Does anyone know how to start learning programming

[Prism_Red]

This is coming from a professional with 10 years experience, pick one that seems easiest first, even simple stuff like HTML and Phyton will do.

Everyone always talks about picking a language but that's really less important. Most languages have fundamentally the same basic building blocks and once you learn one, learning more is easy. I always found the hardest part was figuring out things to program. When you program, your goal is to make something. The best way to learn to program is to pick something small and make it.

This is basically it, working out your logic, as in your capability in making sound and valid argument, no offense, is much more important than actually learning the language you picked. Notation and language limitation is easily transferable, but you will still struggle down the line if you don't sharpen up basic fundamental in your logic. This is a complete 180 from learning a real spoken language.

i.e. some simple analogy, 1+1 equals "two" in English. You can easily answer "dos" in Spanish, or "二" in Japanese, it doesn't matter how skillful you are at English language if you don't know the answer to 1+1 in the first place. Same thing with programming, I suggest to just start from one language of your choice, if you got the logical thinking part down, learning another language after your first one is a much faster process.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

I was thinking more pc programs than games

Games are PC programs! Learning to do one will teach you to do both

I personally think that a good place to start is by learning Python. It's a very easy language to learn and there are a plethora of free resources online for learning Python. Start out writing some simple programs like a calculator app, and as you create small little projects your skill level will improve and you can steadily move on to bigger projects.

 

[kuroninneko]

I do lots of game programing so I can only give advice on that area programming. My advice would be to start building stuff right away no matter how simple. If you can recreate old arcade games like Pong or Space Invaders it would be a great learning experience. I see too many people waste lots of time on video tutorials and expensive courses but never actually learn enough to make anything. Not that video lessons are bad but I would say 75% of the time should be spend actually building stuff.

Don't worry too much if your code has errors even the best coders deal with errors and they are a completely normal part of the process. I seen lots of beginners get upset and give up after a few compiler errors.

For quick lessons and reference https://www.w3schools.com/ is a great free site that would teach you the basics or many languages. Also do not rely too much on AI it can give wrong information.

If you are looking to make games definitely go with a game engine like Unity, Godot, Phaser, or Pygame. Jump right into learning game engines and you will learn programming in the process.

Edit: After reading the thread some I see you want to build applications that are not games. If you are building desktop applications Python and Java are good and fast ways to get an application with a window and buttons.

 

[TheWanderer]

I'm interested in learning about programming and PCs but every time I try I don't know where to go or start because when I do it's a lot of names and things that I have no clue about

Thanks for the help
∆Just realized it's the wrong forum
∆or is it I swear it said retro gaming on the top

If you're starting fresh my advice is
Create some silly games on scratch ,it won't really teach you programming but it will give you some basics on algorithmics (which is basically how you solve problems in programming)
Then learn python and object oriented programming (OOP) through YouTube ,in the process you will learn to apply the algorithmic feel you got from scratch and at the end you will learn to use OOP. It doesn't matter what language you start with Altough it's better if it's a mainstream one but what matters is learning how to understand code since this can basically apply on any language and with a good foundation you can pick up any other language pretty fast .I hope I conveyed my point clearly because I just woke up and I'm feeling woozy

 

[Patches]

I second the notion of c/c++ at least you can have a more fun mistake and learning experience than python >_>. Also you could be one of the few and proud Temple OS devs with Holy C and add to the few games or apps that run on Temple OS.

 

[chxshire22]

Mine was C, so I read "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie.

good book

OP i suggest deciding what you want to create.
Programming is a means to an end, and you have to decide what that end goal is and then decide what is the best tool (in this case language) to achieve that.

if you don't know what you want yet and you've never done any computer related stuff, just go with C. it is the mother of the more common languages out there and will give you a great foundation to start off with. start with the book @Crabulon said he read.

you're gna struggle learning a language, any language, might as well start w the OG.

again that's if you don't know what you want to do yet.

if you already know just follow the guide Spike provided.

