be greatly appreciated

[oesxyl]

hello, i am new to programming and would really appreciate some advice from people as i have no previous experience and do not know where to start. C/C++ java basic..... so many! someone suggested REBOL but that requires previous knowledge.. im am very interested in learning the language and am determined to follow through, some help and advice would be greatly appreciated
the programming language is not a problem. could be any, what's important is to learn to design. Usualy you need 3-6 month to learn syntax for a new language and up to 2 years to use it to write code fluent without problem.
About language, rebol? could be, I suggest to look over erlang too. Probably other member of the forum will suggest you other languages so you will have a start point for search. :)

best regards

[DELOCH]

there's no prerequisites for learning a language.

Just get to it and learn.

Although it always depends what you're good at... If you are good with logic you will do well.

All books start by explaining basics and build up to using the basics together to make interesting little programs.
Once you learn to make little programs properly, you can learn to build more complex programs.

The modern rule of programming is that everything complex is made of smaller things which are made of even smaller things... learn small things and if you are decent at thinking logically, you should be able to accomplish much with the language...

Plus nowadays all programming languages are able to accomplish the same things.

Personally I suggest Java for beginners, it's difficult to jump into but it will get you thinking in object oriented way(which helps a lot).
When you get comfortable with java you can either stick to it or use C/C++(they are less abstract and more concrete, aren't fully portable between platforms)...

Generally. If you want something which isn't idiotic as visual basic which brings bad programming habits, I suggest starting with Java.

If you are a general user who knows nothing about the computer at all. Use visual basic 6 or .NET for a while to play around with possibilities of programming.
B.A.S.I.C - Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. <-- it's not built to be used by big professionals, just for quick dumb programs.

Once you feel java doesn't give you enough 'freedom', you can learn C++ (very similar to Java but it's compiled to machine code, not bytecode).

In one sentence... VB is easy, Java is nice, and C++ is very broad and complex. All languages can do the same things (the latest versions of them). And try to avoid jumping from language to language... though it is fun...