I want to learn programing for fun but I can't seem to sit down and actually learn anything from books or tutorials. Everything seems way over my head or it goes in one ear and out the other. While I still would like to learn something like python or c++ I was wondering if going back to something really simple would be better? Any tips? I always liked the idea of building a z80 computer or something similar and make a few clone games for it. I know assembly for some older cpu would not help learn something more modern but I assume it would be be pretty basic and even if that knowledge couldn't carry over to something more useful It could get me more comfortable with programing in general. If not do you guys have some better Ideas to learn instead? pic sorta related, I'd probably clone pokemon if I went through with the z80 thing.
I want to learn programing for fun but I can't seem to sit down and actually learn anything from books or tutorials...
Other urls found in this thread:
fastchip.net
gitgud.io
mathematik.uni-ulm.de
udemy.com
adriann.github.io
codeabbey.com
reddit.com
twitter.com
Unsure if bait.
Install Gentoo and your wizard powers will slowly manifest within you, granting you the power to program in any language you desire with great precision and efficiency.
No I'm really that dumb. What did I say that was so bad?
I know this is a joke but I did try switching to linux as my main os for a bit. I tried Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, and Ångström since that came pre loaded on my Open Pandora. I had a really hard time installing some stuff but It did help me a bit with computer literacy.
The idea of installing Gentoo first occurred to me when I was pondering the question of what distro I should use as a first timer. I had sipped from my coffee glistening in the morning sunlight and warming the old wooden desk beneath it. As I typed away on my small laptop that had seen much abuse throughout it's life, I had stumbled across a peculiar individual known as Richard Stallman. Strangely enough, his words resonated with me and the feeling is what one would describe as a primal instinct filled my body and transformed me as a person.
After a bit of philosophical thinking, I had finally made the decision to install Gentoo onto my computer. I had been overwhelmed as I was a novice in the art of GNU/Linux and I had no idea where to start. As I began to pick up the art of GNU/Linux, my bodily health became a trivial matter to me. I had allowed my hair to become long and greasy with my beard, coarse with a hint of gray, concealing my neck. My body began to put on weight, and it was obvious that my health was deteriorating, but that did not matter as my brain was my most powerful asset and no amount of physical strength or endurance could top it.
What was the last skill you learned in life?
using google to find and track down anime torrents, even obscure ones that are years old
I used to help do maps for pokemon rom hacks when I was in middle school. You would be surprised how many people lose perspective of how tiny the gba screen is and make these super inefficient maps where most of the shit on screen was grass. I also played around a bit with adding custom graphics but I could never do it right. More recently I learned how to drive, and do some (terrible) soldering work. Why do you ask?
I'm not still in middle school or any sort of school to be clear. I just thought I'd throw that in since It seemed more computer related.
Because you are starting to learn a serious skill (idk how easy driving is in your country) and for many people they never learn a difficult skill after the ages of 8 or 9.
The benefit is you already know how to use a computer so that's a big plus. The downside is you overestimate how much you know, this is why you are surprised the books are so hard.
You need to start at the bottom. Follow tutorials and just write out the code, seriously you need to do this. Like a child you need to learn what it's like to write code. After that you need to learn what the code does, again most of this you won't understand for a long time, but books and internet will help. Then you move on to solving problems, which is an entirely different skill. At this stage you'll start to notice things like, my program takes forever to calculate the 10000th prime, and you'll really start learning.
Books come some time later and you can skip all the trash and go straight to CS books, which is the real stuff anyway.
Learn assembly instead
Said noone ever
You should attempt to learn HTML and CSS if you don't already know them. It will teach you how to syntax code and you will also learn how websites work and why they work.
If your going to learn C or C++, then these two books are going to be extremely useful, and they are written by the creators of the languages.
Some computer science books for getting to know how your computer works.
Great intro book for computer science, and the best part is that it is free at:
fastchip.net
Much higher level book that goes into extreme detail and is used in schools.
Don't attempt to rush through a textbook because you are eager to finish it. Reread sentences multiple times and attempt to get a good picture in your head. You will need electrical engineering down the road to understand computer science and it will require higher levels of mathematics.
