The Programming Super Thread

I'm a self-taught python programmer but my love is forever C/C++. For bigginers trying to get a hang on things python might be an edge. It has all the functionality and is a bit more light on the coding squematics. Still it is best to start with C++ in my opinion but if that shows to be rather a challenge you might want to play around with python. As an interpreted language it has less of a hassle with running and debugging compared to constantly compiling to check for errors which most of programmers is a newbie malpractice.

When I was not even familiariced with python's capabilities I still used the UI as a calculator. It's good practice for basic fast solved commands. Rather than launch the calculator I got to play a bit an get accostumed to how code works and what I should expect from the UI and it's 'reactions' to bad code.

I started with basic, and the only source of infromation that I had was the qbasic manual that comes with ti.
And yes, I did use goto a lot, but once I learned C at the university I never used goto again. :D

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Really good writeup, if you really want to know your computer inside and out, you need to know how to talk to it.

Hey, does anyone have a current book on C++ they could give me, or sell to me on the cheap. I'm studying from a book copyrighted in 1999 that i bought from the library for 50 cents. I'll pay shipping and whatever else...Ā  I have a lot of downtime at work and my boss is a ludite so no electronics.

Nothing about node under JavaScript?

I still recommend getting books to read in terms of web coding as its just more convenient at least it was for me.:)

It helps when you need to brush up but also bare in mind that code is ever changing so eventually those books will become outdated but you should still understand the basis of the updated code.

Unless it is a new code language all together also a side note concerning new forms of code, well there is html5 for one. I've to wonder do most people or companies actually care for it as it has been out for quite some time now. But I suppose its still in its infancy compared to other more mature forms of web code.

Granted apps using this code have took it away from the website platform in a sense, although I found an Android application this year that uses html5 for Facebook. If anything I found it more convenient to use when I've used it. As I am not a big facebook user at all but it needs more regular updates for more people to wildly use it. But this is cell/mobile or tablet application for the Android operating system.

But and this is a big but, once a upon a time html the basics of all websites was in its infancy and the deployment of its original coding was bulky and tedious as hell to code.

Lol pages and pages full of code, hooks were barely used back then.

I'm still undecided on how much time I want to put into html5 as still not a lot of people use it but if I don't have more interest in it soon. I could be left behind playing catch up.

Here is a page with many great FREE books for many programminc languages and other stuff.

Books (like the one frome the page owner - "Lear Python the hard way") are for many people not easy (hence "... the hard way") but it's worth it.

Ā 

http://programming-motherfucker.com/become.html

Another possible starting language could be Haskell. It is very different from the other languages, but it teaches the basic principles very well - and i just LOVE the vibe of the community:

Here is a web-interpreter-mini-tutorial which i highly recommend to everyone: http://tryhaskell.org/
and if you are interested try this free/buyable book: http://learnyouahaskell.com/



It just makes me happy, and isn't that the greater purpose of programming? :D

I will put my personal experiences with programming in analogies that most students should understand.Ā 

C/C++/C# - Much like a smooth Irish Whiskey, C and its variants goes down smooth with a logical aftertaste. I consider both to be my first and favorite choice. Dinosaur IBM lecturers are very fond of this.

Java - Probably the harshest to come to terms with, Java is like a potent Scotch Whiskey aged in a Port wine barrel. Any negligence on your behalf, towards the basics, will result in loss of control. Enjoy it's rich features slowly with careful adherence to the rules and be rewarded. The documentation doesn't make much sense but the SUN's foundations books are worth your time.

ASP.Net(Framework),

Model-View-Controller (Architecture),

Razor (Syntax) - Brilliant and elegant, two words that generally don't describe Microsoft's creations, nonetheless just like a fruity restaurant pale ale, they perfectly complement the main course (C#, Java etc.) making your life much easier. Scott Guthrie atĀ http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/ is the go-to-guy here, he has the best explanations and doesn't insult your intelligence.Ā 

Oracle/PLSQL - PLSQL gives you the same feeling as walking out of the liquor store with a $20 bourbon whose taste rivals that of the top-shelf. Very neat and clean it is a pleasure to use staving off the feelings of depression (due to database). Avoid Oracle documentation at all costs,Ā http://www.techonthenet.com/ has much more straight-forward explanations.

I've recently collected a lot of documentation on C++ and BASIC

I have Visual Studio 2005 which can be used for BASIC and of course C++

Are there any opinions on learning BASIC before C++

Is it worth it to even learn BASIC anymore?

I'm just curious because I have a large fascination with the 'BASIC' languageĀ 

since Woz and Gates really made good use of it.

Thanks for any opinions especially from working programmers.

Doesn't anyone think there should be more info to be added in this sticky? It's like 90% of the posts in this thread are people asking, "Oooooooh, what's the best language?", "Yo yo yo yo, what programming books should I read?", "Ohai, I'm a noob to programming", "Halp, I need babby's first programming language", etc... And the 10% is people actually asking for assistance for their piece of code and/or giving tips. I'm telling here, anyone asking for assistance, read the 1st post or ask in this thread only. That way, no useful info is drowned back by many threads. They'll be visible for other people to read through.

And I thought my studying of Java has paid off but I felt like a noob again after looking at those posted threads that I've mentioned.

If you want to learn programming it doesnt really matter what type of language you use. It is the semantics that are important. If you understand the semantics, the language of choise is less important.

Frankly, I find the opening lacking. It presents the would be wannabe-programmer with 5 options with pros/cons that are more a history lesson then key points. Though to be fair the question "I wanna be a programmer" is like saying you want to be a scientist, but have no clue what science field you have an interest in, so the problem is not really not having an appropriate answer as much as it is not asking an appropriate question (such as "I want to build this kind of game(s)" or "I want to build a website" or "I want to build [this mod] for [this game]" etc).

I have heard bad things about W3Schools and a lot of content on their website giving you outright wrong information.

I've probably learned 1/4 of C++ about 3 different times in my life but here's the problem: I always forget it. I'm pretty sure the problem is that I don't know what to do with my knowledge; I need something to code, or else I don't really see how everything has a usage and then I simply forget it.

I tried to start with C++ but quickly fell behind. There was no documented prerequisite for the class but the instructor himself suggested we take Java first.

I've recently started programming, going through C++ then maybe Java, openGL, and SFML.

I'm just confused at how its all put together. I mean, my raw C++ code that is being used in a game, I don't know if it'll work on any OS. I guess I'm basically asking, is how do you code for an operating system to create an app, and how is that different from just programming in a compiler / IDE

The Code forum had pretty much turned into a support for people wanting to learn languages. Please, if you have any questions regarding on what to learn, ask it here and get it answered. Try not to make your own thread. It's getting cluttered with these type of questions that have been answered many, many, many times and by reading the sticky that would be even helpful. Reserve this forum for assistance on any specific programming code question like,

"How do I inherit hashbrown.class with potato.class?"

"Why Animal cat = new Dog doesn't work as I already have a Dog and Cat subclasses within the Animal parent class?"

"What do I return?"

etc, etc, etc...

Late post but Zen Coding is a great plugin for Sublime Text 2/3 to quicken up the coding processĀ 

http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2013/03/26/goodbye-zen-coding-hello-emmet/

Thanks for those great links! I don't know about accuracy and what not, since I'm just starting out, but the links you provided seem way more engaging than w3schools.Ā