I want to get started learning a programming language

Qbasic is always a good language to start out with. It leads into the basics of computer programming. In truth the only real difference between languages is syntax and how the language handles a few things. Where Qbasic would hold a string or text in a single variable right off the bat, in C++ you have to either assign the string upon telling the compiler you want a character variable or make an array. COncepts that are easily explained in Qbasic. Qbasic is also good because It leads to great use of Visual Basic. Which deals with object Oriented programming. And C++ includes object Oriented as well as conventional programming. But the basics are what you need first, and you can get them from both a basic and C++ langauges. C++ is easy enought to understand witht he right tutorial or book. Or even teacher as teh case maybe. But here is an example of the difference between c++ and Qbasic when it comes to printing the famous "Hello World" text to the screen.

Qbasic:
PRINT "Hello World"

C++:

#include

cout << "Hello World" << endl;
SO yeah, syntax is the only real difference, most programming concepts are the same though. I suggest starting with qbasic. But that is up to you. You can get a free compiler for both right off the net if you want. GOod luck to you. Later days.

Levi

Newbie Poster

2 posts since Feb 2004

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I started with Visual Basic .NET a year ago and just recently moved into Win32 C++. .NET is really fun and easy to learn, plus it has DirectX 9.0 which is an amazing set of APIs but here are what I think the advantages of the languages are:

Visual Basic:
Advantages: Easy to learn, doesn't take long to make a simple application, no memory leaks
Disadvantages: Slower than other languages. Can't do as much as the others (little if any memory management)

C#:
Advantages: Not quite as straightforward as VB but much simpler than C++. Memory leaks are small.
Disadvantages: Though this is changing, support is limited. Not as much memory management as C++. Faster than VB but not faster than C++.

C++:
Advantages: Speed is top notch. Anything can be accomplished. Support is massive.
Disadvantages: Complex. Memory leaks are frequent and hard to manage.

Darc

Newbie Poster

4 posts since Feb 2004

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i was wondering what language would any 1 recomend for some one interested in learning programming. I am out of school i am 17 and i want to learn how to program i dont know what i want to start with i heard that its good to start with C# and then move on to C++. I also heard that python is a good language. i wasnt sure where to start i got a book but it only explains C# with using qbasic as a language and visual basic for a compiler interpreter etc. But i dont know where to start i might be able to run qbasic i remember when i made my computer it asked if i wanted to put support for 16 bit programs but either way i dont know where to start can any 1 help? the reason i want to get into programming i have built my own computer and i learned binary by myself in about 2 hours and that was one of the most satisfying experiences you see i realize i havnt accomplished much in my life but when i learned binary it gave me a feeling of accomplishment like i just did somthing that matterd and i thought if i go a step further into the black abyss of programming it might be able to fill a void that i feel in my life and if nothing else give me somthing to do. well thanks for your help or at least for taking the time to read my post.

Glad you want to be a programmer! That's great! Anyways, this topic has been discussed way too many times, so I suggest you take a look at the following threads to see what we all think: http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread2322.html
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread328.html
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread55.html
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread1104.html
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread140.html

I recommend you go through those threads. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. ^_^

samaru

a.k.a inscissor

Team Colleague

1,256 posts since Feb 2002

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Hi,
Please don't consider what i'm about to say as a lecture. It's good that you should get into programming - sure. But you don't have to put yourself down saying " you see i realize i havnt accomplished much in my life ". You're 17 - don't worry. The teenage black hole will one day fill up. You have NO idea where you go in life - whether it's a good or bad place. No person knows even if they're 30 years old.

Feelings of accomplishments are good. They're good feelings. But doing things don't matter, accomplishments don't matter - whether good or bad. You matter. [Pardon my french people] see - we all came from a drop of sperm and an egg. Do you know what that looks like? It's disgusting and it's nothing - a tiny invisible slimeball. From that you have become who you are. And that tiny fact in itself makes you a miracle. That also puts you on par with every other over-developed slime-ball.

I've heard that lately Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi has become extremely popular over there - beyond the pond and in the US. Let me quote him:
This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness

Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!

Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.

Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.

Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.

Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.

