How'd you learn to program?

[Vsk]

I forgot to mention that i don't believe in books very much for learning... In my first year of Uni is spent a large chunk of money buying the recommended books for my course and i never needed them once... Most of them i didn't even open once... So after that i didn't buy anymore for my 2nd and 3rd years and i got a 1st class degree so it goes to show that i didn't make a mistake in ignoring the books.

I think for some people books can be good and for others not so much... So i guess it's just a personal thing you have to find out.

But i think that programming books are a bit pointless in a way as there's so many really good tutorials on the net and it's much quicker to just wack a query into google than to search through a book for the answer...

.

Yes you are right.
Books are media for information. Actually they are loosing value casue internet and power of search.
But I don't know.., it is something about books that I like, maybe because it is not a CRT in my face (assuming you not print the info) or a plasma o lcd. I like it a lot reading books.
For practical, I thinks yes, I use 90% internet. But for learning basic, beggin I preffer a book. I found that intenret information is spand and not concentrate, what make a litle more diffucutl to make continitu to a theme that in a book. For example I hate wikipedia but love forums. Wikipedia referenca are links, to other pages pages that his information rarerly are based on serious studies, are personals opiions etc. Thats why for serious learning I don't use wiki, but yes some online books.

[CuteAlien]

I learned programming by going through the examples of the Commodore 64 manual and after that I started modifying those. I learned programming c by going through the turbo c manual and doing a few projects. For c++ I had a few people giving me an introduction and then I wrote some very small games like tic tac toe and space invaders (and next I wrote a 100 page manual for a large c++ lib - I still wonder if anyone ever did read that...)

So for me it's like that:
1. Get some good manual or book and read for a while to get the general idea.
2. Look at the examples.
3. Get an example running (don't miss that step!) and modify it slightly
3.b You might want to do some more examples until you get bored.
4. Start with an own project which must be very small (no more than a week work). Examples:
- small game like: Mastermind, Tic tac toe
- simple vocabulary trainer (just hardcode the vocabulary for a start)
- Maybe even simpler. My very first own application was an adventure which just described every room as text and did give the user a bunch of options which he could select by pressing a key. Usually the player had 4 options which got him to a screen telling him that he just died a painful dead and 1 option which got him in the next room.
5. Every time you don't know how to continue with 4 check the manual, google, try some more
6. If everything on 5 did fail you can ask someone in a forum or chat

I don't know if this is the best way to learn, but it will get you quite far.

[Morgawr]

I started when I was around 13 with some PHP needed for my old website, started "programming" a forums (which I finished and I was really proud of) then at 14 I started learning Pascal at school (lol lame) and now I'm studying java at school still (which i hate... Java is just so "easy" because it has everything already made and done for you to use >_>). At home I learned C++ using manuals and the internet and now I'm working on Irrlicht..

pretty lame compared to all of you tough guys though

[twilight17]

Lol, how is that lame? You still are able to do what we are, and to be honest, more than I can...

[Vsk]

I started when I was around 13 with some PHP needed for my old website, started "programming" a forums (which I finished and I was really proud of) then at 14 I started learning Pascal at school (lol lame) and now I'm studying java at school still (which i hate... Java is just so "easy" because it has everything already made and done for you to use >_>). At home I learned C++ using manuals and the internet and now I'm working on Irrlicht..

pretty lame compared to all of you tough guys though

How old are you?
If you start with pascal that is even better!!!.

Don't focus on language learning, focus on software desing learning.
Languages are just that, languages.
Languages are just sintax, nothing more.
Think it in this metaphoric way:
you can talk german, spanish and english and have perfect gramatchi otrogrphic but in an importante discution you say nonsenses or child arguments in german, spanish and english. So sotware and languages are that way: sotware desing is the most important, later you can learn whatever language you want to put in ground that desing.
And the best is that maybe you will have a limited vocabulary yes, but you would will discuss like very cognitive person with strong arguments ([part of the methapore]).

if you start learning sotware desing on early age that would be awsome!!!.
Most people get vicious on early age with some or other (or several) languages) and loose the global perspective that in sotware development, languages are just that, a set of words in an order that make sense (for the compiler), nothing more.
There are sotware developments models that don't even use CODE!!! (well a little bit ) but images diagrams!!!.

But ofcourse when going to code time, you need to know basics from the languages, and the more you know better. But this is the easy part .

So if you are yuong, take my advice in count , Learn Language ofcourse, but for over all learn to be a good sotware desinger. The rest is peace of cake .

[MasterGod]

Well, this is my humble record.
Started learning Pascal at school at the age of 15, C one year later, in that year I discovered C++ and got in love with it so I got the best book I can find and went into a learning frenzy. At the age of 17 I made my first Visual C++ project using win32 API. Right then, when I finished my project I found Irrlicht (about 1 year ago) and started playing with the tutorials. Then I understood I know nothing of C++ and got much more serious so I took a book and I locked myself up for a whole month learning Real C++ so I can start learn Irrlicht and use it. That was 5 months ago. Since then I've done some simple demos and played with the tutorials a bit, only till 7th. I was planning to read them all when I get enough experience with Irrlicht but I haven't had the time. Now I'm in college learning C (again..), Java, SQL, Assembly (x86) and C++ by myself, from books, on-line tutorials and playing with Irrlicht. I can say I've been programming for 2 years with C++ while the first half year is more a studying phase.

P.S
I also got to see some HTML/JavaScript code few years back..

I'm 18 now programming only in C++ as I'm in Love with it and having Irrlicht beside me makes it much more fun learning and programming.

