Want to learn Programming

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Im looking to learn a programming language. I would like to learn something that I can really do things with. A guy that used to work for my company programmed in PHP and he made some pretty cool stuff, but left most of it unfinished when he left.

Id like to learn a language, but ive never programmed before other than batch and some basic html. Which language would you think would be best, and what would you say is the best way to start?

 

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OceanPacific, programming covers a very very vast range of applications and skills, could you be more specific about what kind of thing you're actually interested in? (It's a bit like saying you'd like to learn a foreign language and which one should you pick!) What kinds of programs interest you?

 

Thats a very good question. I think I would like to make basic applications for my company. Honestly I cant think of anything particular that I want to make at the moment but I know there are things here we need and just dont have as we dont have an in-house programmer.

 

What kinds of programs do you mean?

And do bear in mind that it's easier to learn other languages once you've started somewhere (an ex-friend of mine knows about 25 )

Databases could be a place to start, as most needs at work can be resolved with a database - start with Access and learn your way through VBA and SQL, then move uto Visual Basic for more specific applications...

If PHP interests you, you could try building some web-based applications - I found a book on Amazon last night which deals with PHP and Windows applications, but it might be more advanced. Though Access, VBA and VB are a lot easier to pick up!

 

Well I already know Access. I dont know honestly, what type of applications I would like to make. I need to look into it more to see what we could use here. I would like to get into making games as well but I know that is a much more complicated process and alot more is involved than just knowing a language.

 

Do you just know Access, or do you know how to program with it as well? Once you're comfortable with that, you can play with using it as a back end to VB applications, or as a front end to SQL Server. But certainly if it's office-based stuff you're thinking of, then you could probably achieve most things with either.

I know nothing about designing games - though if PHP appeals, install a wamp server (Apache / MySQL / PHP for Windows) and buy a good book

 

What about C++ you can type stuff like <conio.h> and things that don't make any sense.

In all seriousness C++ might be a place to start

 

C and C++ is a good place to start to learn programming, to the best of my knowledge. Another point of entry might be learning Python. It's a powerful programming language that's not that difficult to learn. There's a PDF free online called Non Programmers Tutorial for Python. It's not terribly long and the lessons ease you into the language.

Just about any Linux distro natively has Python installed but you can also freely install Python for Windows and have at it. Just my 2 cents.

 

I'd recomend PHP its a very easy language to use for web based applications and the likes

 

Well I think im going to go with either Java or Python. Is python pretty flexible? Like, could I compile executable files out of python and regular applications?

 

Stay away from games and C++ for now. I do both for a living and know for sure that they will give you a very rough ride and frustrate you for the level you are at at the moment.

Python is a good place to start programming, although it doesn't teach you best programming practices because of its dynamic typing (inferring the type of a variable from the value that it is assigned) and unusually easy ways of getting things done. I've only been programming in Python now for just over eight months and write some very, very powerful scripts in next to no time. Start with that for now.

We have an IT guy at work who is starting to program in his 40s and is getting along very well with the language. It might work for you too.

 

I would use Python as a teaching language for now. Yes it has Tkinter (a GUI API for developing rudimentry applications) and you can have compiled programs, even though Python is a scripting language by nature.

Try to learn how to code properly first.

 

Awesome! Thanks for all the help guys. Im going to get into python, just so I can learn a language and then I will see where that takes me. Thanks for all your suggestions and expertise on the subject.

 

I just suggested the database/VB route as an easy option - congrats on choosing Python, and keep us posted on how you get on!

 

I'd throw my vote in for Python too. It's something I've spent a little time with, and have written some scripts with that help in system administration tasks. It's easy to learn, is extremely flexible and powerful, and you will find that it's actually used very widely outside the Windows world. Organizations such as Google, NASA, Salesforce.com, Zope.org, and Plone.org use it a lot. In fact Zope and Plone, an OO web application framework and OO CMS, respectively, are written in Python. They have moved to the easy_install and zc.buildout features in Python for installation and addition of functionality of both.