Question about programming and stuf.

[Ice-9]

Lo all,
I'm a complete noob when it comes to programming, I can't even write html.
I'd very much like to learn about that, be able to write some html code (I was told that this is quite simple) and eventually write some proggies of my own and understand how all of that works.
Now, my question is, are there some crashcourses that would let me learn about programming by myself or is it too complicated and I really should be tutored by someone?

From what I've read so far C would be the language by excellence, but after doing some research it looks damn hard and I haven't got a clue on how to start with this.

[Heru]

Buy a good bok on C++ programming.
C++ for Dummies is actually quite good if you don't mind DOS programming.  There are plenty of good books on C++ written for newbies to programming.
As for HTML, it is easy.  Although I don't know much of it yet, I can say that "Sams Teach Yourself HTML in 10 minutes" is a good place to start.

[LorKorub]

C++ is probably a good language to learn because it allows you to bounce back into C and prepares you to bump forward into JAVA when you eventually know your stuff.  For a first PROGRAMMING language, that would be my first reccommendation.

Before venture into C++, you should probably start with HTML.  C++ is very diverse, and can be very boring when you first start learning it.  HTML is a lot more visual, and a lot more basic.  Plus, it is kind of progessive where it will eventually prepare you for your jump into programming.  When you eventually learn Java Scripting, you will be using variables, calling functions, and condtional statements (amoung other things) that are all similar to C++.  With HTML, you will be able to see what you are doing, whereas C++ is just entirely syntax. If you are going to learn it, Borland makes a free C++ compiler.  http://www.borland.com.  You can also get one from Digital Mars at http://www.digitalmars.com. A good referrence site is http://www.cplusplus.com. It has a nice section on how to install those compilers, if you need help (I did.)  Just don't use any of Micro$hit's cruddy compilers.  Writing code with one of those things is NOT C++.

I can't offer any advice to you about learning C++ from a book other than a "good luck." . If you can do it, you are far more inclined that I am. HTML will be a lot easier to teach yourself.  I learned that alone.  A good book would be "Creating Web Pages with HTML" 2nd Edition by Patrick Carey.  It is published by Thompson Learning.  That will teach you everything you need to know to get started. If you are ever in need of help, http://www.htmlgoodies has a good site with a lot of tips and hints.  Just design your pages to work on ALL browsers.  If I have one pet peeve with some of these so call "designers" out there, it is that they all seem to revolve around Planet Microsoft.  IE is not the only browser out there, contrary to popular belief, and not all of us use it.  

Have fun.

[Ice-9]

Originally posted by LorKorub:

Just design your pages to work on ALL browsers.  If I have one pet peeve with some of these so call "designers" out there, it is that they all seem to revolve around Planet Microsoft.  IE is not the only browser out there, contrary to popular belief, and not all of us use it.  


Actually I almost never use IE and I very much like the X11 website concept that when you try to view it with IE it annoys you to death with adds and stuff (I know, I tried to view his website from work, where I'm forced to use IE)  

And thanks for the advice, you provided a bunch of pretty useful links.

Thanks to Heru also, I'll check out the books, see if I can make it anywhere with them.

[dishawjp]

Hi Ice9

HTML is quite simple to learn and you need no tools other than an ascii editor like DOS edit or *nix vi(m).  There are several tutorials on the web, but one tool that I use is to actually look at the document source of web pages that I find interesting.  I have a very simple web page I put up on the advantages of the command line interface over using a GUI when computing.  The entire page was written using vi and edit.  You can view the document source to see how I did everything.  Also, I did try to make it browser friendly and it will work with IE, Netscape, OffByOne and LYNX, though the tables are kind of messed up in LYNX and the <marquee> tags only seem to work in IE. :mad:

The page also has samples of some DOS .bat files I've written, an easy way to get started writing some very simple programs.

Feel free to check it out at:
 
http://web2.lemoyne.edu/~dishawjp

Hope this helps

[TheQuirk]

Learn python (http://www.python.org).. It's much easier then C/++, and almost as powerful. Then when you're done with it, you can go ahead and learn C/++..

[Kintaro]

Goto my website and read the HTML Miniguide and you will have some basic knodege. Im also writing other things.

And FUCKCLOCKCREW
http://fuckclockcrew.cjb.net

[Ice-9]

Originally posted by X11 / BOB:
[QB]Goto my website and read the HTML Miniguide and you will have some basic knodege. Im also writing other things.

I already read your miniguide to html and printed it out, I think I'm gonna put it on my wall for future reference  

[ahri]

In my opinion, java is a much better language than C/C++. C/C++ is on its way out. In a few years everything will be done in C#, Java or VB. C/C++ will only be used when low level is needed, like drivers, boot loaders and kernels. Java is a new and imporved version of C/C++. Java has many advantages over C/C++ and the only disadvantage is that it can't do low level programming. Everything you need to get started with java is at java.sun.com/tutorial/

[Ice-9]

Thanks all, I can start doing my homework now  
I also suppose that none of this is gonna fly way over my head (dunno if that expression exists but I'm gonna take my chances) since I'm a complete newbie even at a command prompt.
Yes, that's what M$ does to you :
"You don't need to think we will think for you!"

And the further we go, the more they "think" for us, and how ......

[Kintaro]

quote:Originally posted by Ice9:
I already read your miniguide to html and printed it out, I think I'm gonna put it on my wall for future reference    

I tought myself HTML by pissing around in Mozilla Composer and then i wrote up dome basic HTML and put it on my wall. Hope you learn it and it gets even more simple as you go. I will be writing a Miniguide on more things. Including Basic Virii construction.
I have been working on a few viruses. One is "Near Stable"

[Kintaro]

Another easy language is YaBasic.... I also know powerbasic www.powerbasic.com - Powerbasic is compileable. And you can get Firstbasic for free.

www.yabasic.org

What i love about YaBasic is that it comes with the PS/2

[Calum]

ice9, here's a pdf book, that i'm using to learn C right now, it's very good. Right click the link and 'save as...' if you don't have a pdf viewing plugin on yr browser.

Write yr programs using pico, save them as "something.c" and then use cc to compile them, by typing "cc something.c".
You'll get a program called a.out which you can rename to anything you want. To run it, just change to the directory with a.out in it and type ./a.out (the ./ means it's in the current directory) to see your program working.

This method will work on all unix like systems with 'cc' installed. type "man cc" to find out more about your compiler.

enjoy! i'm finding it easier than i imagined i would!