Programming: Starting Out

[Jaded God]

Hello guys.

I know I have talked before about starting programming, but I really want to get into it now.

What is the easiest system to try and program or do demos for? Gameboy, saturn, psx, genesis, etc???

And if anyone can tell me how to get started and maybe provide me with some guides of info or anything it would be very appreciated. :bow mg: mg:

 

[racketboy]

start out with visual basic -- THEN try game programming.

you have to get your feet wet first

 

[dibz]

C isnt too hard either, I personally hate VB, but thats me. And there is a lot of C compilers for different environments. If you need some help don't be afraid to add me to any of the IM I have listed.

 

[dhau]

I would recomend starting out with SDL or Allegro on Windows or Linux first.

On Windows I would recomend using MinGW rather then VC++, because it will expose you to gcc, binutils and makefiles. This will be very helpful on consoles

 

[Runik]

Originally posted by dibz@Nov 25, 2003 @ 06:41 PM

I personally hate VB

:agree

I think too that C is a good language to start, even it seems a little complicated for beginners.

Things you learn in C will be useful for your future projects, and I don't think the same goes for VB ...

 

[racketboy]

I don't recommend VB for a final development situations, but I just suggested it as a newb programming enviroment until he gets his variable, loops, and ifs down

 

[gameboy900]

I love VB. It's a good language. Easy to learn. Powerful (especially the lastest .NET version). FAST (test long ago have shown that a similar program written in VB was only 4-6% slower than the same program written in VC++ (they use the same compiler). That may seem like it's slower but compared to the ease of use you get it's a big difference when you're writing serious business apps with hundreds of windows and objects.

Don't knock VB just cause it says Basic in it's name. It really is a powerful language.

 

[racketboy]

really it depends on what you're developing and how much time you want to put into it.

there's lots of aspects to that debated

 

[dhau]

Originally posted by gameboy900@Nov 25, 2003 @ 01:16 PM

I love VB. It's a good language. Easy to learn. Powerful (especially the lastest .NET version). FAST (test long ago have shown that a similar program written in VB was only 4-6% slower than the same program written in VC++ (they use the same compiler). That may seem like it's slower but compared to the ease of use you get it's a big difference when you're writing serious business apps with hundreds of windows and objects.

Don't knock VB just cause it says Basic in it's name. It really is a powerful language.

VB.NET is just a variation of C# syntax. There is no essential differences over then case insensitivity

 

[dibz]

Actually, I ment C, not Visual C++. If you want windows dev I also recommend MingW. Stay far away from the Visual line of products IMHO.

 

[Jaded God]

Yea this is no fun...

I am in TRUE BASIC comp prog I class in school right now and its like 40 years old and one of the first prog languages.

I am relying on getting all the programs from friends and failing the tests because it is boring as all hell and retarded.

I guess if I can't do that then I won't be able to do C and C++

I can do HTML very well, but this is a pain in the ass... Why isn't their an easier language.

 

[dibz]

Umm, its not that bad. Just keep trying, use examples...try using Allegro for your gfx programming needs (very easy to use, I learned it when I was like 12). If you cant get that, maybe try some web programming, its not quite as complicated. Perhaps PHP or Perl?

 

[racketboy]

Originally posted by Jaded God@Nov 25, 2003 @ 07:50 PM

Yea this is no fun...

I am in TRUE BASIC comp prog I class in school right now and its like 40 years old and one of the first prog languages.

I am relying on getting all the programs from friends and failing the tests because it is boring as all hell and retarded.

I guess if I can't do that then I won't be able to do C and C++

I can do HTML very well, but this is a pain in the ass... Why isn't their an easier language.

That's exactly how I started out.

Now I'm a paid "professional".

It just takes time.

It also depends on how goo your teachers are.

My HS BASIC teacher basically stunk -- he was a math teacher.

I played around with HTML on my own -- even though it's not a true programming language.

I also toyed with programming on my TI calculator.

I didn't really learn much til I got to college.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I didn't have access to programming classes in HS. I wrote my first program when I was about 6 or 7 in dos using basica lol. I then jumped right into c++, which was quite hard at first. I dropped it for a number of years and didn't do any programming. I then got into programming my casio graphing calculator, then to the ti calculator line. I wrote a text based rpg on my ti-86 that was prettygood, but then a teacher erased it in college I've blown right through the intro to c++ class, because of how easy it is. And I pick upthe stuff so fast that I actually can't take classes, I get bored with how easy it is too fast then I stop going and have to drop the class lol. I now work in an industry not even kind of related to computers LMAO. In any case, the moral of my story is: Start with basic until you get the basics (sorry about the pun) down, things like loops and whatnot, then move on to c++.

Oh and goto is the devil, don't use goto.

 

[ExCyber]

I'd recommend learning with Java rather than VB. It's more widely supported, the syntax is very similar to C (which you'll want to learn), it exposes you to some key low-level concepts without dumping you into a hell of anonymous crashes and type mismatches, and you can get free full-functionality tools. Just don't buy too heavily into the object-oriented dogma. C/Allegro isn't such a bad idea either, especially if you can find a good tutorial centered around actually building a game/demo, which might hold your interest better than a purely technical presentation. The key regardless of language is to understand the problem you're writing the program to solve - once you've written the program in your mind, you just have to "port" it to the language and paradigm you want/need to use. Some pointers:

Java homepage

Your First Cup of Java (compiler setup / Java Hello, World!)

Java Language Basics (core language tutorial)

Step-By-Step Programming (introduction to Java APIs and developing actual applications)

How to Ask Questions the Smart Way (not Java-specific)

 

[racketboy]

Originally posted by Scared0o0Rabbit@Nov 25, 2003 @ 08:45 PM

Oh and goto is the devil, don't use goto.

Haha my COBOL teach in college would not accept an classwork that had a goto in it.

Then I started working here and it's standard to use gotos everywhere.

It was hard to get used to.

One thing I hate here is they don't like us to use nested IFs.

Sometimes it's just a major pain to avoid them.

 

[dhau]

Originally posted by Jaded God@Nov 25, 2003 @ 02:50 PM

I can do HTML very well, but this is a pain in the ass... Why isn't their an easier language.

Dude, HTML is related to coding in the same way writing checks it related to creative writing

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

yeah my c++ teacher wouldn't accept goto's either lol. No nested if's? wtf? Only thing I can think of is it makes it harder to read... but with comments that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[slinga]

My two cents: ace your hs basic class.

When you get to college you'll realize that a lot of your professors can't teach (and guess what, they couldn't care less, they're there to do research). Find a good book, find resources on the web, have your friend tutor you, but do well in this class.

To a total beginner at programming I recommend starting off with a lot of C++, then some Java, then C. Once you've done that mastering any language shouldn't be too hard provided you have the right resource materials.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

yeah, I'm pretty much a n00b programmer. However, from what I've looked at, most languages are very similar, only a few small changes to syntax.