Choosing a programming language?

I don't know which is the best way but here are some free resources.

You can download Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Free: http://www.microsoft.com/express/downloads/#2010-All

Go to download the .iso, select your language and download it. You will now how a CD image for C++, C#, Visual Basic and Visual Web Developer (you can also download Silverlight)

If you don't know how to mount an .iso image and use it as a Virtual CD drive Go to http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html Download it and mount your iso file.

When you mount the VS2010Express1.iso file, it will either autorun the installation, or you can start the setup.exe manually.

Now that it is installed, you can go to Start, All Programs, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express and see Microsoft Visual C++, Visual C#, Visual Basic, and Visual Web Dev.

After you have done this, if you would like some starter assistance on writing some software with these tools, let me know. Also, if you are a student, you can participate in Microsoft's Dreamspark program and get the full tools for Absolutely Free.

Let me just state, I am NOT a Microsoft fan boy, but this is a easy, free way to start learning how to write software.

• Post a response and give me a thumbs up if you want to learn more about writing software with these tools.
• Post a response also, if you would like to learn about how to develop software with other platforms (Ubuntu) or for other devices (iPhone, Android, Microsoft) and let me know.

FYI: When I was 13-14, I wrote my first software on a TI-994A so believe me, you got it easy! The medium to save information was a cassette tape which accoustically connected to a 300 baud (or 110 baud modem), and saved the data to the tape. -- I'm not kidding :)

im 13 and i just starting learning C++. i use code::blocks as an ide

Well, I've been programming for three years now (learned several languages), and I found Visual Basic.NET to be the best programming language for starters. I was almost the same as you: started HTML when I was 12/13, then started Visual Basic.NET unfortunately when I was 16. I find VB.NET to be incredibly easy, especially with the Visual Studio IDE. I wouldn't recommend you try something has high level as C or C++ right after HTML. There's a lot of memory madness in those languages (ask one of your programming teachers if you have one about the joys of pointers). Java I haven't tried, but it's still probably not as easy as Visual Basic.NET. As for the game development option that Slydog proposed, I wouldn't recommend doing gaming JUST yet. If you need it to keep your morals up, fine. But in the end, if you get a programming job, there are WAY more web/desktop development jobs than game programming jobs. Just something to keep in mind.

If you are just starting out, I'd recommend learning a 'BASIC' language. Once you learn the fundamentals (variables, loops, conditions, etc) you can apply that to almost any language. You may want to eventually learn a 'C' based language (C++, C#), as it's the industry standard.

But for starters, I recommend a language called 'GLBasic' (www.glbasic.com). They have a free non-time limited trial (forced water mark plus 5 minute timeout). GLBasic has a simple language, centered around 2D and 3D game programming. This should keep programming interesting as you learn. I just discovered it a month ago, and already have a 3D game 1/2 way done. Then there is always Visual Basic.net, which is free. If you want to get into game programming, also take a look at Unity3D (unity3d.com/). They recently released their standard package as free, no strings. It has a steeper learning curve than GLBasic, but is much more powerful.

I started programming when I was 11, (almost 40 now) and find it very rewarding. Very thrilling to get your first character to walk across the screen! Good luck!

Sadly Pascal... LOL! But I like JAVA too!! With Java you'll have more to type but outstanding results!

I started with C, got to know it pretty well, and decided I hated it - so I didn't look at another programming language for years. My advice: don't start there. It's not about difficulty learning it, it's about difficulty using it - too many caveats and stupid little things you have to hand-hold the compiler with. If I were you I'd start with a weakly-typed interpreted language rather than a compiled language. Some will tell you learning weakly-typed languages from the start will teach you bad habits, but that's malarkey in my opinion :) You get immediate results out of your code, allowing you to go rapidly through the learning process. It is necessarily guess-and-check to some extent, and you don't want to wait half an hour for your code to compile to find out what went wrong or make an improvement.

You already know HTML, so I'd say pick up either a server-side language for creating HTML pages like PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, or ASP.NET, or learn JavaScript - with one caveat: although JavaScript is easy to use with a good framework like jQuery, Dojo or Mootools, it is subtly but vastly different from what you'll see in most object-oriented languages, so beware. I use PHP professionally so I may be biased, but it's a good jumping-off point for C-style languages like Java and the C family itself. You'll learn a lot of the "grammar" of C-style programming without the headaches that come along with it - and you can jump into learning to master the headaches when you're ready. As a bonus, PHP is a "real" language you can do professional work with, not just a rarely-used beginner language not suited for production code (coughBASICcough).

Anyway, take it or leave it and good luck with your learning : )

I'd suggest Java, as every little detail is well defined. For any Java-related question you could most likely consult the documentation and find your answer fairly easily. C++ isn't so forgiving. There are a lot of undefined behaviours in C++ that may work with your implementation, but could break on a different implementation (compiler or OS, architecture, etc). This leads to a C++ Programmer who believes he/she knows how to program in C++ but is only capable of writing broken code.

If despite my warning you intend to learn C++, get yourself a decent book. I can recommend Programming: Principles and Practice using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup (the guy who developed C++ initially). It's geared for people seeking to learn their first programming language. I do suggest you choose Java ahead of C++, initially, though.

I started out programming in VB. In my opinion, it unnecessarily encourages the development of early arthritis. I moved on to C++ (a long time ago now). I can program in C++ (at a very basic level), but I moved on quickly to C which I prefer these days. I've been programming in C for somewhere between 6 and 8 years now, and along the way I've learnt some other nice programming languages such as C# and Javascript. I haven't any experience with Java myself (though C# is very similar), but I'll be learning that language next semester. If you need any assistance, feel free to add me to MSN: admin@geekycode.net.

Things i would take into account when picking a first programming language are the following:

is it easy?
can i find information on it online?
is it useful?
can i get a compiler for free or cheep?

obviously if your new to programming you dont want to be caught up on a bunch of syntax formalities and you just want you program to work. For this category i would say Visual Basic rules. in contrast Assembly is not the best one to start with.

you will have questions when learning a language, it is nice to be able to find a online community to help answer them. Visual Basic and C++ have a lot of communitys out there that have sample code and you can ask questions.

Is it useful... Obviously it is pointless to learn a language that no one uses, for example there are a few people who know how to program in FORTRAN that is because few people use it anymore and not very marketable in the job market. C is the most universal and any C++ compiler that i have found atleast will accept C syntax. With C you can program a lot more things not just PCs such as embedded microprocessors. a close relative of C is C++ and if you learn C++ first C will come nicely and vice versa.

Finlay can you find a free compiler? it is hard to find one in VB but in C and C++ there are a ton.

in conclusion VB would be a good one to start, but its ease can kind of hurt you in the long run if you try to learn a better language as far as practicality.

I would personally recommend you start looking into C or C++.

however, i would also look into languages to learn next... i would say learn assembly for a challenge, it is difficult, but Assembly programmers almost always find jobs.

You should start off with the easy stuff before going onto something like C++. I started off with java.

I'm 15 and started programming when I was 13. I first started learning C++ on my own which believe me was a big mistake. C++ isn't an easy language to start with, it has many complicated concepts that get in the way of the basics. I took a course at my high school that was required before I could take their course on C++. It taught using Visual Basic which is probably one of the better languages in my opinion to learn with. It is important to know with Visual Basic, Microsoft has really simplified some of the more advanced concepts, so keep in mind that not everything works the way Visual Basic does when you move onto the more advanced languages.