Learn To Program
JohnI was recently asked by an old friend how I learned to program a computer. Truth be told, I taught myself. He was interested in learning, so I found some books that I thought would be great for someone with no experience what-so-ever, and I thought I’d share my recommendations with you here.
Programming is not as hard as you may think. But it can be. Programming is simply telling a computer what you want it to do in very explicit detail. For example, you can tell a person to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and chances are, they know how. If you told a computer to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it wouldn’t understand you at all.
First you need to speak in a language the computer can understand. There are hundreds of languages to pick from, such as C, Lisp, C++, Java, C#, or my favorite, Python! When learning to program, the syntax (the grammar of the language) of the language can get in the way of learning the idea of programming.
For example, you don’t want to start out trying to decipher:
class MyVariableApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String myVariable = "my variable"; // Create variable and assign value
}
}
when you are trying to learn what a variable is. Instead, it’s much easier to learn variables in syntax like:
variable = "my variable"
The first thing both of these books bring to the table is the languages they use to teach. The first book, Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, is in Python and teaches you to program by learning to make games. The second book, Learn To Program, is written in Ruby and is a fun and quick read. Both are free to read online or you can purchase them at their respective site, or at a larger book retailer.
Both these books teach the basics of how to program, but after that, you have to program. Start with many small projects like a photo renaming script, a small website, etc., and program them. You also need to learn to use the online resource these languages offer.
When you’re comfortable building little applications, build something larger. Or, learn another language, maybe something from the C family of languages (C, C++, Java, C#).
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2 Comments on "Learn To Program"
What is the best programming language today for Website Design. Thanks
PHP is the most common language, its what most people use for web development. Facebook uses PHP. A lot depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are building something enterprise, you may want to look at ASP.Net.
Several people like Ruby on Rails, if you are an experienced developer it is ok, but if you have no programming experience, I would suggest something easier to use like PHP.