Programming

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Paa`

Paa`

Don't Fear The Reaper!
Apr 2, 2002
5,112
63
UK
It's a new year and i would like to learn something new. Im pretty good with the hardware side of computers and would like to learn a programming language to get me started on the software side.

Talking to a few i.t. colleagues at work who deal with the software side of things (while i deal with hardware/networking) recommended .net to learn as it's being used more and more for alot of things..

I have some basic html knowledge and do alot of SQL work

Is .net a good language to learn or should i look at something else to start with ?

I dont understand much about programming or even where to look at or what to start so i could do with some advice please.

Thanks.

edit

Googled and exactly what is .net? extensions to vb or ? dont understand :/
 
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.net isnt a language, its a set of languages. .net is the program/support libraries used to create/run the code you write. .net includes visual basic, c++, c# and a few other languages. Easiest to learn out of lot imo is visual basic, altho a lot of people look down on it, its still good for knockign up quick programs. I learnt with visual studio 6, which was the predecessor to .net, and I believe it to be easier to use then the .net programs.
 
MS Visual Studio .Net is definetly a good way to start with programming.

The new Version 2005 with the new Net Framework 2.0 has no limits. It's very flexible and you can almost do whatever you want.
Visual Studio provide very powerful and popular languages:
VB.net, ASP.net, C++, C#.

My favourite is vb.net, but i already played abit with ASP.net. My advice: take a look :)
 
And where's best to start with vb.net and good online guides/books to buy/websites for vb.net tutorials etc?
 
Paa` said:
And where's best to start with vb.net and good online guides/books to buy/websites for vb.net tutorials etc?
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the Microsoft MSDN Library is very adviceable. i gave you the link to the online version. the offline version, that has gigabytes of examples, explanations, costs alot.

I know just german speaking communities / tutorials, so that won't help ya much.
Ofcourse there are plenty of vb.net programming communities. Just :google: for it. (vb.net tutorial, vb.net forum, etc)
 
If you are seriously wanting to learn I'd start with a "beginners C++" or "beginners Java" and learn the fundamentals of programming first. The old "hello world" etc.

for C++, .net or visual studio C++ are decent IDEs or for Java try NetBeans http://www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html which is pretty good and free to download.
 
lol, i bet vs 2005 .net wont produce code for anything other the windows systems.... so it has got limits :P
 
In terms of learning now:

I also want to learn some code this year :D, although im not sure if i can 'self-teach' myself.
If i did use VB Studio - would it be easiter to learn VB rather than goto night school or something?

A college by me is running free VB classes, but not sure if i would go and find it useful.
Also is C++ hard to self-teach?

Thanks :D
 
C++ is a very bad way to start :) Really don't bother! ;) It's a "difficult" language, but ofcourse allows more control by the programmer.

imho start learning by using either c# or java. Both look very alike to each other. VB.NET might be easier to learn but what i've heard in the past is it also allows "sloppy" code .. dunno how to explain it well tho. C# and Java are more "exact" so basicly if you're used to writing C# and/ or java it is very easy to step into vb.net or any other language for that matter. Learning with vb.net and then moving to C# might be a bit more difficult imho.

But imo .NET is the way to start learning... java isn't bad too but still (it's the way i started learning btw.. )
 
Visual Basic had/have a pretty bad reputation under "hardcore" programmers. Mainly because the versions before vb.net weren't so bitchy and didn't penatly or even allowed bad programming styles (unlike C++ and many other languages).
But imo Microsoft did the right step with VB.net and vb.net doesn't deserve such a bad reputation anymore.

Like Relax already pointed out, C++ is pretty difficult and bitchy way to start programming.
Well nevertheless for which language you'll decide, it's very adviceable to learn some basic OOP stuff (classes, objects, inherits, etc) before you go into deepness of programming.

PyROm said:
lol, i bet vs 2005 .net wont produce code for anything other the windows systems.... so it has got limits :P
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i meant the programming possibilties and not the portabilty to other systems. 90% of clients are running with Windows anyway.

edit: and again i raise my voice for a programming subforum :D
 
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vb.net would be easiest to start in, and is probably quickest to learn, giving pretty much instant results. Way I teach myself is a choose a project and then learn how to write it. I started with simple things... "hello world" program, eg click a button and its caption changed to "hello world" etc. Depending on cost etc. it might be worth going to nightclass if you havent done any programming before. Although java/C# is a good way to go, as they are both c based languages, which once learnt would allow you to quickly pick up other c type languages, they are harder imo and I wouldnt like to try and self teach myself either without knowing programming basics (altho i was taught to program java in notpad by a sadist :P).
 
It totally depends on what you want to make...

C++ is the most common "software" language, but I wouldn't recommend "VB" - I just don't like it.
Java is a good language to learn if you want to make some "online" aplications - It also greatly uses the "object orientated" way of programming. And it's cross platform!
If you want to make something for the exact siences (or how do you write that) like robots and stuff, you can do this easily with 'labview' But also C would work here.

with these however I don't have very much experience (I've tested them all and I can program simple things but stil..)

However for games (which I often make) I would strongly recommend "GameMaker" - it's an awful programming language that helps you really learning the concept of (object orientated)programming. You can start writing "games" like pacman with only 3 clicks, but with the newest version AND some experience you can make 3d games like UT, or you can make (sub)OSes and browsers (which are often made).
GameMaker isn't only a good "tool" for creating games, it is also a good help for futher programming in many other languages.

btw: you'll find GameMaker at www.gamemaker.nl (english site).

EDIT: don't think it is a "game maker tool" like you find many at the internet, it is a real programming language
 
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No offense, but i have used gamemaker in the past. Yes it's "fun" and "easy". But it will no way teach you real/ proper coding like java/ c#/ vb.net .. It has too many limitations imho.. gamemaker is more a scripting language then a programming language.

also when talking about java, don't just think about applets. J2EE is (almost :P hey i'm a .NET kinda guy ;)) as powerful as ASP.NET (And way better at developing enterprise web-applications then PHP)
 
Cassius said:
go oldstyle, go asm :P
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Been there, seen it, done it, fecking hated it :mad:

Pascal is the traditional language for learning programming - in that regards Delphi may be a good step - not that I have done anything with Delphi but as I say, Pascal was there for teaching how to code.

Me, now I am looking for gainful employment, and unfortunately my skills are ridiculously out of date so I am going to have to learn .NET *sigh* Old dog, new tricks etc etc....

VB has a bit of a reputation for being a kiddies language in comparison to "real" programming languages, but really, its a bit of snobbishness tbh. It has its faults, it has its restrictions, but I have always found it to be a pretty decent language. I have coded in vb, asp (with vbscript and javascript) and php - once I have my head around VB and ASP .NET I intend to have a look at C# as well.

So I suppose, any advice on how to make this a less painful process for a poor old 343 year old with a failing memory would be most appreciated for myself as well :)
 
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