Beginner programmer here looking for help! :)

[Nicolas]

So I'm looking to buy some programming books to finally get into it, and I wanted to know what books were good for a beginner, I don't quite know what language to get into, everybody has been saying that the best for making games (which is what I want) is c++, some say I should get into java, so I'm kinda confused here, and so I come here looking for wisdom, what language should I get into? I know a bit of java script if that would help me in one of these languages, and what are some good books for that language?

[ttam]

So I'm looking to buy some programming books to finally get into it, and I wanted to know what books were good for a beginner, I don't quite know what language to get into, everybody has been saying that the best for making games (which is what I want) is c++, some say I should get into java, so I'm kinda confused here, and so I come here looking for wisdom, what language should I get into? I know a bit of java script if that would help me in one of these languages, and what are some good books for that language?

Cord.org and Khanacademy will be the best first step.

[cjeffcoatjr]

The code that you decide to program your games on depends on the game engine you want to use.

[Nicolas]

The code that you decide to program your games on depends on the game engine you want to use.

Well the one that's on the top of my list is unity since I've seen some pretty cool things done with the free version, and as far as I know you can use c++ (I could be wrong tho)

[jameshumphries47]

my opinion is don't just go out to make games start off with python like I have and slowly master harder lanuages, coz you will get board oc C++ instant the syntax is hard, when you start with and easyer one you can carry over past knowlage to it just need to learn the syntax and the code, again all your choice, hoep this helps

~James

[fizzlesticks]

Well the one that's on the top of my list is unity since I've seen some pretty cool things done with the free version, and as far as I know you can use c++ (I could be wrong tho)

Unity scripting is JavaScript, C# or Boo. No C++.

[Nicolas]

Unity scripting is JavaScript, C# or Boo. No C++.

damn, well I guess I could finish learning JavaScript, and start from there

[Nallown]

If game dev is what you want then maybe look into c# since the xna library is pretty handy in general.

[topsu]

If you want to develop games, then I would start with unity and c# or javascript.

 

I'd prefer c#

[jam08060]

C and then C++ and learn OpenGL

 

My reasoning:

• All of C is valid C++ code, so you will already be learning a good portion of C++ by learning C.
• C++ is pretty much the creme de la creme of Object Oriented languages when it comes to performance.
• OpenGL is the most widely supported graphics library and should be learned regardless of what languages you decide to learn.
• When learning C and C++ you will learn much more than just being able to design games, you may even discover something you would rather do than game design.
• I'm extremely biased toward C and C++ because I am a scientific programmer and value their flexibility and performance.

Hope this helps

[SirPaul]

I know you guys want him good, but you just make him busy to learn proper python, then he wil go to javascript(since he is using unity), then he will go to java, and when he will be stuck on performance issues with java and he will go to c++

My opinion and solution which worked for me was  C++ .  I didnt learn C beacuse i somewhere found an article about how it is outdated (this was something like 2006) so i bought myself a huge ass C++ book with 1600 pages  and started word by word, learning and it was so greatly explained i learn c++ in maybe year i was thinking in it. Although,  today I use Unity and java it was really easy to learn java after hard head cracking with c++.

Since i am currently programming on android, and few games in unity, iam not using c++ but without it i wouldnt learn any other language (which i use) in less then two months.

 

My Friend Nicolas  Although best for you would be c++ , i know that you want to code games in Unity.  Therefore i know you dont want to spend year learning C or Cplus plus when you cant use it in unity.

 

Therefore, learn javascript syntax, and buy a c# book.  Better to code in javascript since as begginer you will be struggling with Unity mechanics itself.
So basically if you think you code game which will be popular like Notch's minecraft and you will be milionare and then never worry about in depth programming , go for unity and javascript. However if you want to be a good developer with stable job (even in you own company) better to learn something which is used in daily life.

