getting started

[ironzombie99]

I am 16 and I want to try out programming. I am thinking about majoring in computer science in college so I can be a computer programmer. I wanna see if its the thing i want to do or not.

[scott_d]

sign up for programming classes at your school if they have any...i know my school has classes for all kinds of programming...like c/c++/basic/visual basic ect, ect.....you could also get a book on some language like c++ and get a free compiler and try it out a bit

[thomasj]

Java is a good language to start with. I think many colleges and universities are using java as a first language as well. (at least they do at the university where i study)

Take a look at http://java.sun.com/ for everything you need, even a tutorial.

[_soda_]

People may hate me for saying this, but I think Visual Basic is a great starting language. Its really easy and relatively robust, and if you learn it now, you'll get the basics of object oriented programming that you'll need when you get to the more advanced c++ stuff. Plus, since a lot of colleges don't count VB credits toward a degree, you'll at least be able to say on a resume that you know VB.

Regardless what anybody says, VB is a good language. Very fast to program with, easy to learn, and, in my opinion, a good starter language.

[scott_d]

yea, i agree with soda....i picked up a book on vb a while ago that came w/ a cd w/ the programming environment on it, just without the compiler. It was pretty easy for me to make simple programs do simple things quickly, i just am too lazy to read the book

[v1r4L fr3nzy]

you should start with python. although its not really a language it helps you become accustomed to the whole idea of languages and what not as it is simple. html also offers some ideas for beginners.

[morriswindgate]

At the link below you will find several video training courses in a streaming quicktime format that you may find usable. Just follow the instructions below.

http://training.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/

Copy/Paste tha above link to the address bar in your browser, but before you hit enter copy/paste this after the slash in the above address vtconline/intranetlist.htm
For some reason if I copy past the whole link it does not work

[_soda_]

Originally posted by morriswindgate At the link below you will find several video training courses in a streaming quicktime format that you may find usable. Just follow the instructions below.

That link requires a username/pw... you got that too?