NEEDED: Programming tutor

I would really like to start learning how to program, I know it's very hard when you know nothing and was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help tutor me, If your nice but not THAT nice, I can pay you. heh.

Kind Regard's,
NorthWest

 

If I weren't so busy with school I'd offer to start you off. I'm not exactly pro at it so I could teach you the basics then let you explore around yourself, but I'm very busy with school and I've not programmed in quite a while, or at least not much.

Most people will tell you to begin with Visual Basic. Do NOT begin with Visual Basic 6. Some people will say it's better than the newer versions, but some people also can't let go of the past. It's obsoleted and useless, and teaches terrible coding habits. If you want something that's simple to start off with, Visual Basic 2010 .Net or Visual C# 2010 .Net (if you're feeling like something slightly more challenging) then you can download the express editions free from MSDN, and that gives you all you need to program and compile code. If you want something else that's very simple I'd suggest a language like Python.

Visual Basic .Net is probably my least favourite, but whenever I've coded in the past year or so it's been with C++, which is a bit more advanced, and I simply don't like it, personally. It's very simple to learn with though, as is Python.

Here's a link on MSDN just to a general resource on learning. It should be able to get you headed in the right direction:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/ms789086

And here's a link to where you can download the express suites:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Downloads/

I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I personally learned a very roundabout way; my Father taught me the general syntax when I was in 6th grade, and then I learned just by looking at other peoples' code and trying to work out what it did. I wouldn't recommend that, as unless you're particularly dedicated it can get very boring very quickly, and in any case you don't tend to learn about how to do things, but rather how to copy other people. It took me a while after that to learn how to code for myself, shall we say.

Good luck.

 

What programming languages are you interested in learning?

 

What green asked^

Also do not and I mean DO NOT start out visual programming language. It teaches you bad habits and you're going to land up being a bad programmer.

Rather consider something like C++, java or even python. Python is good for learning coding techniques but if you're looking for power then C++ is the way to go. Java, in my opinion would be the best for someone who is not doing it through a course as the IDE's and support will really aid in the learning process.

I've got a thread that is currently locked because of a stupid rule being appealed here, http://sythe.org/showthread.php?t=1144840, so I'm sure it's going to be removed soon. I can help you with pretty much any language you want. I've got the same problem as swam, I'm pretty bogged down with uni so it is difficult but if you make the effort to find out what you want to do and contact me then I'm sure I'll be able to help you.

Help Thread:
http://sythe.org/showthread.php?t=1049237

Good luck.

 

Those languages are difficult and unwieldy for a beginner. You may or may not have realised that things have changed since Visual Basic 6. Personally, if I'm to code something, I use C# for prototypes. A "visual" language. I find it easy to use and yet it has the ability to do everything I need it for. The Visual Studio 2010 suite is a very nice and easy way to start programming. Provided you follow a proper documentation / series of tutorials, constructed by professionals such as my above link, rather than take on the bad habits of your coding peers, they're very valid languages to learn, and indeed very useful.

 

Rather than get into futile debate, I'll just say this.

Visual Programmers know how to drag and drop. So yes your mouse clicking skills will improve.

Yes it has the ability to do everything you need it to do, because you don't understand how to do it yourself and as a result you don't understand the technological rape that you're putting your CPU through when you're using your generated code.

VB is nice because it looks like English, but this isn't useful when you want to extend yourself to new languages. By learning an easier syntax at first you're only going to increase your learning curb and it might even prevent you from progressing onto more challenging languages. Unless you want to write exclusively database orientated programs or runescape clients, VB is not the way to start.

The bad habit that I'm referring to is the fact that when VB programmers start out they can generate the code and have no understanding of what they're doing. This will lead to inefficient coding, to exacerbate this, VB uses CLR which yes has it's own own advantages, but again contributes to the lag when compared to a language such as c++. Which is not the programmers fault, but is another factor to take into consideration.

It all depends on what he wants to learn in the long run.

tl;dr

VB has it's place but I have seen how it can be incredibly detrimental towards the progression of learning other programming languages as it is easier and faster at first, but not necessarily a better programming language to use.

That is all.

 

I've used visual programming since I started, yet I always code my own GUIs unless I'm making a quick prototype. Such "habits" are broken when you expand in to more complicated or advanced methods. This is particularly made easy given most languages people tend to use for GUIs are object oriented.

As for your lag issue, it's irrelevant. I highly doubt he will be coding anything requiring efficient and fast execution off the bat. The CLR if anything will help him. You're telling him to dive in to a more advanced language / field from the very beginning, yet contrary to your belief that is in fact quite difficult for most people.

I will agree with you about Python though. It's easy to learn, and it's applicable to a great many situations. I just don't believe it's right to be telling him to dive in to the complexity of something like C++ without prior programming experience in something simpler, and Python would fit that criteria. The aim of introducing someone to a simpler language is to give them knowledge and confidence before they advance, if they need to at all (as Python, as stated, is very useful).

 

I'd recommend reading one of the following (Python being arguably the easiest to start with) freely available at http://greenteapress.com/
How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python
How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: Java Version
How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: C++ Version

They are written so that a student can just read and either follow along or do examples on their own in increasing order of difficulty. When you do run into problems or questions the book can't help with you can consult with someone more knowledgeable than yourself. That way the person helping you doesn't have to devote tons of time teaching you everything, they just focus on your struggles. Usually I don't mind answering questions / helping in that fashion.

 

Seriously thanks for all the help you all! You guy's have some MSN's I can add for more help?