What is easiest way to learn programming?

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Guest

1) Downloading sample code and playing with it?
2) Reading books and trying to follow them?
Any other ideas?

I have always wanted to learn programming, just don't know hot to go about
it.

Thanks
 
1) Downloading sample code and playing with it?
2) Reading books and trying to follow them?
Click to expand...

Writing *good* code will require some theory (books, courses,
lessons). If you try to learn *only* by messing about with other
people's code samples, you won't pick up any good design principles or
background knowledge, and concepts like object orientation will be a
real struggle.

Of course, it's nice to write short programs and play with other
people's code as you go along, because pure theory gets tiresome and
is swiftly forgotten if you don't put it into practice.

</imho>

P.
 
1) Downloading sample code and playing with it?
2) Reading books and trying to follow them?
Any other ideas?

I have always wanted to learn programming, just don't know hot to go about
it.
Click to expand...

First, you need persistence and a pet application. Think of an application that you'd like to write. Start with something modest, but that can grow as your knowledge expands, like a stop-watch application.

Now go buy a Teach Yourself C# in 21 Days book or something like that. Work all the way through it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672320711/002-1785378-5052815?v=glance

At some point while working through the 21 Days book, you'll be ready for your first gospel of .NET Framework development. That book is called Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming by Jeffrey Richter.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735614229/002-9770550-6763257?v=glance

That will be an invaluable tool as you begin to use classes or types in more complex ways. Of course, by this time, your stop-watch will have gone from a digital watch with overly large fonts on a Windows form, to a precision performance measurement tool. Now the .NET Framework 2.0 will come along and you'll want to use the new BackgroundWorker class with your stop-watch in a custom progress window.

Now, you're ready to start thinking about using design patterns. Theoretically, you should be thinking in terms of design patterns as you work through the 21 Days book, but I have yet to come across a "design patterns concepts in simple language for beginners book". Nevertheless, you'll want to get a book called Design Patterns in C# by John Metsker.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321126971/002-5898491-8107250?v=glance

That will take you a long way through coding little utilities as a hobby to professional application development.

- carl
 
Hi BigHaig,

The best advice I can give is to start out with something simple and build
up from there. I see beginners all the time that try to write something
much more complex than they are ready for. Remember that .NET is very huge
and noone knows it all. So, you shouldn't feel bad about what you don't
know. Focus on a specific technology, such as Windows Forms or ASP.NET and
learn that before moving on to the next step. The more programs you write,
the better you will be.

Here's a free C# Tutorial, written at the beginner level:

http://www.csharp-station.com/Tutorial.aspx

Also, when you install the .NET Framework, install the QuickStart samples,
which have a lot of examples you can follow. Here's an on-line version:

http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/

Joe
 
1) Downloading sample code and playing with it?
2) Reading books and trying to follow them?
Any other ideas?

I have always wanted to learn programming, just don't know hot to go about
it.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Some people find that sticking with books eludes them, and feel they need
the discipline and/or accountability of paying for a course or being
mentored. Personally I favor learning by doing, supplemented by books.

But don't stick strictly to tutorials about the language or platform of your
choice. Don't neglect to read classics about programming and problem
solving in general, because successful software development is essentially
driven by learning effective techniques for properly perceiving and solving
problems. In other words -- read books like Fred Brook's "Mythical
Man-Month", Gerald Weinberg's superb books such as "Psychology of Computer
Programming", Steve McConnel's "Code Complete" and so forth.

If I had a nickel for every software developer I've met that knows a bunch
of facts about the craft but has minimal problem-solving skills and bad
judgment -- well, I'd be very, very rich.

--Bob
 
Here's a method that works for me. And I have been "learning" to program
for 20 years.

Figure out what you want to program first. If you're just learning, pick
something simple...say, an entry field, and a button that when clicked,
puts the text from the entry field to a label.

Don't worry about the language or anything, just draw it on a piece of
paper.

Ok. Then, start digging around to figure out how to accomplish it. That
means, lots of Google research, asking people on the Internet and so on.
Make it your project. Then you can ask specific questions about how to do
this or that.

Alternatively, go to a site like Code Project and find a project that
interests you. Download the code and look at it. Figure out how to
compile it ( that's 90 percent of the effort ). Then try changing it
around and see if you can change or break it in some interesting way.
 
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