I am interested in getting into programming as a hobby. I have no clue were to start and would like to know were I can start to learn what the diffrent languages do and were to get started in learning how to program.
Well, what do you want to start programming? Games, sites, servers, what?
I'd recommend starting with the basic logic behind programming. Something like Raptor or Python, just to learn boolean logic, variables and how they work etc. Then, focus on a language and a program
learn python. it can do everything with so much ease.
if you want to do big projects, java and c++ are where its at.
http://programming-motherfucker.com/become.html <--great website
I really didn't like to learn python, I started on codeacademy and did every lesson and language they offered , didn't take long until I was writting my own programs and building websites:)
Construcitng websites has nothing to do with programming, unless you are doing advanced SQL, JS, PHP, Jquery, etc., but even then, they aren't the same as a full-fledged desktop programming language.
I'd suggest grabbing an intro textbook to a language and work your way through it. That's what I did. I started on Java, using a textbook called "Java for Everyone" (I think that's the title). You can download a free IDE called "Eclipse" in which you do all the programming.
That's just what I did. I'd actually suggest learning ActionScript 3.0 if you want to immediately make games and have a pretty decent community to work with. AS 3.0 is used in flash games and is suprisingly a lot like Java and other high level languages. There are tons of good flash game tutorials on the internet using it, several free IDEs like "FlashDevelop" to make games in, and a solid online community to turn to. I think it's a good place to start.
COGlory was hit the nail on the head with learning the basic logic. Once you've got that down, the rest is mostly learning keywords, limits, and syntax.
I taught myself a great deal of C++ by just going to Chapters and buying a book. I reccomend this http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Teach-Yourself-One-Hour/dp/0672335670
Also, anyone looking for a partner in coding to keep eachother motivated inbox me.
Have you gone through the whole book? I've heard Sams is pretty terrible. I have their C# one and it was OK but a lot of the code examples weren't very efficient or flat out don't work. A couple of my pals have tried various other Sam books as well, and pretty much told me the same thing.
I am thinking Java might be what I want to learn. Right now I am working towards a career in networking and am thinking that servers might be the best bet. What would you guys recommend based off that new info.
I personally feel like Java is starting to die out. It's probably just my animosity towards Java, so I could be completely wrong. I still personally think you should look into a scripting language perhaps. Perl and Ruby are my recommendations. Maybe try a compiled language like C++. Start off with something simple, like a scripting language. Then move on to bigger languages. The more well-rounded you are, the better.
Here's a great idea, Go to the "CODE" section of this forum.