 

[Yousef]

If you’re interested in romhacking:

Learn Romhacking (Resources Index)

So you want to learn romhacking? First of all, you must know that there's no general tool that will convert a Japanese game to English else all games would already been translated. Every game is different. This is also not something you will learn in a day so if you were expecting a 5 minute...

retrogametalk.com

 

[jul]

Thanks im more interested in desktop applications and system / embedded program and security so I think I will stars by learning some HTML for a start and then start c#/c++

A world of pain... Syntax, performances, and target platform aside... Main difference between Javascript and C++, is that in Javascript you don't have to deal with fundamental concepts such as memory allocation/pointers/memory leaks... Since it's handled for you by the VM (virtual machine) just like in Java... And it comes of course at a performance cost...

I would suggest:

1) Javascript to get used to the basics (variables, objects, functions, loops, conditions, event listeners, scope...) and for the ease of use in terms of getting something running like "Right now! With just my crappy Notepad and my stupid Firefox !"

It hardly can be more simple to start coding games without starting to get completely dumb.

...

2) Java, to get used to "data types" among other things, and actually start coding something that actually is an actual desktop application, a game for desktop (or Android). It still requires to have Java installed on the host machine, but that's a thing in the world of computing...

3) And then C/C++ to get used to handling memory allocation yourself, because again in Java or Javascript that's something the computer does for you, in your back... And then you'll be able to make a Sega Megadrive game with SGDK! https://github.com/Stephane-D/SGDK

C#? Yeah why not... "The Common Language Runtime (CLR), which is a virtual machine component of the Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs, including those written in C#." OH THAT'S TOO BAD ! Behold the craporama hell of depedencies and proprietary martyrdom... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32280874/can-any-c-sharp-application-be-run-on-linux

Maybe you could go with haxe and openfl...? Or Godo...?

So?

So let's start, right here, right now.


Download the attached .zip file of this post, extract it, and open the "myGame.html" file with your browser (firefox for instance). Code is commented, it's a basic example.

Then toy with it with a text editor, Notepad works... But you'll want some text coloration so I suggest you download a descent text editor, personnaly I use sublime text editor free version. Now of course eveybody will recommend that you download that Visual Studio Code gas factory thing, and why not it's great, I find it way too heavy personally, I like to keep it simple, I just need text coloration.

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

A world of pain... Syntax, performances, and target platform aside... Main difference between Javascript and C++, is that in Javascript you don't have to deal with fundamental concepts such as memory allocation/pointers/memory leaks... Since it's handled for you by the VM (virtual machine) just like in Java... And it comes of course at a performance cost...

Yeah, even if memory managed languages sound better, it really isn't because you have to deal with the intricacies of the garbage collector. You have to learn the specifics of your particular language so you can work around it and so the GC doesn't kill your frame rate at an inopportune moment.

 

[jul]

Yeah, even if memory managed languages sound better, it really isn't because you have to deal with the intricacies of the garbage collector. You have to learn the specifics of your particular language so you can work around it and so the GC doesn't kill your frame rate at an inopportune moment.

Sure, now if you want to code a sega genesis game... It's going to be C... Unless of course you really want to deal with 68k assembly.

Javascript you can throw pretty much anything at it and it's easy to debug, widely available examples all over the place from 2D to 3D, and there's no hard setup, no dependencies hell you just need a browser and a text editor to get started, you don't even necessarily need to have a webserver installed... Unless of course you start getting into nodejs but first things first.

 

[kuroninneko]

If someone wanted to build simple web applications with Javascript what tools do you recommend for buttons and text fields? I know standard Javascript has support for buttons but there are also lots of extra librarys and stuff I dont know too much about.
I made this app in python but would like to recreate it on a website, possibly with Javascript. Its a multi language keyboard that makes it easier to talk with friends in other languages without needing to change any operating system settings. Eventually I want to try getting it to translate and speak words too.

