This is pretty random, and will probably end up going unanswered, but the computer forums and stuff out there are kinda intimidating, and there are probably at least a few people on here who are into computers, so I figured it was worth a try...
I've decided I want to learn a bit of programming type stuff, and I'm hoping people will have some suggestions of where to start. I don't particularly care about graphics at this point as I've got no artistic talent anyway, and mainly all that I want to do is put text in, and get different text out (obviously with a bunch of rules about what comes out), and eventually I want to be able to make that interact with an online game I've been playing, but obviously that's a really long way off still. My dad taught me a little bit of Basic when I was little, and while I've forgotten most of the specific commands, I at least have a sense of the grammatical structure still, and I had a little HTML at one point, but I've forgotten most of it. So any suggestions of what programming language to start with? And if you know any books/websites that are particuarly good that would be helpful too.
Emily
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yeah basic is pretty much the way to go if you want to make little games and stuff possibly the best way to go about it is to go into a computer software shop and pick up a "teach yourself visual/dark basic" CD etc
but i am sure there are possibly some mmore helpful replies out there too :P
"if you want to be one of the non conformists you have to dress just like us and listen to the same music we do" - South Park
"Perfection isn't somthing you can Become it is somthing you lose" - Karma Junkie
"Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness." Lao Tzu
what online game are you hoping to interact with? is it a browser game or a standalone game? best thing you could do is email the developers and find out what language its written in.
im not much of a programmer, but i am a complete gaming addict, (i know tiny little bits of code, im looking o learn C++ and assembly though)
Im currently learning C++ & Java.
it can get very complicated. Make sure you have an eye for detail.
Also, have you got visual basic software in order to programme in?
Perhaps if you where hoping to work in games, you could join the likes of IMVU or second life and learn to be a developer there. They often run comptetions to join with another developer to learn. And you can also make money ut of stuff as you learn then.
it'd be a good idea to look up some sort of java programming. theres a text book im using for my uni course called "big java" it has a photo of like.. a tiger and another animal on the front. if you could get the 5th edition of that, its good, and you should be able to get it from a library, cause if not its around £40!
hope that helps a little.
I've been writing software for nearly 20 years, and I've also taught various programming classes. I'd highly recommend Basic as being the best language to begin with. KarmaJunkie's suggestion of learning Dark Basic (which is designed speciifically for game development) is a good one. Alternatively, if you want a good 'visual' environment to write Basic in, RealBasic is also a good one (it could be considered a modern replacement to Microsoft's Visual Basic).
Modern commercial software tends to be written in C++ - that and C and assembler is what I spend most of my time working in. Some of these more complex languages (C++ for example) require you to learn a lot about the architecture of sofware systems (OOP - Object Oriented Programming). This is a highly complex area and one you should steer clear of as far as possible at this stage. Something like RealBasic will give you a good introduction to some basic OOP concepts as you go along and without frying your brain in the process!
As always, if you're stuck and you need advice, give me a shout :)
hehe, I'll happily give you some pointers (excuse the pun!) if it's C++ and you're a bit stuck anytime Kim :) I won't do it all for you though! :p
P.S. Don't know if you've learnt this yet, but actually one isn't meant to use pointers in good C++. They are considered bad news as they place too much reponsibility on the programmer and unlike most of the rest of the C++ language are not generally type-safe. Yet another throwback from the legacy C roots of the language! In good C++ one should always use references wherever possible in leu of pointers.
/end random fact about C++! :p
P.P.S. Pointers are actually incredibly useful if you know what you're doing (the C++ STL uses them all over the place). You just have to be mega careful not to shoot yourself in the foot with 'em!
