Where to start

AnAngelsDeath

AnAngelsDeath

Gawd
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
813
So this is a question that has been asked more times then anyone cares to remember I'm sure. I apologize for asking it again but I am a lil overwhelmed by info found via Google and was hoping to just find as close to a definitive answer as possible.

Question is; I have very Lil programming background but have always wanted to learn. I am a musician mostly but since we all know being a rock star is rare to happen I wanted to go with my next love, computers, as my career choice until my music career goes somewhere and if it doesn't well at least I'll still be doing something I enjoy. So basically I wanna know where is a good place to start. I am gonna start school next quarter but for now I wanted to start teaching myself whatever I can. So what language would be a good choice to start learning. My interest included game design and Android app design. I am aware that android is Java but for gaming I wasn't sure if I should start with C++ or C# or something else. Visual Basic, python. So many different ones pop up when you attempt to find the answer on google. So what do you guys think.
 
One of the first things that I was told when I was in school is that if you love programming, it won't matter what kind of programming you do. You will enjoy it either way. I didn't think that made sense at that time, but it's true.

With that said, grab and read a book. Any book, as long as it builds on programming fundamentals. Read some reviews and figure out for whom the book is geared towards.

As far as language recommendations, if you have a lot of willpower and enjoy learning things on your own, you could go with C++. There are a lot of hard but basic programming concepts you learn with C++. If you are less patient you could start off with a language like Ruby. It has nice, easy to learn syntax, and you don't need to worry about low-level ideas, which you will learn in school either way.

If you go ahead and check out Ruby, do these as you learn the language : http://rubykoans.com/.
 
C++ seems to be the one that fits with my goals for game design. Which i heard that python is used for some tools in game programming. I read that most games aren't coded using just one language. And i definitely wanna learn Java. I am not familiar with what iOS uses but i can find that out. I wanna be able to make apps for both platforms. Mobile is obviously the future and a good area to have a career in.
 
I think Python would probably be a good starting point. You could use PyGame to make some simple games.
Something like C++ would probably be a steep learning curve, in my opinion. You could always graduate to it later when you've built up a bit of experience.
 
iOS apps can be built using Objective-C or Swift. Android apps I believe are built on Java. So if you want to build apps for both, you'll have to learn two different languages. Alternatively, you could build both using c# and Xamarin.

In any case, consider focusing on learning the fundamentals (e.g. encapsulation, object oriented programming, etc.) first before diving deep into any one particular language. With a strong foundation in fundamentals, you'll have an easier time shifting between the different languages and their corresponding nuances.
 
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I've been starting to learn Python in my own time... I hate programming and that has seem to be the easiest for me to pick up.
 
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