I would like to learn to program. I don't know any languages - the only thing close to coding I do is making LaTeX documents.
I'm interested in low level like assembly and the C family, but have heard it's not a great starting point. I'm also interested in functional programming languages like the LISP family, but again, the same problem arises.
I'm looking for something very structured that holds my hand and spoon feeds me the whole way through like the big baby I am. I'm getting sick of lack of structure, hopping from educational source to source. The more comprehensive the program is, the better. At this point I don't even give a shit if it's a language I find interesting at all or not.
So, anons of Holla Forums, can you point me in the right direction me?
that's highly subjective. It depends on what you expect and how you react.
Have you tried SICP (Scheme Lisp) or K&R's The C Programming Language?
Leo Williams
K&R is a classic of course, but I don't think it is the book OP is looking for. I would sugest either K.N. King's textbook or the Head First C book. K&R does not "hand-hold." It is relatively terse and leaves a lot unexplained that a beginner would't know. And of course it is also outdated. King's book has more detail (including things helpful for beginners like different operating systems, gcc, changes to C over the last three decades etc.). I haven't read Head First C, but those books usually walk the reader through tutorial projects. K&R would probably be best to read later after finishing another book for re-enforcing skills and historical perspective.
After you learn the basics, find something fun to play around with. For example, there should be an active thread titled "single board computers" or something like that. On Windows, use C to play around with the Windows API.
Generally, you'll want to start with a higher-level language and work your way down to lower-level languages.
Ruby borrows some things from C that make it annoying while still being higher-level, so starting there will get you more oriented into some of the annoyances that C has, while still having the benefits of a higher-level language to get you on your feet. (an example of this is how Arrays work in Ruby, being that Arrays start at '0', not '1')
Although, there are some things about Ruby that will really piss you off about the language. (an example of this being how conditionals are done. You know how checking an additional 'if' is done as 'elseif', right? Well, instead of 'elseif', you use 'elsif'. If you type 'elseif', it will count as an 'else' that has a conditional inside of it)
Although, if you don't like how Ruby looks, you can always go for Python. Codecademy offers the ability to start in Ruby in a very decent manner, being that they themselves use Ruby.
I do wish you luck in your endeavor. Just remember that you should be practicing as much as you can. Ensure that you practice the right way, though. You don't want to develop bad habits. Break yourself from bad habits.
If you want a Text Editor that has some support for Ruby, try jEdit. It's pretty extensible. jedit.org/
Landon Sanders
much scrape many name very wow
Dylan Carter
it gathered 40,420 names from the site yeah.
gimme something better than stale memes fam.
Aaron Perry
I've heard good things about SICP, didn't know it was an all inclusive beginners guide type deal though.
Learning to program in LaTeX might be cool. I don't imagine there being much resources though, and that's what I'm mainly looking for. Whatever's mainstream and fucking easy to get me started.
I have a BBB actually, an SBC, so I'd like to be able to do cool shit with it for exactly that purpose (learning). Thanks for the book recs.
Makes sense I guess. I thought I might develop a deeper understanding / foundation long term by starting at the bottom though. Is Code Academy a good starting point for ez pz learning?
Joshua Barnes
You don't stop being a noob by spending your day posting on Holla Forums. If you need us to hold your hand you're never going to do shit anyway.
Andrew Howard
I'm looking for a solid starting point, retard.. All I'm asking you for is resources. I'm not asking YOU to hold my hand, I'm seeking a solid resource that holds my hand. I get sick of hopping from one video or website, only to find it's incomplete, out of my league, etc. then having to spend even more time searching for something else.
If anyone in this thread plays guitar, basically I'm looking for the "Justin's Guitar" of programming.
Leo Cox
That's an understandable reason for wanting to start at a lower-level language, but learning a higher-level language will prepare you better for some of the things in a lower-level language. It will help teach you how to understand things in the mindset of a developer more easily, being that the higher the level of the language, the more easier it is to understand it. You'll want to get your bearings first before you try to tackle getting a 'deep understanding' of many things in the world of programming, as you won't really have an easy time just jumping right in. You'll probably get confused quite often and make many mistakes which would easily be avoidable if you had learned how to go about things via a language that was easier to learn, and this will often make people give up on the idea of becoming a Programmer. It's not entirely that hard to be a Programmer, it's more of understanding how to go about things logically (yes, this means a good majority of the world is cut off since most people are fucking morons who won't use logic).
That being said, you don't have to learn a higher-level language if you don't want to. It just makes it easier on you; plus, gaining more languages will only help you -- both in the world of careers and hobbies.
Codecademy (this is the legitimate name of the website/organization) is where you can start learning many languages. They specialize in Ruby since they use Ruby for the website itself. This means that you are learning from professional Ruby Developers. It also has a community where you can get support from and such. I can say that it is a sufficient place to start learning Ruby. You will have to eventually find a different place to further your learning, but for a Beginner, it will be alright. There are no 'ultimate guides' in the world of programming, so your request to find one that will cover EVERYTHING in one place is impossible to fulfill. I'm sorry to disappoint you with that. codecademy.com/
Also, about my earlier post, I apologize for fucking up on it, it was really late when I originally typed it.
Austin Johnson
Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense. I'd like to make it as easy on myself as I can at this point too.
Would you recommend supplementing codecademy with anything else?
Alternatively, is there anything else like codecamy that comes close to being a very solid, inclusive and beginner friendly resource for a specific language?
