Programming?

[ih8censorship]

alright step asside. as ih8censorship, I know C++. haha. first off, go to http://www.cpplc.net/forum and get an account. second, download the code::blocks ide with the mingw compiler. It will be a lot less hassel than fussing with cygwin, and besides cygwin isnt something you really even need to program in c++ , especially when you're wanting to write windows programs. http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/5#windows

really though, no one can tell you what languages to use. pick a project you want to work on and then research the best languages for that task. That way you learn more and are more motivated to continue.

[thomasstuart]

HI Matt M. I am Thomas.
If you want to learn programming for making games.
As per my experience, you should start with C graphics and then C++.
after that you should swich over to game programming. This will easy for gaming development.
Have a nice day.

[NeilUnreal]

One secret to learning to program is to always attempt more than you know how to do, but not so much that it is overwhelming. Also, try to pick one specific thing to learn every day or so; it will add up over time.

As far as project size, I'd say start small and protoype a lot. Sometimes in a big effort, you lose sight of the trees for the forest. Realize that something as complex as a forest will never be perfect, so strive for perfect trees. Funnel the small "tree" efforts into a big project that is continually under revision.

Language is not super critical, but I'd pick something popular like C, C++, or C#. More important is a development environment that stays out of your way and let you turn around prototypes quickly.

-Neil

[TheOneAndOnly]

I honestly think you should go in at the deep end and start with C++ or at least C. Because if you start with Python or Java or Ruby then you are just skimming across the surface and you won't learn much about "the interesting stuff". I.e. pointers and registers, bitwise operators and maybe you can even learn a little assembly. Because when you go down to the lower level you can appreciate the hardware, the OS and the importance of good clean code a lot more.

Learning Python is good (if you do go down that route I recommend making some little games with Pygame - its good for a challenge). However if you want to learn about encapsulation, and making large projects it isn't terribly efficient or pleasant to use Python.

Also if you do want to get serious about learning programming I would recommend getting off WIndows and installing Linux. And thats not some flamewar beef I have with WIndows. Windows 7 is a pretty good OS... for the user. I think for a programmer you want to get on Linux and start coding (maybe with Vim or Emacs). It has a good C/C++ compiler and a good debugger. Having said that I have recently been glued to Visual Studio in Windows. Which is an excellent IDE for C/C++ and you can use Visual C++, which is great for Windows based GUI applications.

Also everyone seems to agree O'Reilly make the best textbooks in general. I would rather recommend Murach's texts. Especially the Java SE 6(? I forgot the title) book, which is great for a beginner.

[Im4HimiHs]

Ouch... I feel old.... I started with basic DOS.... currently doing some xml/php... time flies.

[Xru]

I especially like the buffer overflow exploit that C+ gives ya;)

[Alcoth]

Old post I know, but I've seen Matt around a bit not too long ago...

As an answer to one of your initial questions, I have developed a few apps with PHP/MS(Or My)SQL + client side JS or VBS. I have also dev'd a few SQL front ends using C# (with aid) and VB (without aid) plus a fair amount of CmdShell scripting and or PowerShell. I am not sure any of these are particularly apt or usable for gaming, unless you pair some of the DB/Server side scripting with (older) Flash or (newer) HTML5. Happy to direct anyone to sources.

[Cow Poke]

Ouch... I feel old.... I started with basic DOS.... currently doing some xml/php... time flies.

I loved writing DOS batch files --- and when Norton Batch Enhancer came along --- my batch files became interactive and looked like actual programs -- that was fun! I wrote one to mimic Norton's Speed Disk -- looked exactly like their interactive screen --- and nearly gave a friend a heart attack when "Speed Disk" advised him his hard drive was damaged beyond repair, and the only option was "press Continue to reformat"

[Im4HimiHs]

--- and nearly gave a friend a heart attack when "Speed Disk" advised him his hard drive was damaged beyond repair, and the only option was "press Continue to reformat"