So you want to learn "How To Program"?

Boozan

Every so often, in most forums/tech blogs/webpages, the inevitable "How do I learn to program" thread pops up. Sometimes, there are minor variations on this same theme:

Regardless of the actual wording, the generic question may be understood to stand for "How do I acquire - or expand my existing - programming skills?" and the answers, provided by the forum members at breathtaking speed, are generally of the form:

Most of these contributions are well-intentioned, from well-meaning members, providing genuine and heartfelt recommendations.

As answers to the question of "How to Program", though, they are crap.

Let us explore why.

1. The Process of Programming

Imagine that a friend of yours revealed his/her intentions of becoming a master writer, dreaming of one day winning a Nobel prize for literature. Would your immediate recommendation be that he write that great new novel in Russian, because "Tolstoy and Nabokov wrote in Russian, and they were really good"? Or, if your friend wanted rather to become a painter, would you say that "watercolours are the best, cause they're really easy"? Perhaps some other friend would join in, saying "nah, all the greats painted in oils - you'll have to choose oils".

The problem with this approach is that you're giving advice on which tools to use to someone that may not have even understood what programming (or writing / painting / etc) is!

My take on programming is that it is, essentially, an art. Now, I don't ask you to take my opinion into consideration, for I am - among the real programmers - a non-entity, a nobody, a simple NULL. Fortunately, this view of programming as a form of art is shared (in fact, it was developed) by some of the truly great programmers. Check out what Donald Knuth decided to name his famous set of books:

MrDylan · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:48 am Post subject:

I didnt not check the post date, but this is quite nicely organized and helpful.
Nice job.

HardDieYoung · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:09 am Post subject:

Pick the last word in your name (let's call it Surname)

Start at first letter of Surname

Until you reach the last letter of Surname (inclusive), start counting the letters

If your count is superior to 8, then you are destined to learn C++

But if count is equal to 8, you must learn Python

Else, if count is inferior to 8, Java is your answer

Lol.

This will help a lot of people i hope, nice post Boozan.

JC_Denton · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:25 am Post subject:

guess im destined for C++ XD

de.bug · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:38 pm Post subject:

HardDieYoung · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:06 pm Post subject:

de.bug · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject:

iPhone SDK

:D

Zopherus1 · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:42 pm Post subject:

I'm not that good of a coder...
Still in my first year of Computing...
But I think Python and C++ are very good langs...
Also...I HATE JAVA Razz

Dont know why...just hate it xD
The uni gave a a shitty compiler and its AWFULL -.-
Anyway got off-topic
Great post dude ^_^

Hawkeye · Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:18 am Post subject:

I hate bumping old threads, but what did you learn first bug?

-Loki- · Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:57 am Post subject:

I felt like I was in a Computer Science 101 class with the teacher eloquently illustrating what programming is all about. Great post.

A while back I thought computer programming would be a great place for me. But since then there's a number of things I realized. Sure I could learn to program but for me it's very draining, it takes a lot of energy and I just feel like a blob after working on a project for even a short amount of time.

I didn't understand why that was until recently, when I purchased a book called "Strengths Finder 2.0" took the test and realized my strengths (characteristics or tendencies that energize, excite, & keep you motivated) aren't fitted to programming. Could I do it? Absolutely, but I'd be much better off doing something that involves organizing people and putting their strengths to work than analyzing and creating a strategy of how to make some intricate piece of program work.

Intimidation · Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:16 am Post subject: hey i need your help Boozan

i was wondering if you can help me put with programming. maybe do you think you and me can work on a project with programing or diong a liitile thing so i can learn the basics and go on from there, if you could that would be great.

thanks, Intimidation

killerdude · Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:58 am Post subject: Picking a Programming Language

IMO, picking a language to start with should be based on your end goal. Most programming languages have their own strong point in which they excel more than other languages. So understanding the differences may help with choosing one to start with.

Assembly is a really really uber language to learn but only few people could really master it (IMHO). There are very few commands to have to remember but you must understand an astronomical amount of data in how to make a program do what you want. Something you could do in 10 lines of code C++ may take hundreds of lines of code in Assembly. Another downfall of Assembly is that the language can be different on different (processor) architextures. The strong point in Assembly though is that if you know assembly you can directly communicate with hardware and if you code correctly, your programs will operate more efficiently than any program you compile with any other langauge. If you want to learn to Reverse Engineer and do real hacking (software exploitation), having a fair amount of Assembly Language with C/C++ will take you far.

C/C++ is a lot easier to learn then assembly however there are a lot of libraries each with several (commands) functions to remember when compared to Assembly (this goes for other languages as well). C is more of an top down language (procedural) with what you see is what you get. Im not sure exactly why someone would pick learning C over C++ but Im sure someone else can answer this. C++ is an Object Oriented Programming (OOP) language. I guess you could say the difference is... In OOP you create an Object, you give it properties and even functions. The closes thing in C is to create a structure however you can only give the structure data elements... not functions. The different between a spreadsheet and a database. If you wanted to create massive games (like WoW, CS, MoH, etc...) your best bet would be C++. C/C++ advantages over Java would be along the lines that programs will operate more efficiently and faster because they are compiled specifically for the architecture they run on. Most game hacks and hacking programs are more than likely written in C/C++. Programs written in C++ for the most part are cross-platform capable, all you have to do is recompile them for each architecture you wish your program to run on.

Visual Basic... god I wish I never learned this langauge... Prior to .NET it was a procedure driven language. It really through me for a loop going straight from VB2-VB6 to Java and C++. All types of concepts that were new did not make since to me. Visual Basic programs are going to be less efficient than C/C++ programs but possibly faster than Java. Some functions you can do with other languages are more complicated to have direct control over using Visual Basic. At the same time, they make it easier to learn because the language is close pseudo code. VB still has a strong point though... It was created for rapid program development. Need something quick and dirty, VB is your man or woman if your offended lol.

Java... Java's better selling point is you write and compile a program once and can run it on any architecture which supports Java. Java is also a OOP language like C++ and .NET (which Im not going to talk about, screw Microsoft... wheres my DirectX 10/11 for XP). I consider Java to be less efficient than C/C++ in that its not directly compiled to the native processors language... The Java engine interprets the program while it is being ran (if I remember correctly). Some large programs like ArcSight are done in Java. This is not really the language for people wishing to get into the gaming or hacking scene (currently). However, it is becoming more and more popular.

Perl/Python/Ruby... These are more scripting languages than programming IMO... no offense to anyone (these are very powerful). I believe these are all procedure languages and cross-platform capable just like Java. They are not really compiled... They are interpreted which is why I do not believe they could ever be as fast as C/C++ programs. If you want to be a good system admin, hacker, or tinkerer... you should pick up atleast 1 of these in addition to a non-interpreted language. Most programs are not written with these languages, just nifty tools... However I give props to Ruby as the latest Metasploit was completely done in Ruby, I was recently told.

When I compare efficiency of languages, obviously a better programmer could optimize a program in their language more than a noob in another... However, Im judging based on equally experienced programmers.

I hope this helps in determining what language(s) you would like to learn.

killerdude · Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:10 am Post subject: Forgot

If you do decide to learn (and master) Assembly language... dont forget to pick up a pocket protector, couple pens, a pair of glasses with white tape over the nose peice, a copy of Revenge of the Nerds (to learn how to intermingle with your own people) and a book and how to talk to woman... they are definitely not machines.

aspearman · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:29 pm Post subject:


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