Learning to program

[sribeast21]

Hey guys! Im new to programming and I just started java. In your opinion, whats the best way to learn programming? I just bought a java book.

 

 

 

thanks,

sribeast21

[aikoels]

Practice Practice Practice. Also don't be afraid to leave the book, use it to learn a bit of java (like how to have text inputs and use if statements, ect. ) Then start a project of your own that practices what you just learned, a lot of times books only give you 1 project to do to learn something, but in reality you should do more to remember it better.

[jd2195]

If you prefer visual learning and someone to follow along with then thenewboston on youtube has a very good java for beginners series on youtube.

[ttam]

I started by reading tutorials. It gives a basic understanding of how things work and a good tutorial will explain what does what.

 

Khan Academy and Code.org can be a good resource to learn online  

[LibeRatioNZzXx]

The way I learnt was piece by piece. Get or find a guide on the basic functions, or one with them ordered not alphabetically but necessity for programming. Learn to use each function with bare-minimal of other functions and learn about its variables and what it can do. Once you have the basic stuff begin to create small projects, it doesn't have to have a use of the program afterwards, just set yourself a goal. Then through that you'll start thinking about how to be minimalist and start learning about other functions. Pretty much little baby steps to build a solid definition, which will help you on larger projects in the future.

[Darkfeign]

I'm glad to hear you bought yourself a book, I think they're still the best way to learn as they're often revised multiple times based on solid, reliable feedback rather than a lot of websites and video tutorials online.

 

Just work your way through a bit of the book at a time, and try and take what you've learnt to produce a project for yourself. I learnt a lot at university when I was set a problem to solve, and had instructions/hints on the functionality of the language/intended program that was expected. For example, one of the hardest projects I had to submit was a program that would create a working hash-table, such that once you've inserted all your items into the hash table, they are easily retrievable and in an efficient manner.

[Silent_Reader]

And if you ever need some motivation listen to John Carmack if you're into games, pretty funny stuff.

[Mobliz]

Just pick a project as a goal and start breaking it down.  Think about the individual things it needs to do in order to function, down into the smallest steps. If a step still seems too complicated, break it down again.  Then as you work your way through use google to help you solve each problem you run into.

You'll quickly discover new tools and ways to solve problems you didn't even know existed.

 

If you can find a project that you hold with particular interest, you'll be more excited to work on it.

Keep practicing and it will get easier.

 

Look and study other's people source code.

 

This guy is up to over 3000 videos in many different languages if youtube tutorials are your thing.

http://thenewboston.org/tutorials.php