I am planning on a career switch possiblly to computer programming seems to intrest me because it seems to be a constantly changing,and a challenging field. The linfo I have found is that it is problem s
olving and that is what I do every day in my current job. It seems to change enough that I will not get board. Any suggestions on where to
 start and what languages would be the most useful to get a job.

This topic has been answered many times before I would suggest you do a search. There are for and against for any programming language. If you've never done any programming before then I would suggest you start with something simple so you get used to the way it operates.

The easiest language to learn is Visual Basic (see my sig) but its not supported by Microsoft any more because they are pushing VB.Net (which you can download for free of M$). There is far more support for obtaining information, there are 30 forums that I'm involved with.

I bought Visual C++ many years ago but I found it a very difficult language to learn that's because I've been used to the ease of VB.

I have not tried VB (yet lol) and the only languages i have tried are BASIC (i use mostly) and i tried C++ but C (and languages like it) have a very sharp learning curve (hard to learn).

I use Liberty BASIC which is only like 50 dollars to buy, or Just BASIC which is a downgraded version of Liberty, but is free (by the same author)

Well if you like Basic you will love Visual Basic. You can still get cheap copies of eBay, with MSDN help disks I hasten to add.

I like Realbasic. It's similar in many ways to VB (they're both BASIC derivatives) but allows you (in the Pro version) to compile your programs as native formats for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

If you are serious I personally recommend looking into Java, it being object oriented makes it very powerful. Your options with Java are, I personally feel, greater. Once you master the basics you can go any way you want ME,SE or EE. (mobile,standard or enterprise edition). You also need to get a book about OOP (object oriented programming). Understanding objects and how they work is the most important part of either of those languages.

Marc.

Hi,

I would also recommend Java and to dive right into Object Orientated Programming as you can always easily revert back to procedural style if needed.

You may also wish to consider learning to program with Python. Python is a remarkably intuitive language to use. The way the language is structured just "makes sense" ... it's hard to explain. The only reason I'm suggesting Python as a second option is because it's syntax is unique compared to other "typical" programming languages. I won't get into any more detail. The nice thing about Java is that it looks remarkably like other languages like C++

In my very humble opinion, and please no one hunt me down and kill me for saying this ... I would personally say away from any "drag-and-drop" style programming languages even though this is what the pro's might use. When learning to program, drag-and-drop isn't the way to do it.

Hello Eaglehorse

Well programming is my area of expertise. Currently I know about 8 different languages, which might sound incredible but it isn't really and I will let you know why.

First, my personal recommendation, would be to learn python first then learn C then go into C++ (OOP = Object Oriented Programming). I know you said you didn't like C but your really looking into programming as a career you will need C/C++ at the minimum. Once you learn a basic language then OOP, each language there after comes pretty easy because you already have the basics on syntax, conditional loops, functions (or routines), and the most dreaded of all pointers.

Choosing a programming language involves many factors, and certainly isn't something you should do with a few days, or after a few suggestions on a forum. You have some questions to ask such as, what do you want to program, or what area (windows programming, network programming, server etc)? The most popular language according to Google is C, next is windows programming then java programming (remember javascript is a scripting language, meaning it is not compiled in binary) then PHP (also a scripting language). So again I could go on and on, but!

Again this is just my personal opinion, you can ask around or search on the net but you will come up with pretty much close to the same answer. Especially involving C/C++.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to PM me. To give you an idea of the languages I currently use and how I use them:

Python (primary language used by Blender3D)
C/C++ (used in a number of ways mostly server programming, shell programming)
Assembly (mainly in RE malware)
Perl (used mainly with Unix/Linux programming, some web programming)
C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET (mainly on freelance projects)

Hope this gives you a little help.

CyberSorcerer

I recommend C#. it has a lot of base things to learn for other programs.

I personally don't like VB. It's almost too simplified, almost to the point where it doesn't feel like a real language. If you're into designing rather than coding, then VB would be all right.

The simpler the better.

Hmm, Im only 16, but im looking into a career as a games graphics designer, from some things mentioned above, would i have to know some programing languages to do this.
I have also elected to use Blender as my "training", would this be a good idea?

Hi guys and gals.

I forgot to check here before I posted. But I have a Very similar Question in my post about wanting to learn about programing. I am just starting to get interested in it. Just as a hobby, so I can help fix my computer problems when they pop up. This way I know what to tell the "Computer Techs" more precisely. And also to try my hand at programing too. I only had a few "Basic" Classes in High school. But that was 20 years ago. I think I have forgoten almost every thing I learned in those classes. So what would be a good starting point? Also what is a good refference source for free or cheap books for information?

About 90% of people who go to school for game development end up switching majors or dropping out. There is more programming required than 3D Graphic designers. You have to remember that games are a lot more than cool models - there's body physics, collision detection, lighting reflection/refraction/magnification/diffusion, water reflection/refraction/magnification/diffusion, etc.

You can have a model in a game, but without the programming behind it, there's no way to determine a gun from a chopstick. Especially since without programming, a chopstick will act the same way as a gun, which will at most just sit there on the ground which hasn't been coded yet.

But if i was to learn a Programming Language, what should it be to suit GFX design, Preferably one to start of with.

C++ with DirectX or OpenGL. That's what I suggest.

- I recommend C#. It's easy to learn. After learning C# then you have no problem with Java because they are basically pretty same. "One learn, get two". :D.
- Visual Basic is also simple to learn. There's one thing of VB that the other language can't do is writting the macro of MS Office application. That'll be nice in some case when we use MS Office.
- C++ is not a programming language for newbie. It's for system programming. It's a very strong language. You can do everything with that. But it's pretty difficult for beginner. Do not touch it if you fell that you are "strong" enough.
- If you are not programmer, just want to learn a language to do some small things for you, then the script language will be your choice. There are many of them: Perl, Python,AutoIt...

Luciora, if you want to be a designer.. then you wouldn't be doing much coding really. You'd be designing the game models.. leaving the game engine to get on with all the physics mainly.

Depends what you want to do, personally, I wouldn't set my sites on being in games. It's a hard market to crack with lower pay, Etc, because there's so many people wanting to do it. What I would suggest though if wanting to get into more games programming is first learn C++, ignoring anything games related, just learn the language. Then you could maybe go onto learning the allegro class to help make some basic 2D games. Another language I was told to learn was Lua, which is used a lot for in game menus, Etc.

Hope this was some help,

Dan.

Luciora, as far as Blender goes you can use it if you want to get an idea of what is involved in designing a game. Blender3D is a free program with a feature set that comes close to matching the bigger, more commercial application. It's an all-in-one package it has a game engine, 3d modeler, and video sequencer so you can make your own 3D Animation from beginning to finish all inside one application.

But I must tell you that it isn't the easiest software to learn. As I mentioned in a previous post its primary language is python, although it is made with C and fully open source. Also you will need to understand some basic game programming, even if your only doing the graphics, because the two have to work together to form a complete solid 3D object. Polygons are very important is games and polygon count, if you make a texture that doesn't conform to the model the game engine is using there will be holes in the texture where you can see through the model. No very professional to say the least, and isn't viewed well on your abilities.

Their is a complete professional 3D animation movie called "Elephant Dreams" and a complete open source game called "Apricot." You can check them out along with downloading Blender3D at http://www.blender.org/

It is a great software package to play around with if you are serious about getting into gaming programming, designing, textures etc. It is that complete.

Hope this helps

CyberSorcerer

Take a short cut - start with Java!!!

Alan