Now as you can see I'm working on my college's final project which is in C++ using Irrlicht. I've been working on it since October to understand OOP and C++ even better.

[twilight17]

Oh wow lol, you skipped around quite a bit there! what degree are you going for? Computer Science?

[Halifax]

<lifestory>
I started out in 4th grade at the age of 9 and started with the TI-BASIC 83+ programming language. Soon after figuring out the limitations of TI-BASIC (within a year or so) I tried my hand at z80 assembly to create "cool games". I failed at z80 assembly thus spiraling back to TI-BASIC. This happened about 3 more times until the summer of 5th grade. I learned z80 assembly and quickly became an established z80 programmer over the 5th grade year, and still am today. Later during the 6th grade summer I began to get interested in C, and looked up some tutorials online. I began to make simple programs to impress my parents (at that time) with C. Tried my hand at C++ and failed miserably. I stuck with C clean up until 8th grade and wrote such things as z80 assemblers, small programs with SDL and OpenGL, and a little bit of GUI with Win32. After coming to the realization that I could do more with C++ I moved to C++ and eventually wanted to get 3d programming with Irrlicht. I quickly failed with Irrlicht and went back to my safehaven of calculator programming, only to come back and try again in the 9th grade. I began to understand a lot more things about 3d, and 3d games, and I am still learning to this day.

So now in 10th grade I work with Irrlicht, Ogre, and on a 2d engine with Josie. I still mess around with assemblers in my spare time, and I am still unusually fascinated with parsing. I also work with 1 person from my school on PLC ladder logic programming.
</lifestory>


These are the things I would do:
* Teach yourself coding
* Get friends to learn with you (It is fun to see who can make something cooler)
* Start with something easy: C, C++, z80 Assembly, whatever you want
* Whenever you don't understand something, make it a point to scour the internet on multiple solutions!
* Study, study, and study more programs and APIs like Irrlicht, Ogre, OpenAL, OpenGL, and try to learn what makes them so great
* Get white papers, and learn from them
* Forums help, but don't ask "stupid posts" (Stupid posts are using contractions more than 5 times in one sentence, not even creating a sentence, etc.)

[twilight17]

These are the things I would do:
* Teach yourself coding
* Get friends to learn with you (It is fun to see who can make something cooler)
* Start with something easy: C, C++, z80 Assembly, whatever you want
* Whenever you don't understand something, make it a point to scour the internet on multiple solutions!
* Study, study, and study more programs and APIs like Irrlicht, Ogre, OpenAL, OpenGL, and try to learn what makes them so great
* Get white papers, and learn from them
* Forums help, but don't ask "stupid posts" (Stupid posts are using contractions more than 5 times in one sentence, not even creating a sentence, etc.)

Wow thank you! But theres only 1 problem... no one in my school actually knows how to program.. but who cares, I guess I'll just program by myself

[Halifax]

These are the things I would do:
* Teach yourself coding
* Get friends to learn with you (It is fun to see who can make something cooler)
* Start with something easy: C, C++, z80 Assembly, whatever you want
* Whenever you don't understand something, make it a point to scour the internet on multiple solutions!
* Study, study, and study more programs and APIs like Irrlicht, Ogre, OpenAL, OpenGL, and try to learn what makes them so great
* Get white papers, and learn from them
* Forums help, but don't ask "stupid posts" (Stupid posts are using contractions more than 5 times in one sentence, not even creating a sentence, etc.)

Yeah, that's the point, you should try to get one of your best friends interested maybe. None of my friends programmed either until we got in it together.

Wow thank you! But theres only 1 problem... no one in my school actually knows how to program.. but who cares, I guess I'll just program by myself

[MasterGod]

Oh wow lol, you skipped around quite a bit there! what degree are you going for? Computer Science?

Yup.

Oh and I have just 1 or two close friends who know how to program too but none are having such interest in computer graphics nor Irrlicht or Ogre or whatever So starting by yourself is the best way and you always have our community by your side.

[twilight17]

Oh wow lol, you skipped around quite a bit there! :D what degree are you going for? Computer Science?

Yup.

Oh and I have just 1 or two close friends who know how to program too but none are having such interest in computer graphics nor Irrlicht or Ogre or whatever So starting by yourself is the best way and you always have our community by your side. :)

well that's always nice to know :)

Does anyone know if Bruce Eckel's Thinking In C++ is a good book?
I found it online, and wanted to know if anyone has heard of it

[Vsk]

Yes it is the one that I named before (maybe my english was bad).
It is realy good, it goes (some depth some light) every important concepts on c++. I realy liked the fist time I read it.
It take a litlie bit on desing and analisis, i he do it very good and simple to undertand.
I think this is an excelent boodk to start and even get depth in some points.

At the end (after some beers I guess ) he even debate about which is betterr the

Code: Select all

fucnntion{
}
or function
{
}

sintaxis . As I said he tooks almos every point .

[Anteater]

I started off with Klik and Play, then I went on to Game Maker, then BASIC, and then C++. I always wanted to make computer games. I do, but they have the nasty habit of sucking bad.

[twilight17]

Yes it is the one that I named before (maybe my english was bad).
It is realy good, it goes (some depth some light) every important concepts on c++. I realy liked the fist time I read it.
It take a litlie bit on desing and analisis, i he do it very good and simple to undertand.
I think this is an excelent boodk to start and even get depth in some points.

At the end (after some beers I guess ) he even debate about which is betterr the

Code: Select all

fucnntion{
}
or function
{
}

sintaxis . As I said he tooks almos every point .

oh, awesome
I'm gonna read that!,