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Learning to program

by Gclunis
7 replies
Anybody have an estimate of how long it takes to learn to program? I am not talking about mastering it just to get to a point that you can write useful programs for various tasks. (Simple programs that do one task) I have developed an interest in learning but I am not sure which language to start with (c, c++, java, all that stuff) anyone have any advice?
#learning #program
  • Profile picture of the author AndyBlackSEO
    Not srue about the others, but php is easy to pick up. Start from learning the basics and expand on that.

    It's more about thinking logically than just learning the functions of a language. There are many different ways to solve one problems when it comes to programming.

    I started writing functional and useful scripts within a couple of weeks of delving into php and mySQL.

    It's quite addictive, and once you reach a certain level, the world is your oyster and your ideas spring to life.
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  • Profile picture of the author Damien Roche
    PHP is VERY easy to pick up, especially if you have previous experience of other programming languages or even markup languages like html and css.

    It's also very powerful for creating web applications. That's what you need to ask yourself, do you want to create web applications or desktop applications?

    Certain programming languages can do both, but php can only create web applications.

    Personally, I think any programmer who works over the internet should at least know a little html and css so I'd start there if I was you. Then move onto a powerful language based on your goals (web or desktop).
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  • Profile picture of the author Tracey_Meagher
    It depends on what type of programs you want to write. You can write software for the desktop, examples would be MS Word, Excel, or things like computer games. For this type of software you usually use languages like Visual Basic, C#, Java, Python or C/C++. Python would be an easy to learn option here. It requires less effort for a novice to pick up and become productiv in (www.python.org). There are a huge number of libraries to use when developing software with Python, for example PyGame for developing games in. A really good FREE book introducing Python is 'How to Think Like a Computer Scientist'(http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpy...hinkpython.pdf). Python is also used widely for web programming, for example for creating websites, or content management systems. A Very simple python based system to learn about this is Karrigell - www.karrigell.com Google use Python widely in their software design, and often they specify it in their job ads.

    If you want to develop web based software - also called a client/server system, for example large content management systems, or online community websites like warrior forums, you might use PHP (or python , MySQl(database) and HTML and CSS (which help you to lay out the pages, fonts, colour images etc..). You will also need some javascript to do web design. Developers also use this approach to create online games, for example Second Life is accessed via your web browser. Systems like SugarCRM (a customer management system), Moodle (an online learning system), and magento (an ecommerce system) and are programmed like this.

    This web-based means of creating software is also being used to develop desktop applications using a concept called 'Ajax', which uses PHP/Python/other, Javascript, CSS etc.. to make programs you can use via your web browser. This is like you would normally use on your computer desktop, e.g. Word Processing. The great thing about this is that once you have learned how to program for the web, you can transfer you skill to developing desktop applications as well.

    There are literally hundreds of computer programming languages, all of which are widely used depending on what it is the programmer is trying to do, who they work for, or what they learnt at the beginning of there career. most good pogrammers will use a number of languages during their career.

    If I was starting out now, I would maybe learn a language like python. I would then learn C and C++, which are still very widely used for their speed and underly a lot of software. Then maybe Java, or a web focused language like PHP or Ruby.
    An alternative would be to start programming with Javascript. you only need a code editor (or even notepad), and a web browser to beging!
    the reason I would stay clear of languages like Java, C# and VB to begin with, is that you need to learn how to use their development tools (integrated development environments) as well as the language, before you can really become productive (i.e begin to do anything useful which you can see).

    Javascript could be good because it is now possible to create whole applications with javascript using tools like Jaxer. If you want to have some fun with javasscript, check out www.processingjs.com this is a library created from a tool called processing [Processing 1.0 (itself programmed in Java), which allows you to work with images, sound and other multimedia]. Using Javascript, and processingjs, you can quickly create graphics and images. This is the way I learned to program on an apple II! It is very intercative and intuitive.

    If you want to learn Microsoft tools like VB, or C# you might find it easier using something like sharpdevelop - SharpDevelop @ic#code (it's less intimidating than the full MS environment and uses less computer resources) though many books use the Visual Studio environment. you can download Visual Studio Express for free, though is uses a lot of resources and takes a while to get aoround!

    On the question of how long it takes to learn programming, it depends on how dedicated you are, what language you begin with, what you wan to learn to program (games for example take a lot of effort and require learning about a lot of other concepts). if you put in a couple of hours a day, perhaps within a month you could have a good grasp of the basics of a language.

    So, cutting to the chase, either Javascript, Python or PHP to begin with I think. You really need to just learn a langauge to gt the hang of concepts and then you cn extend your knowledge into different languages.

    [BTW there is also a version of Python called IronPython which you can use through MS Studio.]
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  • Profile picture of the author clubvikram
    Banned
    Well there are lots of languages to be learned.it depends upon what your priorities are.there are many options available in the opensource community like php,python,ruby on rails etc and then there is microsoft's .Net platform,which is very good and supported by most sophisticated IDE called Visual Studio.So take your pick.
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  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    I learned some basic Java.
    It took a year.
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  • Profile picture of the author garyk1968
    The thing is the language on its own is only part of your toolbox when it comes to building apps. You will soon need to talk to a database so will need SQL and any connectivity (ADO/ADO.net/ODBC), lots of languages have frameworks that improve productivity but add an additional learning curve.
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  • Profile picture of the author locpicker
    You can get Sam's books that say as short as 8 hours.

    A real cheap place is Virtual University if you want to learn things like basic perl and things of that nature.
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