Computer programming information please?

Question

Hi, I want to learn how to program and make my own software. It is something I would enjoy to do and I want to deal with computers when I grow up. The high school that I go to does not offer any computer programming courses at all. I know there are many programming languages and I don't know which one to choose and what software to use in developing software. I would probably prefer to use the most standard code and are there any free programs to develop software in that code for either windows or linux. I tried visual basic express edition but I don't think vb can get many things accomplished and I don't think it is very popular. Also if you know of any step by step guides online to learn how to program could you please tell me. I know I am asking a lot but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

For anyone that wanted to know I am 15.

Answer 1

Hi

I started programming when i was seven and at the time I found basic very easy to understand. My advice is to just start with c and c++. C will teach low-level stuff and c++ object-orientedness. BTW how old r u?email me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

Sure sounds like a lot on your mind. I went to school for computer engineering and mostly programmed in assembler C and C++. I got a job engineering software mainly using C++. However the company that I work with require support for a whole variety of products that includes Java code, XML, Java Script, and C#. One thing I have learned is that programming language do deffer in the way they treat computing but It all comes down to your algorithms and logic. Once you got the right algorithm and logic in place, programing language syntax is not that relevant.
If you are serious about what you want to do I would highly recommend as a starting point to learn C++. It is a little harder language then most of them out there. Has much more abilities then a beginner programmer will ever need like memory management ETC, but I believe is one of the basics for all other programing languages. Both Java and C# has successfully emerged and are extremely similar in syntax to C++. They do have more of the light weight object approach to things and are lacking in the memory management abilities. About free IDE's I am sure you can find those on the web eclipse as was recommended is a relay good one for java. Also is the sun IDE.

Answer 3

It well worth investigating college courses in computer programming.

You also need to learn about how a computer works to appreciate programming.

There are two distinct types of program language.
Interpreted - the code is converted and executed at run time.
Compiled - the code is converted by a compiler and then you execute a load module.

Which language you chose can depend on where you want to go with the programming and if you want to do self study. There are a lot of free languages out there.

You already have HTML, which is a markup language, and javascript or VBscript. These are available with your Internet browser and is a basic way to start programming.

If you want to get into more advanced stuff then java is also free but its OO design principles may take a while to get your head around.

Other languages may require you to buy compilers or interpreters. You will have to check whats out there.

This is just the start. You could spend your life learning!

Answer 4

I'm a computer programmer by schooling and by trade. I've found that the best programming environment is a Linux pc or a Mac with OSX.

Linux is probably a cheaper and by far better environment for a beginner.

1. Linux is freely downloadable, my favorite is debian, http://www.debian.org

2. Linux will allow you to get used to using "freeware" which is by far superior in number and quality on any linux platform. I mean just by installing linux your compiling your own kernel with help from the install package. GCC is standard, Java is freely downloadable and easily installed.

3. As far as languages go, right now Java is the hot language. It can do just about everything, is free, and there are tons of free tutorials on the web.

A good Java IDE is eclipse, totally free, completely built in Java and has a version for both Linux and Windows.

Another reason java is a good language to learn is that it is an accepted university language much like C++ 5 years ago. It is relatively high level and has many free resources as well as books on the subject of programming everything from binary search trees to full blown graphical interfaces using SWING.

Answer 5

I'd recommend a slightly different angle. Since you just want to get going with programming, I'd suggest one of the currently-hot dynamic languages: Ruby, Python, PHP, or Perl.

The advantage of these languages is that they're simple to learn. C and C++ are primitive languages: they expect you to understand concepts like pointers, memory allocation, buffer overflows, etc. Java has, in my opinion and experience, a higher cost-of-entry: it takes more code to get stuff done. My guess is that you just want to start getting some code working.

The languages I mentioned above all make it easy to just get stuff going. I'd probably recommend Ruby, then Perl, then Python, then PHP in terms of "just programming".

Ruby is very hot at the moment; learning it could be very advantageous to you. Perl is a language you'll either love or hate - if it fits the way you think, it'll be a piece of cake; if not, you'll curse it and wish you never had to look at it. Python is a little more like Java than the previous two, so there's a little more "initial cost" in learning to use it. Many folks love it - I sort of like it, but it's not what I pick when I'm just banging out a project. PHP is really a web templating toolkit with an attached programming language, but it's easy to use and many people who otherwise don't program at all love it; it's gotten a bad rep as insecure because of people not using its built-in security functions.

Disclaimer: I love Perl, like Ruby, and an neutral on Python and PHP.

You should be able to run any of these on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X. Just search Yahoo! for your OS and the language of choice: "Windows Perl"; "Linux Ruby"; "OS X Python". Have fun.

Answer 6

Well this all depends on what you what to write. Websites are done in HTML(hypter text markup language). Unix programs are in C, windows programs are in C++, Visual Basic.
There are other languages also, Perl, Python, two emerging languages for writing scripts and CGI.
Learning a simple language like Perl, HTML, or python is a good start. Then go for the Java, C++ or harder ones.

Answer 7

vb is very popular, BUT, when u compile your program it makes programs with big file sizes. if i were u, i would use C++, c++ is just like c, but with more stuff, so dont learn c,
also, there are many examples of c++ online and c++ is very popular. c++ can do almost anything too. dont start with windows gui form applications though, start with simple dos based consol applicatiosn and work your way up. i tought myself everything i know online so others can too,

i started with thy tut at cprogramming.com

Answer 8

dont be fooled by the name, Gamemaker can be used for making more than just video games. If you want to see a game that i developed with it, please click the last link and download my WW2 game. please! will you send me some feedback via E-mail?