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Getting into Programming

RobbieEschete
By RobbieEschete
in Programming
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I was reading some post but can't seem to get the exact answers I'm looking for. I wan't to get into programming but I'm not sure exactly how to. I truly know absolutely nothing when it comes to programming...other than what an else means :P. The career I'd like to get into is Desktop Applications. I just created an account with CodeAcademy and I'll start working there but where to go from there? I've also save a playlist. I think it is C# for Beginners by thenewboston on YouTube. Would it be better to start with that or Python? It seems like now a days companies want you to have a degree in CS but is it absolutely necessary? Would it help with the hiring process or possibly help me salary wise? Are there any good ONLINE universities? I also need a new computer. I'm using a ChromeBook to write in this forum and everyone knows how useless these things are. My budget is around $1000-$1500. I was thinking about a MacBook Pro but I've never owned one and read many contradicting things like Mac is better, Windows is better, Linux is better and so on. Which would suit me better for my career choice? If anyone could link me to a good laptop that will last for a few years. One last thing. My WPM is at about 35-40. Are there any free programs to help me speed up my typing? I feel like I'm forgetting some things but hopefully this amazing community could help me out with some extra tips ;). Thanks in advance.

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If you look in programming as a profession, which earns your monthly salary, you need some official education. Be it a certified course or a college. If you plan to do it as a hobby, just go for online books and videos.

Programming is strange and after my experience lots of people are interested but only a few really get into it. So take your time before you fully commit into it.

I would recommend you an object-oriented programming language, such as Java, C# or C++. They all might look different, but if you know one well, you will be able to switch within months. 

If you seriously look into programming, screw a macbook.

I think your imagination of programmers is wrong, your certainly not gonna sit here all day and smash into your keyboards as fast as possible. You will generally not really type that much words, more clicking and figuring out.

Java Programmer, AMD Fanboy and soon to be casemodder

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That's a lot of questions, first thing that catches my eye is your worry about your 35-40 WPM.
My WPM is around 30 and it's probably a lot less when I'm programming so I wouldn't worry about that too much.
Maybe if you just want to be a code monkey for a big company and bash out low level code all day your WPM will matter... maybe... but even then someone who codes slower but writes or solves problems more efficiently would probably be preferred.

If you really want to learn code by throwing yourself in the deep end then you should use a Linux system (or possibly Hackintosh if you're really into Macs).
It will force you to think about your computer and the tasks you perform in different ways and perspective is one of those great things for a programmer to have as It carries over between languages.

If you want to make desktop applications Java is good language to start with, it's pretty ubiquitous and you'll find tons of tutorials and things.

As for education, if you're really dedicated then something like Lynda.com might work for you, however learning the basics can take a long time for some people so it may be better to start with something free.

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My WPM is around 115-140 depending on what keyboard you'll give me. The only time you'll find your WPM useful is when typing strings. Syntax-wise and algorithmic stuffs, that will require a lot of thinking so most of the time you'll stop and think which means WPM won't be an issue to be a programmer and your WPM will suffice so don't worry about it.

 

What I see these days in society is, most jobs by ITs can be taken by CS but most CS jobs can't be taken by ITs which gives CS an upperhand, I'm taking CS right now and I can quite see the difference but that shouldn't be the decision-maker for your career. Take note that IT is applied-science which means you apply what is already existing to make something new/better compared to CS who studies theories and do researches to make new algorithms/solutions/etc. out of these theories. If you're really into programming, both will do fine because school don't teach everything and it's always up to you to improve yourself. School can teach syntax but school can't teach logic. They can teach techniques to help you in your logic but still, efficiency of your program boils down to your logic which can't be taught. I still suggest getting an official education though, there are other topics to study aside from programming that can improve your knowledge and techniques.

 

Any good online universities? Hmm just take free online courses, I'm taking mine at coursera and I usually apply for the electronically-signed certificates if I feel like committing myself to the subject(currently taking cryptography) which can be written for your resume when you apply for jobs. In my field of interest, pentesting(penetration testing), the more certificates the better are your chances of employment since this is security related.

 

About your OS question, in programming that doesn't matter unless you're dedicating yourself to one platform.

 

About programming languages, study an object-oriented one like C++, Java, Python and many others. Since you've mentioned Desktop Applications, I think Java would be better for starters since you'll see satisfying results on your progress compared to C++ which has a damn learning curve(I can tell because I studied C++ first). There are lots of resources for Java out there in the internet that can help you in your way. 

