Quickest Path To First Program

Hey guys. Programming Noob here.
(Certified and Recognized by at least 15 key OCF members)

Having a hard time writing even the simplest of Programs ex. (Hello World)

(which I tried to compile with emacs, but didn't seem to save it in the write location...)

I wanted to start on the most universal language, but realize that it a mistake, as the most universal language is not the simplest to learn.

So here is my string of questions....

1.) Is it better to start on BASIC or Visual Basic, if there is a difference ?

2.) Then, What IDE do I donwload ?

3.) and...What is the best online resource for learning that language, and teaching one to compile and run a program.

whiterabbit391 said:

1.) Is it better to start on BASIC or Visual Basic, if there is a difference ?

2.) Then, What IDE do I donwload ?

3.) and...What is the best online resource for learning that language, and teaching one to compile and run a program.

Click to expand...

IMHO, Basic/Visual basic is pretty garbage other than if you are looking to learn concepts. Unless you absolutely have to use VB for something (for example you want to learn VB scripts for Excel et al.) I would skip it.

The better question is, are you expecting to create a gui straight off? Outside of Basic, I'm not sure that is realistic depending on your skill level.

I would suggest starting out with Python, Bash, or maybe C in order to help learn.

Some counter questions: What is your skill level? You mentioned beginner, but does that mean you know basic concepts like For/While Loops, or you are literally starting from scratch?

Everyone is going to answer this question very differently and which language you should pick will be debated.

Are you going to target Macs? Maybe look into Objective C.
Are you looking to do functional or object orientated programming?
Are you just looking to learn scripting type things like BASH, Powershell etc?

So many questions to help guide you

Starting from total scratch.

No little about WHILE loops and such.

I'm running linux right now, and just want to learn the most simple basic things first.

I understand that it would probably be better to find a book, or take a class to learn the fundamentals, but I won't be taking any computer science classes till next semester, I wanted to self-teach as much as possible,

So do you know the best website or online resource for learning programming fundamentals from scratch?
but at the same time I want to start with one language, and try to learn that .

So you're saying Python might be the best one to learn form scratch?

I guess my gaol right now in programming, if I were to write a program, it would be one like ELIZA, thats all. That's what I want to do right now.

I want to make a simple box that has interactive text simillar to ELIZA

Or slowly work for 5 years on a program that can win the Turing Challenge

I've decided to learn Python because I want to get a Raspberry Pi

I downloaded IDLE 3 from the software center, But how do I use it.

Everytime I've tried to copy example code off of one website or another, they all have syntax errors.
and even if they didn't I really wouldn't know where to go from there.
Save the code as a file and then open it in the command terminal?

You have a couple of choices. My IDE for python is Ninja-IDE.

For interactive REPL programing, you can just fire up a terminal and type "python". Alternatively, there are people who swear by Ipython for REPL.

I wouldnt worry about Ipython for now though, just fire up a terminal, type python and start coding.

In terms of resources I really like the "For Dummies" series of books for that quickstart feeling. They arent going to delve deep, but they can teach you some good fundamentals in an easy to understand way

Python is a reasonable first choice. I would start by googling "python tutorial" and start perusing some of the sites that come up. I wouldn't get too wrapped up about an IDE as it could give you more things to learn and distract from Python. A simple text editor will meet your needs. Once you're running with Python, you can probably find an IDE that will suit your needs.

Do a few of the sample programs you find in the tutorials so that you get comfortable with Python. Along the way you will need to know how to save files where you want them and other things about your environment like how to back up files so you will not lose them to some accident.

Then tackle ELIZA. You can find source code in Basic on the web (http://everything2.com/title/ELIZA+source+code+in+BASIC) Study that and figure out how to do the same in Python. Picking a project out and figuring out how to code it in a new language is a great way to get a toehold. I've done that many times (C#, java, C++, Perl REXX, ...) You will of course have questions about what the Basic code is doing and how to do something in Python along the way. Do some google searches to find the answers and you will learn a little bit about Basic along the way too.

One last suggestion about the ELIZA project. Don't tackle the whole thing at once. Pick it apart piece by piece. It's much easier (AKA much less frustrating) to get a little bit of code working than tens, hundreds or thousands of lines of code. Get the user input part working. Maybe just start by printing a prompt. Then just add little bits of functionality one at a time until you have a complete working program.

Good luck and have fun!

http://www.codecademy.com/

That website would probably be one of the best places to start.

If starting from scratch a book imo would be best. Plenty of them at the ol library will get you coding in the right direction. The last thing you want is to jump through hoops and various tutorials to make things even more confusing.

Getting a jump on future classes would be a great idea too. Boosting your GPA and breezing through class is always nice. Especially when your wise guy teacher gives you a rough Final.

I vote book in either scenario. Your schools library or a local branch will likely have something of interest.