Lostnhell

That is incorrect, for most people they must look at numerous scrupts to start understanding what they are seeing. I myself took about 3 weeks of messing up scripts to understand what I was doing.

MrSmiley

Ok, I'm tempted to slap you, it takes more than 2 hours to grasp C++, it's taken me 9 years (give or take 2 years) to fully understand C++. Please do not hand bad advice such as this out like candy. Also, as a beginner programmer, good luck in even grasping the concept within 2 hours. Esspecially over such a general topic as Programming. If you would like to learn programming in steps I'd suggest a basic language then to a third generation langauge such as Visual Basics, then to a fifth generation language such as C++, a 4th generation language would be Java. But if you think you can handle basic, I have no doubt that you can skip to C++. Hell, I started with C. You know, read my "indepth tutorial" (even though it only goes to chapter 2 section 1 "the if structure" ) if you don't understand that, go basic or visual basic. http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=28418

snake griffon

ive got an FAQ on writing a basic C++ program in my signature, and if u want then u can IM me about it at SnakeGriffon210 on AIM.

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Xaimus

I just read the K&R C programming reference (hee, that was a while ago). Things were pretty clear within an hour of my reading it.

VulcanDragon

Wait, what? You learned programming from K&R? That's frickin insane!

Sujoe: An easy way to get started is to learn how to write macros in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, etc.) The macro language is actually Visual Basic for Applications, which is more than sufficient for a newbie to learn the basic concepts of programming. (I assume you have a copy of Word or Excel, almost everyone does.) Go get yourself one of those "Learn VBA Programming in 21 Days" or "VBA for Dummies" books, they will walk you through the basics and introduce new concepts at a measured pace.

Beginners should play in safe languages, and VBA fits the bill. Stay away from "real" languages like (C or C++) until you have a handle on the basic concepts (variables, program blocks, loop and conditional constructs, etc.)

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Taeric

The biggest thing with learning programming for me was understanding the basic logic of it. Granted, I started programming in an admittedly archaic language (Basic on a Commodore 64), but the programming logic I learned on that translated very easily into other languages over the years. The syntax varies greatly as does the complexity from language to language, of course. I would suggest learning as much as you can on the easiest language you can find and then using that knowledge to translate into more useful and powerful languages.

I know there's nothing specific in my comments, but even though I disagree with the "2 hour or drop it", there is a bit of truth hidden in there. Until you nail the logic of a simple language (granted in more than 2 hours of trying), you won't likely have much success in the more powerful languages.

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BFRD

This is horrible advice.

The concept of programming takes a long time to develop properly. You can easily pick up new languages because you are just learning syntax, the basics carry out no matter what the language (within reason). It goes without saying that VB (prior to .NET) is the easist to learn. However, it isn't the best thing to learn if you want to make a career out of it. VB6 is on its way out. I would personally pick up .NET- C# specifically. The concepts and syntax (generally) are very close to Java, which is also going strong.

My path was very strange because I skipped C and C++; I really wish I hadn't. I started with ASP/VBScript which taught me some fundamentals, but not enough. You will find more C based languages than VB-Like languages. For example Java, Javascript, C++, and C# while different and not interchangeable have noticible differences. It may be helpful to start with one of these languages. Javascript is an often discounted medium to learn, but it can be quite fun. It is also free. I am sure that there are many free C compiliers but JS doesn't require compiling. Just something to think about. You probably won't get a job with great JS skills, but it isn't a bad place to start.

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MrSmiley

While yes I agree with you, I beg to differ on some views. VB and Java (!JS) are rather nice things to get into. The job world is looking more and more at those and ! real programmers. They are looking for coding monkeys not a system language. VB is liked through out corporate america because it's easy to be done and works well with MS, Java is multi-platform. Why use a C language if you have to compile many times and have to actually use your brain for algorithms? Because using your brain is a BAD idea in corporate America. Anywho's C is a High-level programming language, (which is kinda funny because I decided to barrow Xaimus's K&R book and they keep speaking of how it is a low level language. Now keep in mind that it was written in 1978). C/C++ are atleast, C# may make it there, programmers are seeming to like that, I dislike it due to ignorance. Anyways my point is hazy so I'll stop writing now.

BFRD

I was throwing out JS because it is very easy to start programming in (all you need is a current browser & notepad). I have also found it to be quite fun and even a little challenging when cross browser scripting is envolved. It also lays down some C fundamentals which will come in handy when moving to other C based languages. Trying to learn multiple languages at once can be quite confusing. Hell I have mulitple projects going on right now using: PHP/Postgres; CF/Oracle; C#/SQLServer; VB/SQL/Oracle; Flash/XML (my company also does contract work). I find myself writing the wrong syntax now and again as I switch projects. I have been doing it for a while and I find it rough at times; trying to learn multiple language types would be horrific. So all I was really trying to say is that for someone starting out focusing on C based languages may proove useful and *should* not limit your opportunities greatly. Certainly learning more languages will open more doors, but I just don't know if it is worth it.

Hopefully this makes sense to someone other than me!

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Xaimus

Eh? I'd consider C to be a low-level/mid-level language. I see it merely as a portable assembly; just an evolved form of the PDP-11 assembly language.

A high level language would be Python, Lisp, C#, &c.