Entry level Programming

[Hungrymind]

Hi there,
I just found out about this forum. anyway I am trying to learn programming. I have no background in programming. what are the skills required to learn programming? and what advice can you give me as a starter in this interesting world??

thanks for your help

[Jason]

you might want to start with something like C++ and go from there...get a tutorial and read it, it will teach some of the basics...just remember to think logically when programming...eg in JAVA you will need an "else" clause after every "if" clause, say if this happens then do this...else do this...stuff like that

you can do a search for a tutorial on C++ using google or in this forum, it is a highly talked about subject.

Jason

[Spookster]

Originally posted by Jason
you might want to start with something like C++ and go from there...get a tutorial and read it, it will teach some of the basics...just remember to think logically when programming...eg in JAVA you will need an "else" clause after every "if" clause, say if this happens then do this...else do this...stuff like that

you can do a search for a tutorial on C++ using google or in this forum, it is a highly talked about subject.

Jason

An else is not required after every if.

[Spookster]

Originally posted by Hungrymind
Hi there,
I just found out about this forum. anyway I am trying to learn programming. I have no background in programming. what are the skills required to learn programming? and what advice can you give me as a starter in this interesting world??

thanks for your help

Java and C++ are both very popular languages and also very similar so once you learn one then learning the other won't be so difficult.

I would suggest getting familiar with javascript first. Javascript has most of the same language constructs as both Java and C++. Some areas to learn would be :

Conditional Blocks:
If/Else
Switch/Case

Loops:
for loops
while loops
do while loops

Methods/Functions
Variables
arrays

plus many more these kinds of constructs exist in most languages just slightly different implementations. Plus with javascript you can practice coding just using your web browser so no compilers or anything would be needed. Once you get used to and understand the basic constructs then you can move on to learning Java or C++.

[liorean]

Then there are some environemts that are really good for learning in for some languages. Scheme and other LISP languages, for instance, often have great environments for just that.

Have a look at <http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/> for DrJava and DrScheme, tools made for learning the languages they are made for.

JavaScript is also a good language to learn, and it can be a good introduction to some more complex programming models and concepts.


Search the web for programming languages and find one that looks like it suits you. <http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis400/index.html> and <http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language> might be good places to start.