You need to be motivated and stay on track.
It's not vary hard at all.
I will diffidently re-try some tutorials I was doing before with that mindset.
I thought something as old and widely used as a z80 would be pretty basic. Am I wrong?
Thanks for all the info I'm diffidently saving this post for later.
x86 and Z80 assembly are going to be pretty similar since they're both based on the 8080. You should stick with high-level languages with lots of libraries like Python until you get competent.
ok
AHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAGAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAH
Python is simple enough. Try this book.
The trick is to do, not just read. Keep a Python interpreter open at all times while reading it and manually enter examples and experiment with varying them, even if they seem trivial.
I do "programming" for fun and I've probably accomplished more than most of Holla Forums with software.
Yea, now that I've been looking into things more assembly seems like a bit much. I think tiny basic was more what I was thinking.
Thanks dude I will probably give this a shot before trying basic.
mind sharing what you have done then? I planned on making a game or two, and maybe getting good enough to help port some programs to obscure devices like the Open Pandora or ppc workstations but I'm open to doing other things.
BASIC is a pretty bad programming language. It's ok for fucking around, but the knowledge won't transfer very well to other languages and it's not suitable for real-world useful programming.
By comparison, Python is also easy to learn and nice for fucking around with, but unlike BASIC, it's also designed for real world programming and it's used a lot for real world purposes, even at places like Google. It's descended from ABC, a language that had being a sane replacement for BASIC as one of its goals.
I put "programming" in quotes because I know some sperg would go ACKHUALLY and call me a script kiddy and anything I do is not "programming", because I do everything in html and javascript.
Anyway to answer your question, I've worked on some game projects of my own but nothing interesting enough to show (mostly making the engine), and also gitgud.io
Building a Z80 computer sounds like a cool project, but you're better off to learn how to program for one first, before you end up staring at a monitor/debugger program and trying to fix your stuff without any prior experience.
If you have a TI-85 or other old TI calculator, you can get started very quickly: ticalc.org has the goods.
You can also just grab a CP/M emulator, it's really easy.
mathematik.uni-ulm.de
Quick update I was offered a paid Python course for free so I'm probably going to go for it.
udemy.com
Oh I didn't mean it like that I was just trolling around for some ideas since I thought everything I wanted to do were a bit too complicated for someone starting out. Maybe I could take other people's projects like yours and take them apart to learn.
I think I have one in a box so I could take a look at that.
>mathematik.uni-ulm.de
definitely bookmarking this for later.
The best way to learn is to already have something concrete in mind that you want to write. Then just start searching the web for "how do I do X in " or rather "X ".
OP, I was in your boat for a long time. Some helpful tips:
Really, installing a simple Linux distro and familarising yourself with the command line will teach you a lot over time. Ubuntu is especially good for this, since there's so much documentation. Arch is also great and the Arch Wiki is a wonderful collection of collaborative documentation, but of course, you should wait until you can run a simple Linux distro in your sleep before going full tilt (or at least, experiment with Arch in a VM a few times before actually attempting it as your main OS.)
The replies in this thread that have said something along the the lines of "imagine something, then work your way up to making it" are solid advice. Sit down for a good hour and envision some projects you'd like to make, from the simple (ie, maybe something to help you budget your finances, a small program to amuse you and others) to the increasingly complex (from, say, building a platformer, to creating a complex program that is genuinely useful to yourself and others.)
Then, get to work at building the knowledge to get to those points.
Python is about as basic & as intuitive as they come, so it's a good starting point - really, C is better but harder. Regardless of language, you're going to have to combat your own laziness and lack of discipline - programming requires people to think in a way that isn't very intuitive for most, and as such can be offputting when coming up against roadblocks. Starting with python is a good way to focus on problem solving before getting bogged down with, say, memory allocation.
Here are some helpful links.
adriann.github.io
codeabbey.com
reddit.com
For your own sake I suggest you don't try to learn anything from my spaghetti code.
Adderall.