How To-39: "How to Start Learning Computer Programming"

How to Start Learning Computer Programming

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Programming is a lot of fun and extraordinarily useful. While you learn to program, you'll also develop a host of other analytical and critical thinking skills for tackling all sorts of complex problems (not just ones on computers) and it may just help you start a new career or land a new job in software development.
Computer programming is almost always done in some sort of Programming Language. These languages are written so that humans can understand them, but are formal and rigorous enough to input into a machine.
Programming languages are a way for you to express your thoughts about how to perform a specific task. As such, the programming language you start out with will inherently influence how you think about a particular problem. This influence is usually called the programming language's paradigm.
There's hundreds – even thousands – of programming languages out there. (Programmers like to write new programming languages.) You don't need to learn them all to be a good programmer, in fact, many of them use the same paradigm as other languages, so by learning one programming language, you'll probably have a “Reading knowledge” of several others and by able to learn it completely rather quickly.
Some languages are geared for specific purposes. C, Java, etc are meant to be “general purpose” languages for building software and computer applications (like a web browser!) Languages like PHP are meant for dynamic websites (like wikiHow!) And there are others still: Python, Perl, etc are “general scripting languages” meant for performing a wide variety of small tasks.

Steps

1. Start with a good book or tutorial on programming. The book will probably suggest a language. If you need recommendations, you might try Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman. It'll teach you how to start programming in a language called Scheme, which is a very simple language to learn. The book is available online for free at http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html
   
2. Get a compiler/interpreter/IDE for the programming language your book uses. A compiler/interpreter is just another computer program, but it will convert ideas you've written in a programming language into "machine code" so you can see things work. If you chose use the book above, try PLT Scheme (http://www.drscheme.org/) If you're starting to program in Java, you could try Eclipse (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/) If you're using C/C++, try Dev C++ (http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html)
   
3. Read the book! Take examples of the programming language from the book and put them into your interpreter. Try changing the examples and making the program do different things.
   
4. Try putting together your own ideas to form a working program. Start with simple things, like a program to convert currencies, and work your way up a long to more complex things as you continue reading and learning about your programming language.
   
5. Once you start actively programming in your first language, you may want to learn a second one. You'll get the most out of learning a second programming language if you pick one that uses a radically different paradigm than the one you started with. For instance, if you started in Scheme, you might try learning C or Java next. If you started in Java, you could learn Perl or Python.
   
6. Continue programming and trying new things! To be a good programmer, you, at the very least, have to keep up with changing technology. Its a constant learning process, and you should always be learning new languages, new paradigms, and most importantly: programming new things!
   

Tips

• Get a handy reference book. Make sure it's the latest version as languages keep updating.
  
• If you are learning Java then work with netbeans 6.0.1 its very cool and easy.
  
• By heart the syntax is a must. You are free to apply it in your own way. Study some sample programs then start coding your own.
  
• Java has a powerful concept called multithreading. Study it carefully.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Become a Programmer
  
• How to Program in Java
  
• How to Install Java
  
• How to Write Standard Code in C++
  
• How to Create Some Simple Programs in C++
  
• How to Create a Template in C++
  

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