Beginner's Programming

[Neddaf]

So I'm interested in starting programming. I would like a little advice on any reference books I should get and if anyone has any online tutorials. I know they're out there but Google is giving me so much information I don't really know what to do with it all.

I'm on a Mac OS X system (10.5) and will be moving to a Windows based machine soon.

 

[Continuum]

I'd recommend Grails in Action, it does get into some pretty advanced things but does it in a way I think a beginner could pick it up and come out of it learning a lot more.

Grails is a web framework built on top of Groovy, Java, Spring, Hibernate but takes care of all the configuration for you. Of course since its built on all those technologies you can continue to learn as you go too.

People are going to start posting about how everyone should start with c++ but thats not a good place to start and probably won't offer you much if you get into the field either. It's something you pick up if you go to school or is necessary for a project your working on (work or hobby).

 

[Phopojijo]

<shrugs> Just about every language on Windows is available on a Mac and vice versa... it's the APIs that are different and I wouldn't recommend delving too far into those before you actually learn how to program.

Probably Java is a good place to start...

 

[haarg]

It also depends on what type of programming you have in mind. GUI applications? Dynamic websites?

 

[rejecht]

A programming language is a narrow pathway towards a solution that some consider unnatural--any programming language will limit how the solution is expressed, or how the solution can interact with the environment (the operating system (the resource manager)), and ultimately the player or user.


What, specifically, do you want to change or make?--Don't worry about choosing "a wrong" programming language, because they all work the same; decision making based on input, producing output, managing resources; and from there on one can get more specialized, like applying the "object-oriented" (OO) approach, how resources are managed.--Once you've calibrated your brain to express your solution in one programming language, you have a template for learning another programming language more easily.

 

[Phoenix_Wing]

All I can say is, do not start with C++.

I have found anything in the Dummies volume is fantastic. They have great explanations, and usually plenty of examples for code.

What language do you plan on learning?

 

[Neddaf]

Thanks for the info. My focus is programming and it's application to the video game industry, but I am open to everything right now. Java was a suggestion from another friend, I think I may go that route right away. Thanks!

 

[Zur]

Java should be a good start as it'll introduce you to OOP notions while offering tons of APIs that suit a range of purposes. Once you're confident with that, you could try C# a bit to see what the differences are.

 

[MeStinkBAD]

First go to http://developer.apple.com/iphone/index.action and download the iPhone SDK (really the OSX SDK w/ iPhone support). It includes *everything* you need...

Start w/ dashcode... you can move on the Xcode and learn Obj-C or just develop Applescript Studio projects...

 

[Benfica]

Python

Code examples vs java. Ignore the (confusing) first comparison "statically typed" vs dynamically and the "SpecialException", see the others

C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, Rexx and Tcl. Read page 3 -7 and then 19 - 25

 

[MeStinkBAD]

Python? No... Ruby!

 

[Phoenix_Wing]

I would have to suggest either Python or C#. Python is very easy, and is portable. C# will introduce you to functional curly brace languages and will help you jump over to Java or C++/C if you ever wanted to as they are rather similar in syntax