15 replies to this topic

[Nameless_]

OK... Now I'm confused. Why does programming have to be so confusing??? OK. So basic is a language. I'll try that. But I'll also download the Python thing as well. And I will start learning and I won't give up. By the way, as anyone heard of igod? Search that up on google.

You get to talk to a computer. But it's really cool. I know i will probably never be able to do anything like that, but it's still cool.
I'm just going for simple bots though, similar to robs, but since I am not a chat addict, I want to start learning a language that can be used for multiple things, and not only for chat.

By the way, anwii... what does basic do? I'd like to know where it takes me.

anwiii, on Jan 14 2010, 12:54 PM, said:

i wouldn't start with python.

i do agree with truefusion that you should learn css(and even html) before learning php.

but for all practical purposes for you who wants to understand a language and create something that you can be proud of, no matter how basic it is, try BASIC. it's as basic as it sounds. still fun to program in and the least complicated in my opinion.

i am lost in todays time. i learned basic and visual basic, cobol, pascal and c, c+ and fortran. i quit trying to learn the languages. it just took up way too much of my time. now, i know html, am lost with css, and know a little php. that is it. i dabbled with python a little but decided it took up way too much of my time since i had better things to do

now you WILL need a complier for some of the languages. you just input your source code in to the complier and it compiles your source in it a lower level language that can also be executed. there are also translators in which you don't need a compiler....but i am unfamiliar with them.

which brings me to my last suggestion other than basic. assembly my be a good language to understand as will...you are actually getting more to the core of how things work. where binary is in it's simplest form of just 1's and 0's.

so i would start with basic and assembly. see if that at all interests you....if not, you should really read up on what all the languages have to offer for your practical needs in learning. back in the day, we had to pay for the compliers. i think there are free ones floating around now. i know when i dabbled in python, i used a free one.

but to start to learn to create something from scratch and understand it, start with basic. although outdated now and limited, it's still not really a bad language to start learning from. i would also combine that with learning assembly if you was to learn a little software hacking skills as you mentioned

[mahesh2k]

I think you need to decide what you want. If you want to be in web development then python,php,asp are great ways to start directly. Wasting time in C/C++ will just increase your time. There are some people who started into php/python directly and learned the suff. Python is easy and people recommend it cause you get immediate results on interpreter. And that makes learning curve faster. I'll not go with personal opinion here. But first decide what you want, desktop programming or web. Based on that choose language that is easy and can help you switch to another one later.

If you decided to go with desktop programming, SmallBasic is what MS came up recently and that you can use to learn. It gives quick results like python.


But again, i repeat you need to know your goal before you can learn any language. You can learn multiple language and their features but that will simply distract you from goal. If you want to learn web development and create some bots then starting up with c++ is waste as of now. So concentrate on what you want and learn particular language that can benefit you for the task. You'll learn c++ and do what with web development ? i mean you need those script/bots etc, so this will not come handy immediately ofcourse c++ will be helpful somewhere else. But stick with what is your requirement right now.

[anwiii]

ok, so i copied this off another thread. i peronally like basic as a starting point but i am a little biased since this was the first language i learned....

Quote

Bah. It isn't BASIC unless it's got line numbers! Down with the oppressive Microsoft BASIC regime! Friends, let us go back to the days before they took our line numbers away! Let us go back to the days of "LET" instead of "DECLARE". Let us go back to using dollar signs to denote strings! Do I hear an AMEN? ;-)

Seriously, old style BASIC is very useful as a teaching tool. It allows would-be programmers to execute simple instructions while giving them a clear understanding of the program's progression. Even the newest newbie can understand that the computer counts from one line number to the next. After they have gotten the basics (no pun intended), they become ready to take on the ideals of advanced control structures. First you break them of GOTO by teaching them to always use GOSUB. (It shouldn't take them long to figure this out, considering that GOSUB ignores line numbers whereas GOTOs always have to be adjusted.) From experience in GOSUB, you're finally ready to take them to C-style functions, preferably in C itself.

Probably the best BASIC interpreter currently available is SmallBASIC: http://smallbasic.sourceforge.net/

Not only does it support both the old and new syntaxes, but it also runs on everything from a Palm Pilot to Linux! I taught my wife BASIC on her Palm Pilot while we let the kids play on the McDonald's playground. You just can't do that with any other BASIC language. :-)

you can actually do a lot with basic, but there are limits. join a good programming forum for help and understanding and all your future questions. there are also very good tutorials for any programing language out there. take some initiative and do your research before asking so many non specific questions.

Edited by anwiii, 14 January 2010 - 08:19 AM.

[Nameless_]

No. Don't take this wrong. I don't intend to learn C, C++ or C# anytime soon. I just want to make a simple bot and get into simple hacking. That's all. So I think I'll start with Basic and Python. I think that's all I need right now, and I can learn other stuff when I need to. I know a bit of PHP. I'm just a bit muddled with the variable function, but I guess that will come in time.

But at least I understand the if...else function.

But anyway... OK. First stop. Basic. Second stop. Python.

I'm ready to start. I'll begin posting my questions on Basic or Python soon, or if all goes well, I'll be able to show you guys what I made. Without any help (though that is highly unlikely). Thanks for the support, and I'll be on my way now.

Nameless_

[manish-mohania]

@Nameless_

Basic
1. Easy to learn
2. Fun to program in.

Python
1. teaches good programming habits
2. good design / language constructs; let you write concise and readable code.
3. Can be used for web development / stand alone application development.

Pick any language, but stick to it for a while. Explore the application areas; learn what you can do with this language.

When I joined B.Sc computer science course, I didn't know how to operate computer. My first language was "C". Funniest thing is that I didn't know it is a tough language and I learn't it fast

[SoundStorm]

Uhm i felt exactly like you do ... about 7 months ago when i started my web adventure. If u wanna become a web programmer and do some hardcore stuff there's several approaches to it as you might have already figured that out. What i can say that it was as much frustrating and time consuming and tiresome for me as it could be for you without guidance.

There are a lot of options for how to make a website. There are countless tools but i recommend that you start off like a did : using notepad ( or not to be that sadistic Notepad++) as a text editor.

Now... there's 2 types of sites... static and dynamic... The static ones are just made up of HTML and CSS as you know. The dynamic ones involve some sort of server side technology (and provide some functionality like adding comments or the usage of users or image uploading etc). This is where it gets confusing. You've got a lot of options :

ASP .NET
JAVA EE (Servlets,JSP)
RUBY
PYTHON
PHP
ZEND (improved php, kinda)
ACTION SCRIPT 3 ( from Adobe )
and so on...

First thing you should do is choose one. I would start with PHP which used to stand for personal home page. It's quite simple, not a complicated learning curve and one can use php to create some really nice web applications really fast.
I personally don't like it, i use Java... but that's just me. I have had about 4 years of programming background in which i developed plenty of desktop applications.

So... i say... grab a few books for : HTML,CSS,JAVASCRIPT and PHP .... read them... make some simple examples ... and you should be on a good starting point from there on out. After making a simple PHP site with login and logout and i dunno ... leaving a comment on the site or something you should have a good grasp of the basic notions of what being a web developer involves.

Oh... and for the books i recommend you look up the Head First series. Those books really opened my eyes.

Well, hope that helps. Hit those books and don't give up... getting good at something requires a lot of work... trust me... i KNOW )

Regards,
Sebastian