Where to start basicly? - Developers

I've looked into a bit of programming before, but I've decided I'm going to battle it this summer. I'm thinking of starting off with learning C# and C++, is this a good choice? Also, is there any courses that give you qualifications for programming, or is it just off your own back? I'm in UK, if that helps.

No that's not a good choice. Don't learn C# and C++, learn just C#.

Is it better to learn online, or using books?

I prefer online. :v:

Books are better in almost every way except that they are not free and you can't copy paste from them. As someone said before, people get paid to write a book, anyone can write something online.

Why are books better? You know there are online books right?

When you get money for making something, that usually means that the quality of the product will be higher. And what do online books have to do with anything? When talking about books vs. internet, online books are still books if they aren't free.

But articles and snippets can be just as good. Books always confuse me because they usually reference other books or other stuff they think you should know. [I]To calculate the value of [/I]:words: ,[I]let's use the [blah] strategy we learned in my other book :O![/I] :bang: [I]I need that other book!!![/I]

I never had that, apart from something among the lines of "If you want to know more about the feature X, read <book here>" or "If you're serious about it read the standard document <ISO something>" and a few recommendations that somewhat pickup where the book left off.

Chad, you realize there is more than one book on programming, correct? Try a new one :D

I prefer books, I don't know why

Books are really nice because they don't fuck your eyes over reading them for long periods of time.

Main thing I need is an entry into drawing things into a GUI, be it sprites or shapes etc. Not sure how to do any of this. If anyone could give a half decent online guide (or book title/ author) on starting out with GUIs, sprites and basic physics in C# it would be much appreciated.

I just don't prefer books.

Some people like copy-paste tutorials and others like books. Everyone learns differently.

[QUOTE=Chad Mobile;22202859]But articles and snippets can be just as good. Books always confuse me because they usually reference other books or other stuff they think you should know. [I]To calculate the value of [/I]:words: ,[I]let's use the [blah] strategy we learned in my other book :O![/I] :bang: [I]I need that other book!!![/I][/QUOTE] Your book sounds shit. Books are always best. Learning from the internet alone isn't sufficient if you want anything more than a beginner-intermediate level of knowledge.

Well, internet is good because it has a LOT more information than one book and it's easy to find what you want but that works best for reference manuals and such. If you are starting a programming language, book is the better option.

I learned everything by doing. Started with a fer online tutorials, then I just googled whatever I was interested in learning and it worked for me just fine.

It doesn't really matter what you learn from, provided that author is paid to write it. If they're paid, it [i]usually[/i] means they know what they're on about and that the article/tutorial/book/etc. is of good quality. Of course there are fantastic tutorials written out of the good of the author's heart, and there are shit books out there, but as a general rule, the paid work is always better than the unpaid work.

To be honest, I learned completely online. Almost [b]10,000%[/b] of my programming knowledge is from the internet. There [b]are[/b] some great sites with very, very good tutorials. Though I do currently own 3 C++ Books, 2 C Books, 4 Java Books, and 1 Python Book.

same here, although I was about to buy a Lua book at Barnes and Noble a few years back.

That's a large percentage, where did you learn the other 10%?

Talking about qualifications, most colleges and universities have courses with programming in them, or completely focused on programming. I've not long finished 7 years of them. They're a good idea if you are serious about programming, because you usually get to talk to and be talked at by a number of lecturers who have programmed for a living, plus you get a pretty bit of paper saying that you are a programmer (generally, HR people only take any notice of pretty bits of paper). If you don't want to program for a job, don't bother though. You can learn everything elsewhere and it's cheaper (i.e. free).

[QUOTE=i300;22251538]Almost [b]10,000%[/b][/QUOTE] As a reasonable mathematician, I lost respect for you here. There is no good reason for such flagrant exaggeration!

Maybe he means he was taught almost completely online?

Well books are more comprehensive, at least in an organized way, but I don't really agree with the "author has to be paid for advice to be good" sentiment, because it's not difficult to decide what works and what doesn't work. I also think that knowledge only coming from a few elites is bad for growth and creativity. There's no one correct way to do something, and even the worst tut in the world might have one creative piece of wisdom. Also, I feel that too much respect for organized learning will cause programming to become an "experts" game, meaning it will discourage young creative minds from trying anything without some official document or teacher telling them how to do it "right".

Anyone can be a programmer as long as they have the mindset to do it, and they have an IQ high enough to type without breaking their neck.

[QUOTE=Chad Mobile;22260623]Anyone can be a programmer as long as they have the mindset to do it, and they have an IQ high enough to [b]solve complex logical, and often mathematical problems.[/b][/QUOTE] I fixed it for you.

Sorry, I exaggerated. I learned around 90% online. The other 10% is from the books I own.

[QUOTE=Darwin226;22202679]When you get money for making something, that usually means that the quality of the product will be higher. And what do online books have to do with anything? When talking about books vs. internet, online books are still books if they aren't free.[/QUOTE] Note: Money isn't always the best way to motivate [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc[/media]