BleepingComputer.com: Starting Programming

I would like to learn how to program, but from everyone hear, I was wondering what type of language would be an easy start for a beginner based on your experience. Also, I was looking for this online, but couldn't find it. What language are computers generally programmed in. Looking forward to the answers!

VisualBasic.NET is easy to learn and can add something to your CV when you look for a job.
Computers are programmed for many things to serve many purposes and different computer languages are picked for different purposes. For a person who learns programming to seek a job, he/she should concentrate on what the employers generally seek these days.

This post has been edited by Romeo29: 11 October 2010 - 12:44 PM

Computers are programmed in binary.

Srry, should have phrased that question differently.

I know that computers run binary code, 0s and 1s for true or false, but in order for humans to interact with a computer with ease, we need an OS or DOS system. What programming language are these platforms coded in?

Actually a zero just means that a bit has no charge and one means that a bit does have a charge. Since true/false is a binary mapping, it is natural to map them to a zero or a one.

Operating systems are programmed in many languages, and in combinations of languages. Unux is created using C. Linux uses assembly and C. Do some research; look up operating systems on Wikipedia.

I actually just started my Computing degree in University this year.

I didn't have much prior experience with computing.

It was just a subject that i've been so enthusiastic since i was a kid!

Just started Java, and it's amazing.

May not be the easiest programming language, but it's simply amazing!

Plus, some of it's syntax is similar to C++ so it's a stable starting step!

Hope I helped,

CrimsonSpider

As I understand it, the most popular language family for writing operating system kernels is C and its variants (C++, Objective C, etc.) Windows' and Linux's kernels are written (largely) in C, and I believe that Mac OS X uses either C or Objective C.

I mainly use Visual Basic, but i started to learn programming in C#, having said that i still class myself as a beginner!
Hope that helps

-Xio

C++ is a great language, and Java too and VB, but I think that the best language to start from is actually Pascal - yes, it's very, very old language, and also it's not an object-oriented programming language, but still that's a good thing to start from, it has all the basic structures, and doesn't overwhelm you with classes, inheritance... and lot's of other complicated stuff, that can make you crazy when you are starting from zero. So once you learned Pascal, it will be a metter of one week to learn for example very popular nowadays C#, and also starting with Psacal will actually show, why object-oriented concept is so awesome. ;)

This post has been edited by Pesikot: 05 December 2010 - 07:48 AM

groovicus, on 11 October 2010 - 04:14 PM, said:

Thats right here's a website that teaches you to read/write in binary
http://binary101.webs.com/binaryonyourfingers.htm
I learned it and its so easy. (not very useful though, but nice to know how to do that)
Its also might be helpful to know HTML: http://www.htmltutorials.ca/index.htm that is quite simple to learn too

that was a confusing method to learn binary translation of numbers.
Look at this method of continuous division by 2 (because base is 2 in binary)
for remainder write 1, for complete division write 0 (from left to right)
A = 65 (decimal)
65 / 2 = 32 + 1/2 write 1
32 /2 = 16 write 0
16 / 2 = 8 write 0
8 / 2 = 4 write 0
4 / 2 = 2 write 0
2 / 2 = 1 write 0
1/2 write 1

so A = 65 = 1000001

You can do division easily in your mind and just write 1 and 0 on paper.

Visual Basic is probably the easiest language to learn because of the amount that its own routines do for you. It is brilliant for making a program quickly and easily. However it can be argued that this actually makes it quite a poor first language to learn because, speaking frankly, it makes you lazy.

Pure C has the exact opposite problem. It forces you to treat the computer as if it has an IQ of 1 (which is about right), to work out the solutions and put them in in as concise a way a possible. However it takes an age to produce anything useful, and longer still to learn to produce anything useful.

It's worth reading the analysis here. The rest of the article pertains only to prospective "hackers", the old meaning which doesn't involve stealing passwords or gaining illicit access. However the section on programming languages is relevant. The concept that a given language will not be equally ideal for all tasks is especially important.

altair05, on 11 October 2010 - 10:53 AM, said:

Python should be an easy start .

JosiahK, on 13 December 2010 - 05:44 PM, said:

I tend to disagree. We all know Dijkstra famous outburst regarding the learning of BASIC as a criminal offense but i never found moving onto C#, PHP etc any more difficult. I understand the argument but also feel it holds as much water as C# being more powerful then VB. I can't see how learning a line orientated language makes you lazy. The same classes are ready for you in C#. The only difference is syntax.


General answer is pick what ever one you find easy. There is nothing wrong with looking and learning many languages. The more languages you know the more desirable you are as a programmer.

Java is a great programming language and if you plan to have a career in Software Engineering or something related, you must know java.


I don't mean this as an insult but Visual and C languages are out-of-date. That is, they are not used in the field by many companies.