Beginner Programmer

[ArnieCarnie]

Hi Guys, i have no experience with programming,

 

I wish to develop applications and games, what would be the best language to begin with, i have read that C, C# and Java are good ones to start with is this true?

 

Thanks

[Picky Peep]

Don't make any application or game like Minecraft where I have to download Java.

[TheKDub]

Usually it's good to start with a simpler language like python to sort of get a feel for what programming is like.

 

I myself started with some Lua, then HTML and CSS, and right now am moving on to Java. (Java is kinda a pain in the ass to learn, but once you learn it, it's not that bad)

[martward]

Hi Guys, i have no experience with programming,

 

I wish to develop applications and games, what would be the best language to begin with, i have read that C, C# and Java are good ones to start with is this true?

 

Thanks

I would not recommend starting with C/C#/C++. Instead go with something easier like Python, HTML/CSS/PHP/Javascript or maybe Java (though I'd start with the Python).

[Nineshadow]

Honestly, I started with C++.

 

If you want something easy go with Python.

[daniellearmouth]

I started with ActionScript and promply gave up.

 

I then had another crack at it with JavaScript and had a smoother experience, followed by C#. If anything, I recommend learning by ways of JavaScript or C#, since they're simple to work with but you can do some really good stuff with them. With that said, however, JavaScript is mainly used for web, so...

[xTrekStorex]

dont go C as your first language. except for the similar syntax it has no benefit in comparison to for example C++. only ofc if you plan on modifiying the linux kernel

start with something easy that is well documented like python, visualbasic or C#. you can also start with basic skripting languages like AutoIt, bash or batch.

 

once you got a feel for coding and want to do something more powerful and maybe less requirements (no python etc installed) I'd say go php if you want to make webapps (though php can be a bitch in terms of finding/handling errors). for desktop apps C# and C++ surely are great (also can require 3rd party installs like VCRedist.). I dont like Java although it is nice if you want to address multiple platforms with the same code. In Windows-only environments Delphi (object pascal) is also an option and easy to learn but IDEs cost money and it is not as popular as C++, C#, Java, etc.

 

creating games kinda depends on the type of game. if you just want to code a minigame just for fun to learn coding then ofc a normal language like C++ or Java is great but if you want to really make something with 3D etc you might wanna look into engines like Unity and learn to code in that.

[Art Vandelay]

I'd say start with C because it makes it fairly obvious what's going on under the hood. 

 

You could also try assembly if you want to know what's going on really far under the hood

seriously though, assembly is a painful language because there aren't any assemblers that are easy to use.

 

dont go C as your first language. except for the similar syntax it has no benefit in comparison to for example C++. 

 

Apart from C++ being one of the most confusing common programming languages out there (I said common ones because INTERCAL exists) and also being much harder to optimize than C?

 

C++ is basically C with 10x the number of traps for someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

 

start with something easy that is well documented like python, visualbasic or C#. you can also start with basic skripting languages like AutoIt, bash or batch.

Don't start with Java of C#. C# requires you to know OO to do anything, and it doesn't make it very obvious what's happening.

 

Don't start with batch. It's just painful to use.

 

xTrekStorex, on 06 Aug 2015 - 08:42 AM, said:

once you got a feel for coding and want to do something more powerful and maybe less requirements (no python etc installed) I'd say go php if you want to make webapps (though php can be a bitch in terms of finding/handling errors). for desktop apps C# and C++ surely are great (also can require 3rd party installs like VCRedist.). I dont like Java although it is nice if you want to address multiple platforms with the same code. In Windows-only environments Delphi (object pascal) is also an option and easy to learn but IDEs cost money and it is not as popular as C++, C#, Java, etc.

 

C# is awful without an IDE.

 

 

You really shouldn't try to do anything that's not on the console when you're starting. There are a lot of things that can go wrong.

[xTrekStorex]

I'd say start with C because it makes it fairly obvious what's going on under the hood.

You could also try assembly if you want to know what's going on really far under the hood [emoji14]

seriously though, assembly is a painful language because there aren't any assemblers that are easy to use.

Apart from C++ being one of the most confusing common programming languages out there (I said common ones because INTERCAL exists) and also being much harder to optimize than C?

C++ is basically C with 10x the number of traps for someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

Don't start with Java of C#. C# requires you to know OO to do anything, and it doesn't make it very obvious what's happening.

Don't start with batch. It's just painful to use.

xTrekStorex, on 06 Aug 2015 - 08:42 AM, said:

C# is awful without an IDE.

You really shouldn't try to do anything that's not on the console when you're starting. There are a lot of things that can go wrong.

Lol. So you suggest He starts with the boring stuff that He most likely will never use for his target area of coding again?

Btw where the f... did I say he wouldnt need an IDE? VisualStudio is free and makes it easy to learn. Ofc it is far from perfect considering original C and C++ but for a beginner it is a good substitude.

When starting on Windows gui applications usually are more fun to so. It is true that using console teaches the basics of whats happening behind the Code but it is kinda boring. I learned C in school as well as Delphi and I just dont make any use of it, C++ is the only C language I'd personally use.

C# is easier though

[TamNguyen]

just started learning c++ a month ago and now it's getting quite confusing

[Art Vandelay]

Lol. So you suggest He starts with the boring stuff that He most likely will never use for his target area of coding again?

 

do you actually think no one uses C anymore?

 

Or C++ for that matter? Since learning C is necessary to learn C++, since a C++ is an extension of C.

 

Also, is your idea of an exciting programming language one that removes as much creativity as possible in how you're structuring your code? In C# if you need a dynamically resizing array, you don't learn how to build one, you just use the one that exists, same thing with sorting algorithms, memory management, error handling. Googling the documentation is not my idea of fun...

 

Btw where the f... did I say he wouldnt need an IDE? 

xTrekStorex, on 06 Aug 2015 - 08:42 AM, said:

Delphi is also an option and easy to learn but IDEs cost money

You only mentioned it about Delphi. Seemed like an implicit implication, since you didn't mention it about the other ones.

 

 

When starting on Windows gui applications usually are more fun to so.

You might as well learn to program before you try to figure out how to work with an API.

 

In WinForms and ASP.NET there are a lot of fairly difficult things to debug, especially when dealing with event handlers. On console, at least you'll be able to step through the code and figure out where it's dying. You can't do that when an event handler breaks.

 

 

 

just started learning c++ a month ago and now it's getting quite confusing

 

What part is confusing you?

[Yali]

I would not recommend starting with C/C#/C++. Instead go with something easier like Python, HTML/CSS/PHP/Javascript or maybe Java (though I'd start with the Python).

I spython similliar to c#? I heard that once

[EpicAdom]

Hi Guys, i have no experience with programming,

 

I wish to develop applications and games, what would be the best language to begin with, i have read that C, C# and Java are good ones to start with is this true?

 

Thanks

Python would be the way to go for a complete beginner. It keeps things relatively simple and somewhat similar to english in terms of readability.

 

Don't forget to follow your topics

[Tk731]

The best thing would be to start on a high-level language like c++. This will force you to have a much deeper understanding of what you are doing, and what the computer is doing. It will be difficult, but just take it slow and make sure you truly understand each new concept as fully as you can before moving on. Don't focus so much on syntax, that will come with time and can be learned for each language quickly. Focus on the main elements of programming, especially the easy stuff. Having a strong foundation in the basics is the only way to master the higher level concepts. This will make you a stronger programmer and when working with low-level languages, like c#, you will be much better off.