| mr.roboto.domo |
| Posted: Jun 20 2009, 11:24 AM |
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Serious Player
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A while ago I posted that I had started learning C++, but for some reason I couldn't wrap my head around how even moderately complex programs were working. I realized it probably would have been a good idea to start with a language designed for beginners, but can be powerful for when I get more fluent. I decided that Visual Basic would be my choice, but I want some opinions from others about whether that would be a good choice. Any feedback at all is appreciated! 
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"When in doubt, start from scratch!"
-Mr.Roboto.Domo |
| chess123mate |
| Posted: Jun 20 2009, 04:44 PM |
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Logical Programmer
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I find Visual Basic is very easy to start with and you can do lots of things with it. Some people say it's as powerful as C++, at least in some ways. I'd agree VB is a good choice, so long as it's Microsoft's newest  |
| Echo Switch |
| Posted: Jun 21 2009, 03:27 PM |
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Super-Duper Programmer
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I hate to disagree with you chessmate, but I see VB as the dessert in the programming world. It's fun and easy, heck the code pretty much reads like english, but you can develop alot of bad habits using it. It makes you pretty lazy, and I found after learning it, I didn't want to learn other languages. VB should be the tasty easy treat once you have your grasp on other languages.
Really though the most important thing to learn is that Languages are Tools. Use the best tool for the job.
Above all, just please don't start with c++. Its scared the poop out of me, and I nearly turned away from programing. When you are first starting out you shouldn't have to know about memory management and all that. I would suggest Python. Python makes programming fun and relatively easy (its a very-high level language), while at the same time doesn't provoke the bad habits like VB does. But try and learn as many languages as you can. Not only does it look great on a resume, but it provides you with a bunch of tools to solve any problem.
Also, learn RegEx. It is powerful as hell and has saved my ass more times then I can count.
This post has been edited by Echo Switch on Jun 21 2009, 03:28 PM |
| mr.roboto.domo |
| Posted: Jun 21 2009, 09:58 PM |
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Serious Player
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Thanks for the tips, I can see what Echo Switch is saying because I looked a little at the syntax and if you got used to it, you probably would have trouble getting used to other laguages. And I tried a survey to find the language best for me, which said Python was the best choice. I hate to seem dumb or stubborn, but I think I still want to learn Visual Basic as a starting language. However, I can't find any good tutorials or lessons for the language. Could you give me some links to tutorials plz?
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"When in doubt, start from scratch!"
-Mr.Roboto.Domo |
| chess123mate |
| Posted: Jun 22 2009, 07:32 AM |
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Logical Programmer
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Lol; I can see what Echo Switch is saying, but I still think VB is a good way to go if you know what the bad habits are. After all, why spend extra time working with code that doesn't look like English (and trying to decipher it, etc) when you could be spending time looking at code that makes lots of sense -- you can learn new things and don't have to spend your time on mechanics, instead spending time on actually programming
As for tutorials, if you download Microsoft Visual Basic Express Edition 2008, there are several tutorials in the help files to help get you started. There's a walkthrough of making your first programs and how to use several features.
Python... I believe I tried to learn it, but I didn't like it's basics... could be from having learned Basic languages first, but it just seemed backwards to me (more primitive)... oh well. |
| mr.roboto.domo |
| Posted: Jun 22 2009, 08:59 AM |
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Serious Player
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Thanks chessmate, but I looked at the first tutorial and the others and they talk a lot about the features of Visual Studio. I'm lokking for a walkthrough of learning the language. Videos would be great, but I would prefer a document style guide.
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"When in doubt, start from scratch!"
-Mr.Roboto.Domo |
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Programming Lang