Owen Perry
..and I don't need 'pro' right? I forgot to mention my biggest criteria was being free
Jace Hill
...
Easton Cox
You should really consider why you are even trying to learn.
A solid starting point is any of the tutorials you quit. They are all basically the same. And there's no equivalent of programming the greatest hits, I'm afraid nobody sits down and rewrites cat for pleasure. It's more like learning the guitar for writing songs, which people do after only learning 3 chords.
Anthony Howard
No, you can do Codecademy for free. After a certain point, you will need to pay for certain things, but like I said, it's sufficient for beginning Ruby (I have no idea how good the other language courses are, but I assume they're at least decent).
As for a supplement, this will actually depend more on what you plan to do. I can't really give you other resources without knowing what you'd be interested in using Ruby for. Alternatively, you can look for eBooks. I don't know of any books you'd need, though.
Eli Gomez
I feel that you're trying to misunderstand me intentionally. I meant a spoon feeding resource half jokingly, just something that doesn't leave me googling what the fuck is meant by something for hours, or why something didn't work - I don't know a thing about programming, and when I tried to start with assembly much of it was over my head and I'm looking to avoid that, while also having something that goes in depth.
Carter Torres
Thanks, codecademy sounds like what I'm looking. Never was very interested in Ruby, but at this point I'll take convenient structured learning over interests.
As far as what I want to do with it, at the end of this academic term there's a math project due, and we can opt to make a game. I thought that'd be a fun and productive way to learn some programming.
Nolan Campbell
That does mean I have ~4 weeks to make the game though.
While cntrl+f'ing "ruby" a few show up, and I've also heard good things about odinproject (another ruby based learning website).
This sounds like more than enough to get started, so thanks. any feedback would still be cool though
Carson Ortiz
Learn Ruby on codeacademy.
Anthony Edwards
oh come on. If you don't want to do this then pick another field. If you want answers handed down from on high in 100 year old text books then run far away from anything technology related.
Isaac Watson
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Julian Foster
god you're such a faggot. Clearly, I do want to do this. I'm not "picking a field", I'm gaining a new hobby, do you know what those are?
Of course I'm going to use google/whatever search engine when there's terms/concepts I don't understand, something backfired, shits over my head, etc.
i don't even know i'm bothering responding to you, you're just gonna try to rustle my jimmies maaaan
Jaxson Turner
If you're going to make a game with it, Gosu is a nice library to make a small 2D game with as a project. Sorry for not replying for awhile. libgosu.org/
I recommend getting a decent git repository host, so you can organize this a lot better. If you feel comfortable enough with small sysadmin-like duties, you can make your own small little server to self-host a git server. It can be done pretty cheap. I don't recommend Raspberry Pis, but they're the cheapest at the moment. You can pick up a cheap Domain Name from NameSilo too. namesilo.com/
All in all, you can do this pretty easily if you do the small investment. Just make sure you routinely back-up your data, obviously.
So while what I am suggesting now is not really free, it's still pretty cheap. Plus, if you show that you actually put in the effort and do things right, I'm sure you'll impress your teacher/professor.
Carter Brown
Nah, that's a good starting point. Some people learn better from bottom to top and others learn better from top to bottom, it depends on the person. C is a good low-level language because it's small (unlike C++) and does not hide too much from the programmer behind weird abstractions. I don't know where this fear of C is coming from, because pointers and memory management are really not hard to understand. However, they do offer the possibility of messing up, while more modern languages won't let you go so far down. There are tools which can spot such mistakes before even running the code and I believe that it is better for you to make mistakes, find them, understand how it happened and then fix them. You can still create memory leaks in a language like C# which has garbage collection, but the difference is that in C# you won't notice the leak until it gets really big. I know because I have been there and the leak has been in production software for quite a while before it was found by a customer; you really don't want that to happen.
found this on a learn to code general thread that is already long gone now.
Gabriel Lewis
you're the bomb dude, that class is cray
Charles James
Well, I already have plenty of resources for Ruby. Is learning C just as convenient? At this point, that's my biggest factor. I imagine that C is p easy to dig up beginner guides for, being that it's tremendously popular. Any you might recommend?
Christian Ramirez
for i in range(0,24):
Austin Wilson
See for two titles. ''Learn C the Hard Way" might also be available online free (last time I checked, the Python book was free with the option to pay if you enjoyed it) if you don't want to buy anything.
Dominic Jones
What's the simplest way to make pic-related in C#?
Mason Adams
I know its not a great language. But i think you should start with java. It's a nice and simple language with easy syntax that will help you gain a mind for programming (problem solving and learning how to approach a task, and mentally mapping out an algorithm to solve something).
It is widely covered on the internet so you wont need to jump from source to source. and you could easily use Text pad instead of installing an IDE and feel intimidated by the stuff you don't know. If you start from C you might get a bit frustrated.
And remember, stack overflow is your friend (especially when Java is the 2nd most popular tag so you won't need look far for answers.)
Noah Watson
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Evan Edwards
Java as a language is horrible, but I don't think there's an easier/faster way to get meaningful graphics on the screen than by using java, which is very encouraging for a starting programmer.
Joshua Anderson
It has so much disadvantages but i believe it is a good learning tool for beginners. I remember making my first software project, a student enrollment system for college, and i think i benefited a lot from java.
Grayson Powell
How do you feel about beginning with assembly? I know a thing or two about binary too. I was thinking about crash coursing through assembly, then working my way through C