The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.
These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:
Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.
The emptiness is not that facing the world - but it's face is turned towards something greater than it....like the feeling you get on a tiny boat in the ocean. Love somthing greater than you - not your own accomplishments. This is the reason why we find Samuri's or Lord of the Rings and every other quest story so appealing - the venturer has set more value on the quest than himself.

Pardon my little outburst. I thought it more important than telling somone how to learn programming.

doubleglazing2

Newbie Poster

16 posts since Apr 2004

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just go for C and move to C++ then to ASM and finally all other programming languages will seem indifferent.

thats what I did, but im not sure if its the best route.

BountyX

Posting Whiz in Training

230 posts since Mar 2004

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7 Years Ago

Forget Qbasic and step into the future by using java, win 32 basic languages like
realbasic(expensive) for windows, cs-basic(vb.net's lethal competitor) or other free basic languages and if you are clever enough learn sharpdevelop. Python is ok but learning the gui part tkinter can drive you insane(some people may disagree). Java is very good due to its implementation of swing. It is not easy being a programmer as i have been in this line of work for nearly ten years so you have to sit down and ask yourself if you like to stay at home on weekends and stay up late for countless nights. But you should start with assembly language first as this will give an excellent foundation. Don't jump into the deep end of the pool.

I hope this helps you

Your Sincerely

Richard West

freesoft_2000

Practically a Master Poster

623 posts since Jun 2004

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7 Years Ago

Personally, I'd recommend starting with BASIC (some dialect of it. There's literally 100's!) because it's one of the most common language bases. (You know those TI-graphing calculators? Took me 30 minutes to learn to program them because of my strong BASIC upbringing.)

From BASIC, I'd consider Ada95. While it's not as simple as Basic, it is an excellent language to learn how to code from. If you write good code in Ada, you almost don't need comments to know what's going on. (That being said, it's a very "wordy" language.) Both BASIC and Ada are easy to learn how to use, but Ada requires more guidance than BASIC does.

Example "Hello World" program in Ada95. (If you were to compile it, it would work.)

with Ada.Text_IO;

procedure hello is
  begin
     Ada.Text_IO.put("Hello World!");
  end hello;

Can you tell what's going on, even without comments?

Puckdropper

Posting Pro

500 posts since Jul 2004

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-1

If you really want to drive yourself crazy, learn LISP. "Urg@#%uuuh!".
Then, you can spend the rest of your life counting parentheses (inside a padded cell). Excuse the sarcasm, but I hate LISP.

Hoppy

hopalongcassidy

Junior Poster

148 posts since Oct 2007

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Start with VB or C.
Best of luck.

ithelp

Nearly a Posting Maven

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2,230 posts since May 2006

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I started out with VB.NET and then went to C# then to Java and now to c++

VB.NET is an exellent start. I highly reccomend the book "Visual Basic 2005 Step By Step" by Microsoft Press. Its for the pro version but 99% of the stuff is ok to use with the free (on microsofts site) express version of VB.NET

jbennet

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I strongly believe that a good start is a script language to get the main concept of programming. You may try Javascript... Then move to python.. And then state on C. If you learn C it will be easy to learn any other programming language. But first you need to take the concept of programming through a lay back language and you can achieve this with scripting language.. Learning assembly as a first language is more like to try build a house from the roof.. It will drive you crazy and take you a lot of months maybe years to learn few things! Don't try assembly as a first language because it highly likely to make you change your mind about programming ;)

cyh4x0r

Newbie Poster

1 post since Oct 2007

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I would say start with some basic html, move onto java/C and if your feeling up for a challenge, try haskell, if you can program in haskell you can program in anything!!!

Good Luck

mickinator

Junior Poster in Training

55 posts since Oct 2007

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i realize i havent accomplished much in my life but when i learned binary it gave me a feeling of accomplishment like i just did somthing that matterd and i thought if i go a step further into the black abyss of programming it might be able to fill a void that i feel in my life and if nothing else give me something to do.

mohanrobin

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34 posts since Nov 2007

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why oh why did you learn machine code programming when assembley exists?

jbennet

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I personaly like Python. The use of whitespace indents instead of { or [ for code blockas at the bare minimun help you develop a clean syntax look when you branch out to bigger and better things. That and its pretty simple to learn.

gwarguy

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15 posts since Mar 2008

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