Where and How did you learn to program?

[RialnisMada]

The title says it all, but I would like to know this so I can get a good start on programming so I won't waste time and money.

Of course C++ is the most popular language, but if you started with something else please let me know. I am just wondering how you got from Point A to Point B!

[Dino]

I don't think C++ is the most popular language.

Self taught. I started with REXX in 1984. Then assembler. Then I lose track.

[shiroaisu]

in my oppinion (im a starter too and self taught as well) is that you start with c if u want to go to c++. search for good online tutorials or books about c because that will preety much give you what you need to move on to c++.

and also, dont hurry things because thats how usually people give up.

[RialnisMada]

in my oppinion (im a starter too and self taught as well) is that you start with c if u want to go to c++. search for good online tutorials or books about c because that will preety much give you what you need to move on to c++.

and also, dont hurry things because thats how usually people give up.

Could you tell me what you used to learn C?

Thanks, Adam.

[laserlight]

in my oppinion (im a starter too and self taught as well) is that you start with c if u want to go to c++. search for good online tutorials or books about c because that will preety much give you what you need to move on to c++.

In my opinion (I am beyond the beginner stage but I am partially self taught as well), you should start with C++ if you want to learn C++. On the other hand, you probably will want to learn C too, so the order is really your choice.

This messageboard has a forum dedicated to C and another dedicated to C++. There is a book recommendation sticky thread in each of them.

[zacs7]

Eiffel (it's the best), Perl, Bash, sed, awk, C, C++, Java, Javascript and now I'm working with C# :-)

In my opinion start with English if you want to learn C or C++

Of course C++ is the most popular language, but if you started with something else please let me know. I am just wondering how you got from Point A to Point B!

You'll find most language surveys do not support that statement.

[Elysia]

Guide to learning language (C or C++):

• Read good beginner's book.
• Do lots of exercises.
• Read good books of topics you want to specialize in.
• Attend some programming course (optional; but it makes you smart).
• Hang out on this board, read and answer newbie questions.

This is the ultimate guide to the ultimate programmers
Now get to work!

[cyberfish]

I'm almost completely self taught. No books either. Just online tutorials, Google, and this forum.

[whiteflags]

I bought an incredibly thick book called Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours and read it one November a few years ago, then I went to college.

[NeonBlack]

I bought an incredibly thick book called Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours and the next day, I was an expert programmer.

[whiteflags]

It was a misleading title indeed. But that's the level of quality on shelf at my local bookstore.

[VirtualAce]

I learned to program in BASIC in the early 80's and moved to C++, skipping C, shortly thereafter. Later I learned assembler. I learned to program on my own but did take a BASIC course in high school. Myself and another fella were so far ahead of the class we were given special assignments just so we would not be bored. We essentially completed the actual course in about a week or so and then moved on to other projects to keep us busy. Good course but I wanted more and I had outgrown BASIC.

I learned C++ primarily on my own with the help of one or two books. Back then I didn't have the internet and had to stare at the old Borland Turbo C++ yellow text on blue background help screens to figure it out. It was quite intimidating but once I figured out the structure of a program (main, headers, declarations, definitions, etc) the rest was pretty much smooth sailing.
Various personal game projects presented many many challenges that required a wide range of skill sets that enabled me to research a vast range of computer science topics.

But in short, my drive and my passion and this board and its many brilliant members were instrumental in greatly accelerating my C++ skills.

[Epy]

I'm almost completely self taught. No books either. Just online tutorials, Google, and this forum.

Same. I started with QBASIC in 1999.

[User Name:]

I learned to program in BASIC in the early 80's and moved to C++, skipping C, shortly thereafter. Later I learned assembler. I learned to program on my own but did take a BASIC course in high school. Myself and another fella were so far ahead of the class we were given special assignments just so we would not be bored. We essentially completed the actual course in about a week or so and then moved on to other projects to keep us busy. Good course but I wanted more and I had outgrown BASIC.

Basically, I lived this guy's beginning in this millennium.

I started with Visual Basic, until I started to see it's limitations. One I noticed the flaws of too high level, I started my search for the lowest level possible, spending a few months with C(I learned very little the first time I tried C. I was actually using a C++ compiler, but my code was still all C compatible because I had no grasp of OOP.), then finally finding asm. I learned asm, and it taught me the usefulness that C provides. A few more months with C taught me the intuitiveness of C++ and OOP in general.

My opinion: Start with what you can easily understand and have rapid progress. As you get better with a language, almost any language, you'll learn the basic concepts that are universal to programming. For example, I learned functional programming from VB, instead of all the code in one function, I learned it was better to separate the code into functions, a function for each purpose. In asm, I learn that asm is not best for big projects . In C, I learned to use layers of abstraction. My search for better abstraction lead me to C++. I've learned everything I know about computers in the last year. You'll notice that I've had a reason for moving on to each new language. That's the best way to know that you've learned a language. You can see it's strengths and it's weaknesses and the remedies to it's weaknesses. I've learned everything I know about computers in the last year, to give you an example.

Edit: As to where, I just had questions, and people on forums, or Google, answered them.

[cpjust]

I taught myself Basic & C around grade 9 or 10, then learned VB in school. When I started working I taught myself Visual Test, C++, Perl, Rexx, Groovy, Java, Bash...