new to programming

[Ark]

hi i'm new to programming and i really would like to learn. i want to be able to program games maybe for a future career or just for a personnal experience. i was wondering what language would be the best to start with and how i should get started.

thx for any help you can give me.

[Tony]

wtd has provided an excellent overview of languages that you should read.

[wtd]

Also, in addition to my writings, I recently discovered the excellent Practical Common Lisp online.

http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/

You can get a working environment for it out of the box with Lispbox.

http://www.gigamonkeys.com/lispbox/

[rdrake]

Adding to wtd's helpful guide, we have the Cliki, a common lisp wiki.

[iamcow]

a common language to learn from is turing. It is offered as a course in most high schools. Turing, however flawwed, is useful for teaching basic concepts, its simplicity makes it of value as a first language to learn.

Even something like Flash is good for learning the basic programming structures

[wtd]

iamcow wrote:

a common language to learn from is turing. It is offered as a course in most high schools. Turing, however flawwed, is useful for teaching basic concepts, its simplicity makes it of value as a first language to learn.

Common in high schools in Ontario. Unheard of outside of that environment.

There are free languages that are as easy as Turing, and do not have its flaws.

[neufelni]

I think that a good language to start with is Python. It is basically just as easy as Turing, but much better.

[md]

A great language to start with is Pascal. Thanks to the Free Pascal Compiler (FPC) there is a ready enviroment to learn, and the language itself is pretty easy too.

[MihaiG]

yes pascal is a good language to use

i wouldn't recommend python if you are a begginer.

its good for developing good habits at indenting but gets quite tricky

or if u can get a copy of turing from your school, or.... (wont say)

thats better since its base on pascal but has easier syntax

[wtd]

Turing syntax is not "easier" than Pascal syntax. It has considerably more special forms which leads to greater mental overhead for no discernable conceptual benefit.

[Bored]

I beleive that Turing syntax is easy but the problem is that easy Syntax can lead to very complex structure of a program to do the same thing the same way as another langueage. I mean in a way you could say that's syntax but to me that's a result of syntax and syntax is more the actually way you write it out. I don't know if that made sense to you as I'm having a hard time describing what I mean. anyways that's a bit off topic. ruby is a rather simple langueage though the way it makes you thinka bout things and the many ammenities it offers are not as common in other languages and may be a misleading place to start. If not misleading it may just make other languages seem more foreign then they would if your started somewhere else. I do however think Ruby is a great eye opener to the variety of programming languages as a second or third language.

[wtd]

This is exactly why you should seek to learn a variety of programming languages.

[Bored]

Oh yes variety is a very good thing. But Ruby is a very unique language which is why I'd say it's not the best to start off with but is defenitly worth delving into (I'm having fun with it). But in the end were talking about first languages so variety is not a matter quite yet (though learning a second language sooner then later is better).