[Ciccioo]

whatever you do, just don't learn from codacademy or any other website that is supposed to teach how to program

i learnt the few things i know from the internet and from troubleshooting my codes, and i have lacks spread everywhere

 

if you want to understand programming and do it the right way, just go for a book like "the c programming language" from kernighan and ritchie, which also contents some informations about how to become a good programmer in general

once you've become a good programmer, and you know what you're doing when you write a line of code, then you can expand your C knowledge to JS, C++, C# or whatever you want thanks to your strong C base, and get into games programming

 

just don't believe that it will take a week or two and that the learning curve will be steep

if you only like games and you don't like programming, you will give up before even reaching level 0

[Nicolas]

whatever you do, just don't learn from codacademy or any other website that is supposed to teach how to program

i learnt the few things i know from the internet and from troubleshooting my codes, and i have lacks spread everywhere

 

if you want to understand programming and do it the right way, just go for a book like "the c programming language" from kernighan and ritchie, which also contents some informations about how to become a good programmer in general

once you've become a good programmer, and you know what you're doing when you write a line of code, then you can expand your C knowledge to JS, C++, C# or whatever you want thanks to your strong C base, and get into games programming

 

just don't believe that it will take a week or two and that the learning curve will be steep

if you only like games and you don't like programming, you will give up before even reaching level 0

A lot of people have suggested me codeacademy, didn't quite like it, which is why I have been looking for books, but everyone keeps sending me over to online courses like codeacademy.com

[Ciccioo]

codacademy & co are designed to let you see results quickly (and share your supposedly aquired skills on socials)

but to achieve that quick learning they skip explaining the underlying logics and mechanics, so you will be able to write lines of working code, but you won't really know why and how it's working

this will be alright as long as you're dealing with beginner-level applications, but it will start to give you problems once you jump into more fancy stuff (games?)

imho

[jam08060]

I know you guys want him good, but you just make him busy to learn proper python, then he wil go to javascript(since he is using unity), then he will go to java, and when he will be stuck on performance issues with java and he will go to c++

My opinion and solution which worked for me was  C++ .  I didnt learn C beacuse i somewhere found an article about how it is outdated (this was something like 2006) so i bought myself a huge ass C++ book with 1600 pages  and started word by word, learning and it was so greatly explained i learn c++ in maybe year i was thinking in it. Although,  today I use Unity and java it was really easy to learn java after hard head cracking with c++.

Since i am currently programming on android, and few games in unity, iam not using c++ but without it i wouldnt learn any other language (which i use) in less then two months.

 

My Friend Nicolas  Although best for you would be c++ , i know that you want to code games in Unity.  Therefore i know you dont want to spend year learning C or Cplus plus when you cant use it in unity.

 

Therefore, learn javascript syntax, and buy a c# book.  Better to code in javascript since as begginer you will be struggling with Unity mechanics itself.

So basically if you think you code game which will be popular like Notch's minecraft and you will be milionare and then never worry about in depth programming , go for unity and javascript. However if you want to be a good developer with stable job (even in you own company) better to learn something which is used in daily life.

 

Minecraft was written in Java... Unity never touched it 0.o

 

C is also not out dated at all... its probably the most widely used language in the world (thanks to embedded applications) and is also always valid C++ code so it is always worth while to learn C before learning C++.

[SirPaul]

Minecraft was written in Java... Unity never touched it 0.o

 

C is also not out dated at all... its probably the most widely used language in the world (thanks to embedded applications) and is also always valid C++ code so it is always worth while to learn C before learning C++.

@Edited :  It was just because i hopped from java to unity in my text; Although Mojang didnt used unity for minecraft , they have used it for Scrolls.

 

Sorry i never said that unity and minecraft, propably just poor stylization of text from my side.. sorry, Anyway.. Yes, he can Start with C and then go to C++, but why. The basics are the same, and at least he is readz to contininue in the same interface to use OOP.  Also he can immeaditelly start using graphic libraries and develop the project. (not saying there are no graphic libraries for C ...) I dont really like prepraing students on c++ and these more grown languages as on something that is tough, and really complicated.. You know , Let him start with c++. If you lean the hard way you learn the best way.

But yeah. use unity, for learning how unity works, it's functions, and whole unity space use javascript, you will be able to create even quite complex games, and once you fully understood how unity acts and works, you can switch to c# so you can really go into depth.