 

Screw a macbook lol. Any laptop with a decent CPU will do fine.

| CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 | MoBo: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max | RAM: T-Force Delta RGB (2x8) 16GB 3200MHz (Black) | GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti OC | Case: NZXT H500 (Black) | HDD: WD Black 2TB + Seagate Barracuda 4TB | SSD: Crucial MX500 2TB | PSU: Seasonic GX-550 | Monitor: 3x Asus VC239H |

 

 

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I was reading some post but can't seem to get the exact answers I'm looking for. I wan't to get into programming but I'm not sure exactly how to. I truly know absolutely nothing when it comes to programming...other than what an else means :P. The career I'd like to get into is Desktop Applications. I just created an account with CodeAcademy and I'll start working there but where to go from there? I've also save a playlist. I think it is C# for Beginners by thenewboston on YouTube. Would it be better to start with that or Python? It seems like now a days companies want you to have a degree in CS but is it absolutely necessary? Would it help with the hiring process or possibly help me salary wise? Are there any good ONLINE universities? I also need a new computer. I'm using a ChromeBook to write in this forum and everyone knows how useless these things are. My budget is around $1000-$1500. I was thinking about a MacBook Pro but I've never owned one and read many contradicting things like Mac is better, Windows is better, Linux is better and so on. Which would suit me better for my career choice? If anyone could link me to a good laptop that will last for a few years. One last thing. My WPM is at about 35-40. Are there any free programs to help me speed up my typing? I feel like I'm forgetting some things but hopefully this amazing community could help me out with some extra tips ;). Thanks in advance.

 

I was reading some post but can't seem to get the exact answers I'm looking for. I wan't to get into programming but I'm not sure exactly how to. I truly know absolutely nothing when it comes to programming...other than what an else means :P. The career I'd like to get into is Desktop Applications. I just created an account with CodeAcademy and I'll start working there but where to go from there? I've also save a playlist. I think it is C# for Beginners by thenewboston on YouTube. Would it be better to start with that or Python? It seems like now a days companies want you to have a degree in CS but is it absolutely necessary? Would it help with the hiring process or possibly help me salary wise? Are there any good ONLINE universities? I also need a new computer. I'm using a ChromeBook to write in this forum and everyone knows how useless these things are. My budget is around $1000-$1500. I was thinking about a MacBook Pro but I've never owned one and read many contradicting things like Mac is better, Windows is better, Linux is better and so on. Which would suit me better for my career choice? If anyone could link me to a good laptop that will last for a few years. One last thing. My WPM is at about 35-40. Are there any free programs to help me speed up my typing? I feel like I'm forgetting some things but hopefully this amazing community could help me out with some extra tips ;). Thanks in advance.

The others pretty much covered the coding part, do you want to build your own computer or get a pre built one? Do you want a laptop or desktop? Are you a gamer (I assume so :P)?

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Hello Robbie,

 

I remember when I first started to programme, and it was quite intimerdating! Id recommend trying out Python as it's simple to learn, quick to learn and the Syntax's make sence most of the time... :P. I have been reading through some other replies to this post and I also agree with 'Power bored' Your WPM doesn't affect you too much at your early stage of programming, but when if you go into a career it might affect you as you might have some tight deadlines that you may not be used too... If it really worries id recommend trying out a typing programme; many can be found for free on YouTube! Heres a link here to one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXsutlz0GIQ - After learning how to "Properly type" you may want to try out the website called 'TyperRacer' which is a fun website which allows you to race against others of your own typing skill level, (and hey, it's free!) If you create an account, it can also tell you yours words per minute so you can keep a track of how yours progressing :) I hope this helps, and sorry for my spelling :P

 

~ Harry

It seems impossible until it's done.

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depending on your goal, depends on the platform. if you wanna work with DirectX, then get windows and learn C# or C++ (the windows version, not the same as linux). if you wanna learn how to work with openGL then you can learn java or C++, maybe C#. as one of the early commentors said, many will start down the road of programming but few stay on it. find a good book to get started with. java is pretty easy to conceptually understand and can be ran on several platforms relatively easily. C++...yeah that has some differences between Linux, Mac, and Windows. not sure exact difference but C++ written on linux usually wont compile on Windows and vice versa. have fun getting started. personally i enjoy it a lot

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The others pretty much covered the coding part, do you want to build your own computer or get a pre built one? Do you want a laptop or desktop? Are you a gamer (I assume so :P)?

I would love to build my own computer but I want to just get a laptop that's ready to go for portability reasons. I'm not too big into gaming anymore. Sadly :(

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I would love to build my own computer but I want to just get a laptop that's ready to go for portability reasons. I'm not too big into gaming anymore. Sadly :(

In that case heres a build that can run most modern games on high-ultra while maintaining a low price and will have great performance, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wBpWmG now with this build I recommend getting a korean crossover 290m 21:9 29 inch monitor because if you get into programming the extra space will definitely help which is why I chose the 4gb 270x for the extra vram. The build is just about a grand give or take your local prices, pretty great value for performance, the monitor can be picked up at ebay for 280$ http://www.ebay.com/itm/CrossOver-290M-LG-IPS-LED-2560x1080-QHD-DVI-D-21-9-cineview-29-Computer-Monitor-/221514810120 and a few other places.

Hope this helped :).

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I would love to build my own computer but I want to just get a laptop that's ready to go for portability reasons. I'm not too big into gaming anymore. Sadly :(

dont feel to bad about it. since i started my third year of college i havent played many games either but been writing a fair bit of code and doing stupid homework. i have a desktop, server, and laptop and the laptop is perfectly fine for writing code while i sit in class. i either use owncloud to sync for php projects or git/github for syncing other languages. coding is fun. send me a message if you ever want to collaborate on a project or something like that

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