learn to program

[Caracas]

Any programmers out there?
I find myself interested in learning a programming language, besides vbscript which I know a little already...
What programming languages are being used these days? c++,c#,java?
I can have access to the latest tools to learn almost any language. I just need to decide which one
The idea would be to create small and simple programs that probably have been created a zillion times before.
any thoughts or ideas?

[ssfsx17]

For educational purposes:
- C (absolutely not C++)
- Java
- Lisp-based language, such as Lisp or Scheme
- Ruby
- Scala

What's also important are algorithms and design patterns

[ZeroZero]

I personally prefer C++, C#, Java and VB.

Despite the post before me I strongly recommend to learn from the
beginning an object oriented language, so I strongly disagree with
"absolutely not C++".

I suggest you Java, because you can later use it to program for
websites, and because it is platform independant, your programs run
on any machine that provides the Java sandbox to run your programs
in.

Java is very close to C++ and C#, and there are excellent learning
programs out there, which explain very nicely the basics, like
e.g. "what is an object and how does that work".

A good start would be here:
http://www.greenfoot.org

Once you got the basics, you might want to use the free development
environment NetBeans. There are other free, and way more powerful
environments out there, but they are also very much harder to configure
and much more complicated to use.

[Caracas]

Thanks for the suggestion.
Personaly, I seem to prefer VB 2010 and C#4.0

[Maven]

Which language you learn FIRST should depend on several things.

The first question is: Why?

Is the idea of creating small and simple programs the goal, or the means to the goal? Is the goal just to have mastered a programming language? Or is it that there are things you would like to do, that you can't do with just VBScript that you could do if you knew another programming language?

The second question is: How much of what you intend to program is GUI, and how much is system?
Really, this is a big issue. Do you want your programs to be nice for the user? Use a slick visual interface with not much underneath. Use lots of third party libraries for anything hard. Do you not want to worry about idiot-proofing your program because the only user will probably be you, and you are not an idiot? Do you want to have ultimate control over everything your program does? Make cool data structures and algorithms, and slap a simple interface on it.

The third question is: Only one programming language?
To some programmers, one is enough. Others want to learn them all. Most of us fit somewhere in between. This is important because there will be issues if you learn them in different orders. For example, if you are going to learn both C and VB, I recommend VB first. That is because there are some things that are incredibly easy in C that are incredibly hard (or inefficient) in VB or .net. If you learn C first, then when you are learning VB, you will always be frustrated at how stupid this language is, and how hard it is to do things. If you learn VB first, then when you are learning C, you will be amazed at how easy it is to do these things that were so hard before.

The fourth question is: Are you a platform bigot?
Do you hate MACs or love Linux? Would you rather not give Micro$oft any more money? Would you enjoy programming an Arduino to turn your lawn mower into a remote controlled vehicle? Are you interested in Web programs or Cloud computing? How about Apps for IPhones or Android devices?

The fifth question is: How far do you intend to go?
There are lots of concepts in programming. Some are easy, and some are hard. Some are trivial in some languages, and difficult if not almost impossible in others. Do you want to just know how to do certain things, and learn whatever it takes to do those things? Or do you want to learn lots of ways to do lots of things, and then when you have a thing you want to do, you can pick and choose from all the ways you know?

[Caracas]

Why do easy questions alway have difficult answers?

You're right ofcourse, Maven. When looking around on the internet, I pretty much run into the same questions.

I guess I just need something to satisfy my curiosity. At this point, this may very well be creating a small calculator, or some GUI for my daughter to practise her reading or math...
I don't know yet how difficult it will be, so I can't realy plan anything ahead. If it turns out to be easy enough - or worth the challenge - I'll certainly look into creating the more difficult applications.

[Maven]

In that case, I recommend you start with VB. It's free, it's easy, there are tons of tutorials all over the internet, and you already are familiar with some of the lingo.

One thing I highly recommend. Save every little project you do. When you upgrade your computer, copy those directories with test projects onto your new drive somewhere you can find them. Invariably, 6 months or 2 years down the road, I'll be doing something and I'll run into a problem I've done before. I know I've done that. If I can find it, it saves me the time and effort of researching and doing all the trial and error again. It's always easier the second time.

[Caracas]

LOL! With great determination and motivation I set out this morning to download and install Visual Basic 2010 Express, determined to create my own calculator...

Big disappointment tbh, way to easy... I guess I have to be a bit more ambitious when programming VB.

[Simone]

Any programmers out there?
I find myself interested in learning a programming language, besides vbscript which I know a little already...
What programming languages are being used these days? c++,c#,java?
I can have access to the latest tools to learn almost any language. I just need to decide which one
The idea would be to create small and simple programs that probably have been created a zillion times before.
any thoughts or ideas?

Are you self-educating? Or do you want to go to some courses?

[Caracas]

I'm certainly self-educating.
If I have to follow a beginners course, things will move to slow for me and I'll get terribly bored.
If I follow a course for more advanced users, I'll miss a lot of basic knowledge and won't be able to follow and get bored too

I very much like learning things at my own pace. If I'm realy interested in something, I can spend hours on it every day.
If I can't be arsed, then beating me with sticks won't even help

and btw, welcome to the forum Simone

[Caracas]

I've been looking into VB 2010 the past few days.
I had a lot of fun while writing this:

http://www.file-upload.net/download-403 ... n.exe.html

not much yet, but it's a start

ow... since it's written in vb 2010, you'll need .NET 4.0

EDIT: I should also mention that you can move the red square around using '8' (move forward), '6' (turn right), ''4' (turn left) and '2' (turn around)