starting to be a computer programmer...

[Jman437]

If I get into college, I will major in Computer Science, because I find programming cool, but I'm having difficulties in learning by myself. I mean, what mindset do I have to adopt in order to be able to program stuff? What are the steps for being a programmer?

[Aglet]

I started off with something basic, really, I programmed TI-84 programs so that I could do a weeks worth of homework in less than 5 minutes. My first high level language was C. I'm fortunate enough that my father is a programmer, so I was lucky enough to get one-on-one help.

When starting off you must try little projects(Hello_World) to get a bit of gratification. These will be menial and tedious projects that won't turn out to be something all that impressive. But, the more you code, the better you'll get at it. And once you get the coding process of taking an idea and turning it into a program, the language you use won't make much of a difference.

I'd suggest starting off by choosing a language(I'd recommend Python, if you don't go Python, for the love of Google don't use C++). After you've come to that choice start reading books, read everything you can on your chosen language. There's nothing an internet article will ever have on a good book. Personally, I started with Dennis Richie's book(The Holy Bible of C <--Not it's actual name). For you, I'd recommend not only looking at internet reviews, but also going to a book store and browsing through books in person. If you can slightly follow along, buy the book and try to understand every aspect it covers. Do any exercises multiple times through and play with the code. Always try to improve your fluency.

If you haven't already, learn how to type without looking and with all 10 fingers in use. Helps tenfold(pun intended).


Languages I have experience with:
C - Tough language to start off with, but it's very rewarding IME
C++ - It takes 10x more lines to do something, but in doing so it forces you to be accurate, something you shouldn't take on early or it will leave you frustrated and with a broken screen.
C# - Can go to...yeah... I like to refer to it as C++--.
Java - I like Java, there is always 10 ways to do something. However, you must realize that 3 are unsupported and 5 are out dated. I only use Java to mod Minecraft though.
Python - In my honest opinion, one of the best languages to start off on. Anyone who says Python isn't worth as much as the C series hasn't realized it's true genius.
lua - Another simple language that I could recommend to beginners.
Ruby - Not my favorite, but it's a decent language to learn from.
TI-Basic - The language of the calculator, sort of a bastard language. It taught me a lot though.
HTTP, CSS, jQuery, Javascript, and PHP - Website languages, I'm not terribly good at them, but they're pretty simple and produce visual results(look up codeacademy.com for an excellent series of tutorials, one of the few places I'd recommend in conjunction with books. This website also has a decent tutorial series on Python and Ruby, but I'd still tell you to go with books for the most part.)

Remember that practice takes perfect and your first few months/years will not be spent doing anything super fantastic. But if you find the coding process rewarding, and the tinkering(debugging can be frustrating, but if you enjoy the hunt it can be gratifying to say the least) aspect enjoyable, you will have a good time. Good luck.

[moscwich]

If you having difficulties in learning by himself, I think you will having difficulties in work.

[Jman437]

If you having difficulties in learning by himself, I think you will having difficulties in work.

When I said I was having trouble learning by myself, I meant to say that I didn't know where to start, sorry if I misled you.

[moscwich]

Nevertheless. Install any IDE and read documentation, try to write a simple program - why there might be difficulties? Even more so if you know English.
Have already run "hello world"?

[Zarakly]

Aglet, could I ask why you don't like c++? I am getting into arduino and robotics and have been told to learn c++ because thats the best thing to start with?

[Jman437]

Nevertheless. Install any IDE and read documentation, try to write a simple program - why there might be difficulties? Even more so if you know English.
Have already run "hello world"?

yes, I started programming with python, and I'm solving problems on some websites.

[Aglet]

Aglet, could I ask why you don't like c++? I am getting into arduino and robotics and have been told to learn c++ because thats the best thing to start with?

In my opinion, it's not the ideal beginner's language for a number of reasons. It is a good language, don't get me wrong. It's very precise, debugging it is simplistic, and it's used everywhere. But.. It takes many more lines of code to do the same thing compared to something like C(My personal favorite). When it comes down to learning the coding process, I think a simpler language is better than something like C++.

