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Forums - Gaming - Can I learn rudimentary programming from a book?

Millennium on 09 April 2009

Although you can learn the basics from books, you shouldn't try it with C, C++, or Java: they have their uses in the professional world but they're terrible for learning. If you absolutely must start with one of these, start with C.

Your best bet, though, would be to start with something higher level: Python, Ruby, and Lua are all good choices. So is Scheme, actually, though it works very differently from any of the others I've mentioned.



Complexity is not depth. Machismo is not maturity. Obsession is not dedication. Tedium is not challenge. Support gaming: support the Wii.

Be the ultimate ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today! Poisson Village welcomes new players.

What do I hate about modern gaming? I hate tedium replacing challenge, complexity replacing depth, and domination replacing entertainment. I hate the outsourcing of mechanics to physics textbooks, art direction to photocopiers, and story to cheap Hollywood screenwriters. I hate the confusion of obsession with dedication, style with substance, new with gimmicky, old with obsolete, new with evolutionary, and old with time-tested.
There is much to hate about modern gaming. That is why I support the Wii.

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ctk495 on 09 April 2009
Words Of Wisdom said:

I recommend going and taking a very cold shower every time you have the urge to learn to program.

Repeat until said urges go away.

 

 

Epic win.



Millennium on 12 April 2009
HappySqurriel said:
786_ali said:
I seriously recommend python

I thought only Rol could pull off this kind of sarcasm ...

Python is one of the few living languages that still has significant whitespace characters ... For an experience programmer (in particular someone who has a lot of experience with Python) this is not a big deal, but for someone learning Python (in particular as someone's first language) having a program spit out a syntax error because of a character which you can't see (unless you have an IDE that displays whitespace) becomes amazingly frustrating.

Never tried Python, have you? This is the common theory put forth by anti-Python fanboys, but it simply doesn't hold in the real world.



Complexity is not depth. Machismo is not maturity. Obsession is not dedication. Tedium is not challenge. Support gaming: support the Wii.

Be the ultimate ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today! Poisson Village welcomes new players.

What do I hate about modern gaming? I hate tedium replacing challenge, complexity replacing depth, and domination replacing entertainment. I hate the outsourcing of mechanics to physics textbooks, art direction to photocopiers, and story to cheap Hollywood screenwriters. I hate the confusion of obsession with dedication, style with substance, new with gimmicky, old with obsolete, new with evolutionary, and old with time-tested.
There is much to hate about modern gaming. That is why I support the Wii.