I want to start programming. Help?

Pal, the younger the better for programming :)

Well, u can do lots of programming stuff after school work if u can learn alone . U can start by learning the Python language, which is excellent for beginners

Download :

http://www.python.org/download/

Tutorials:

http://docs.python.org/tut/

Python is easy, kool, and the best thing is that u can gain good programming habits and concepts with this language far more quickly than with most other languages .

Also learn using different programs (Even open source free ones ) ; that way u will be inspired by how they work .

In ur free time, u can read programming books from the library , or buy books, and u can watch programming videos on Yutube or any good site; u may join some programming forum as well...

Good luck in ur studies and programming

I would say you don't want to start with C++ or Java. You want a simpler language to start with. BASIC is good, or Pascal. You can download Python for free, and it is good. But BASIC and Pascal there are more books for.

You can get a book on it. There are lots of books, you want one for a beginner. Just get the language, go through the book, doing the exercises and you'll see how it works. Some books are like 1500 pages and have every little detail about the language. You will need something like that eventually (soon) but for now you want a 'primary trainer' that starts from scratch and goes through step by step, a 'tutorial' rather than a 'reference manual'.

You might check out your local community college too. Some people can learn better with a class. I took a class but thought it went too slow.

When I learned programming the input/output was very simple. You'd type a line, the computer types something, then you type something, and it went like that. Today every computer is GUI, Graphical User Interface, either Windows or Mac, so you have to learn all that stuff too. It steepens the learning curve. If you could learn on an old-fashioned text-based computer, that would be easier, and -then- you could learn the Windows stuff.

But Visual BASIC was made for Windows and it's very popular and useful, and I understand they teach that now to noobs. BASIC, BTW, is all capitalized because it stands for Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.

Once you get started there are a million resources on the web. If you get stuck, I'm sure there are lots of programmers here to help you and laugh at you. 8^)

When I got into computers, in the 70s, that's what you got a computer for, was to learn to program. There wasn't a whole lot else you could do with them! I found it addicting!

For programs like that, the perfect place to start is with a dynamic scripting language.

The choices are basically Perl, Python and Ruby.

Perl is harder to understand than either of the others, but it has a LOT of "libraries" available (code other people have written that you can use in your programs).

Python and Ruby are about equal. The differences are mostly things which won't matter to you at this point. My preference is Ruby, but Python is more popular.

To start, you will need to download the interpreter for the language you choose (the program that runs your programs). For Perl, use ActivePerl. For Python and Ruby, you can get Windows versions directly the offical programming language sites (python.org and ruby-lang.org).

There are lots of good tutorials for both Python and Ruby. My favorite programming tutorial of all time is here:

http://poignantguide.net/ruby/

It's very odd. More like strange web humor than a programming tutorial but it explains the basics of Ruby very well.

You don't NEED books, but they do help. For Ruby, look at pragprog.com. For Python, look at oreilly.com.

Email me through Yahoo Answers if you have any more questions.

Start with http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/AD.pdf You have to learn computer programming before you even think of deciding on which programming language to learn. That didn't take 10 minutes (because I've answered the same question a few dozen times), but you're going to have to "set out" at least a month or two to get through that book.

A quick google search will help you get started. something like "C++ tutorials".

C++ i've heard is a very 'beginners language', meaning it's easy to learn and use. myself, i do web stuff (like php, ruby), but C++ is something you can run in a desktop environment (and requires compiling to use)

whichever language you choose, make sure you'll be able to set up your computer so you can develop for it. books are more useful than online support in getting your computer set up and setting you in the right direction. once you're faily confident (or even before that), you should join some programming community online and they'd probably help you further.

programming takes lots of time though

C++ //No argument

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GNU GCC Setup

http://ems.calumet.purdue.edu/mcss/kraftrl/cs302-2...

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Free Electronic Books

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Thinking in C++ 2nd Edition by Bruce Eckel

Volume 1 & Volume 2

http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2...

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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman

HTML

http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.h...

PDF

http://deptinfo.unice.fr/~roy/sicp.pdf

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How to Design Programs

by Matthias Felleisen, Robert Bruce Findler, Matthew Flatt and Shriram Krishnamurthi

http://www.htdp.org/

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Tutorials online:

http://www.cplusplus.com/

I recommend two different programs to try. Choose one.

PYTHON: from www.python.org you can get its easy GUI, where you can create very simple programs. I like it because the absolute newb can pick it up and create easy programs like calculators, web browsers, text editors, and even 3D games when paired with an engine like Panda3D. This is very versatile, but has a little bit of a learning curve. Good gateway to C++ though.

BYOND: from www.byond.com. Good for making online MMO style video games in 2D as well as practical applications such as Email, chat applications, databases, web browsers, calculators, and even puzzle games, so you can have your Suduku solver, or even a multiplayer Sudoku tournament game. Definitely worth a try. VERY easy to learn for a beginner. However, not to be used if you want to progress onto something very complicated, as from BYOND you can go from PERL to PEARL and then to RUBY but definitely not to C++. Also, your games can be saved as .exe's, but they ll be larger as it installs a temporary BYOND file on the users computer to run it, and installs after play, however, with the allure of being an MMO tycoon right there, at least try it :)

Python is a good place to start, easy to get started and a nice intro into object orientated programming.

BUT.....

It's not the language you choose. And it is not how difficult programming is. You have to be dedicated. That is the best advice I can give. You get what you put into it. If you really put yourself into it, it can be very rewarding. Good luck.

I'm an Information Technology student so i do programming. C ++ is the first language we used. I'll just give you some links so that you could learn for yourself. http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

http://newdata.box.sk/bx/c/

http://www.cprogramming.com/begin.html

GOOD LUCK

Programming is not easy

I recommend c++. msdn.microsoft.com has great reference materials for c++. Dev-C++ is a recommended program for compiling c++ applications. Books are always good. Read "C++ for Dummies" for starters.