I've dabbled into Arduino a bit(By a bit, I mean a byte *rimshot*). Arduino uses it's own language, learn that.. A good book that comes to mind is the Arduino Cookbook(O'Reilly Media). It has a number of tutorials that'll get you going, and it covers all the basics of sound, light/screens, peripherals and shields to name a few.
I used an Arduino Mega to control and automate an aquarium not long ago. I built a custom LED driver shield to drive six channels of high powered LEDs, each channel consisting of three to twelve LEDs running at a max of 700mA. The Arduino had peripheral probes for temperature, ph, ect... If the temperature dropped below a certain point the Arduino would turn on either a heater or a chiller using a DIY controlable powerstrip...

Ah, the good days. Back when I had the time to sit around and do fun things..

[Jman437]

I started off with something basic, really, I programmed TI-84 programs so that I could do a weeks worth of homework in less than 5 minutes. My first high level language was C. I'm fortunate enough that my father is a programmer, so I was lucky enough to get one-on-one help.

When starting off you must try little projects(Hello_World) to get a bit of gratification. These will be menial and tedious projects that won't turn out to be something all that impressive. But, the more you code, the better you'll get at it. And once you get the coding process of taking an idea and turning it into a program, the language you use won't make much of a difference.

I'd suggest starting off by choosing a language(I'd recommend Python, if you don't go Python, for the love of Google don't use C++). After you've come to that choice start reading books, read everything you can on your chosen language. There's nothing an internet article will ever have on a good book. Personally, I started with Dennis Richie's book(The Holy Bible of C <--Not it's actual name). For you, I'd recommend not only looking at internet reviews, but also going to a book store and browsing through books in person. If you can slightly follow along, buy the book and try to understand every aspect it covers. Do any exercises multiple times through and play with the code. Always try to improve your fluency.

If you haven't already, learn how to type without looking and with all 10 fingers in use. Helps tenfold(pun intended).


Languages I have experience with:
C - Tough language to start off with, but it's very rewarding IME
C++ - It takes 10x more lines to do something, but in doing so it forces you to be accurate, something you shouldn't take on early or it will leave you frustrated and with a broken screen.
C# - Can go to...yeah... I like to refer to it as C++--.
Java - I like Java, there is always 10 ways to do something. However, you must realize that 3 are unsupported and 5 are out dated. I only use Java to mod Minecraft though.
Python - In my honest opinion, one of the best languages to start off on. Anyone who says Python isn't worth as much as the C series hasn't realized it's true genius.
lua - Another simple language that I could recommend to beginners.
Ruby - Not my favorite, but it's a decent language to learn from.
TI-Basic - The language of the calculator, sort of a bastard language. It taught me a lot though.
HTTP, CSS, jQuery, Javascript, and PHP - Website languages, I'm not terribly good at them, but they're pretty simple and produce visual results(look up codeacademy.com for an excellent series of tutorials, one of the few places I'd recommend in conjunction with books. This website also has a decent tutorial series on Python and Ruby, but I'd still tell you to go with books for the most part.)

Remember that practice takes perfect and your first few months/years will not be spent doing anything super fantastic. But if you find the coding process rewarding, and the tinkering(debugging can be frustrating, but if you enjoy the hunt it can be gratifying to say the least) aspect enjoyable, you will have a good time. Good luck.

In my case, it's not the debugging that's frustrating, it's trying to get the program to run. Now that's really frustrating, if you ask me xD
I can't debug a program that I can't get to start...

[Cygnus]

If you want to learn a coding language the easiest would be javascript, you could buy some books that teach you how to do it.

[Aglet]

If you want to learn a coding language the easiest would be javascript, you could buy some books that teach you how to do it.

Javascript is hardly something to learn true programming from. It's not just about learning the language, but the process itself. Again, I revert to TI-Basic. I learned all the basics from making simple calculator programs. Later I was able to apply those basics to another language(C). Once you get the whole process of taking an idea and making it into a logical/literal structure, then what language you decide to use matters only on preference, what your goal is, and what you're comfortable with. Javascript is certainly worth getting into should the application be right. But I would recommend avoiding languages that got their start in a browser. The basis of what we see on the internet(HTML) is a bastard language, and many of the other languages used alongside it tend to be a bit sloppy and don't really use proper, high level structure.. Just my $0.02.