 

[jul]

If someone wanted to build simple web applications with Javascript what tools do you recommend for buttons and text fields? I know standard Javascript has support for buttons but there are also lots of extra librarys and stuff I dont know too much about.
I made this app in python but would like to recreate it on a website, possibly with Javascript. Its a multi language keyboard that makes it easier to talk with friends in other languages without needing to change any operating system settings. Eventually I want to try getting it to translate and speak words too.
View attachment 43755

Depends how much custom you want, but if you want just "normal stuff" that works well everywhere Bootstrap comes to mind. It's not hard to learn, and it has pretty much everything covered.

Now if you want some kind of revolutionary fancy interface with 3D scenes or complete pixel art stuff everywhere that's a completely different ballgame.

Examples

Quickly get a project started with any of our examples ranging from using parts of the framework to custom components and layouts.

getbootstrap.com

Buttons · Bootstrap v5.3

getbootstrap.com

 

[kuroninneko]

Depends how much custom you want, but if you want just "normal stuff" that works well everywhere Bootstrap comes to mind. It's not hard to learn, and it has pretty much everything covered.

Now if you want some kind of revolutionary fancy interface with 3D scenes or complete pixel art stuff everywhere that's a completely different ballgame.

Examples

Quickly get a project started with any of our examples ranging from using parts of the framework to custom components and layouts.

getbootstrap.com

Buttons · Bootstrap v5.3

getbootstrap.com

Thanks for the help. I keep hearing about bootstrap in job postings but dont know much about it, I should make that the next thing I learn

 

[jul]

Now if you're completely mad and have $9,999.99 to throw away... There's this:

Webcrafter: 3D Website Builder

WebCrafter: Your no-to-low-code website builder inside blender. Make, bake, then ship and shake

blendermarket.com

He sold 40+ units over 1 year... With a 3 stars rating... It's hard to comprehend what's going on here. Also, it's buggy.

 

[kuroninneko]

Wow thats really cool and works pretty good. I been using Unity to make webgl games in 3d but its not exactly made for websites and gets a big performance downgrade. Awesome webcrafter works with blender i like blender a lot

 

[jul]

Also you could be one of the few and proud Temple OS devs with Holy C and add to the few games or apps that run on Temple OS.

Entering Internet's glorious History by the Temple's door!

Or simply go for SGDK https://github.com/Stephane-D/SGDK and make a Sega Megadrive/Genesis game in C and you no longer have to ask yourself "how can I port my game to that $50 handheld I bought on aliexpress"

Now of course it's a megadrive, forget about making a FPS.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

I taught myself by making games, that's it.

My advice, is to learn the logic behind programming first, the best way to do so, is with games, not making them, but playing games that will teach you by doing.

Whatever programming game by Zachtronics works, this one is just the first one i saw in my library:

EXAPUNKS on Steam

The year is 1997. You used to be a hacker, but now you have the phage. You made a deal: one hack, one dose. There’s nothing left to lose… except your life.

store.steampowered.com

Duskers is also good.

Duskers on Steam

Pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard.

store.steampowered.com

And, Signal State.

The Signal State on Steam

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, The Signal State puts your logic skills to the test with complex puzzles inspired by modular synthesizers. Repair machines, rebuild an abandoned farm, and be part of a revolution that will change the fate of agriculture once and for all.

store.steampowered.com

These games will help you not only understand the underlying logic, but they too will help you get in the mindset of programming, which is mostly problem solving logic puzzles.

Afterwards, pick your poison with whatever programming language.

 

[extermist]

This post might be irrelivant to the overall OP question, but when I was in college, I only knew HTML and some CSS.

When it came to the harder stuff, we learned C then Turbo C. At the time the school only had teachers who taught Java, but it gave me too many issues, like library dependency and such.

So I thought myself C++ instead, and later picked up some assembly on the side.
Did I become a software engineer? Yes.
But I quit my job and never came back to the industry. Never liked programing for a living.

I can advice you from my own experience, try C, and maybe HTML then PHP.

Once you get the hang of syntax, then the rest become easier step by step.