How To Get Into Programming?

writermike asks: "Like many on Slashdot, I practically grew up with computers. I've had one or more since 1978. However, unlike a lot of people here, I simply never learned how to program. Twenty-seven years later, I still know nothing about 'programming.' I'm a fairly successful technology troubleshooter, having been in that role for 15 years, and I find as I delve deeper into why programs fail, my interest in programming rises, and I feel that not knowing the principles is a hole in my knowledge that hampers me a bit. There are so many books and courses out there that seem to focus less on principles and more on specific languages and/or the 'career-track'. I don't really want to code the next great web service. I want to learn principles, then begin to learn a language. Where can I begin the adventure I should have started back in 1978?"

Comments

To steal a line from the sneaker company

[jtev]

Just do it. The first step to learning to program is to just start programing. I know that sounds a little trite, but honestly, unless you just start programing the theory of programing isn't going to mean much. Then once you've learned a little about how to program you can start thinking about the "One true methodology".

Re:To steal a line from the sneaker company

[fm6]

...just start programing.

I'm reminded of the joke: "How can I make money in the stock market?" "Easy: buy stock at a low price, sell it at a high price." Strictly true, but not very useful. Exactly how do you "just start"?

The answer to that depends on what you hope to learn. Programming is a big topic and there are a lot of ways to approach it.

Probably most Slashdotters will answer this question with something practical and job-oriented. "Get a copy of Kernighan and Ritchie, C is a language everybody should know." "Download Perl." "Download the Java SDK." "Use the VBA engine in Word to write macros." Etc. All worth doing if you're looking for a career as a programmer. But I sense that this guy is motivated more by intellectual curiousity than by career development. (As he should be — the developer job market is a tad oversupplied.) He's used computers most of his life, but has an unsatisified curiousity about how the suckers work.

One good way to satisfy that curiousity would be with the very basics: machine language and assembly language. These are not useful skills for most programmers, who only need to know the high-level abstractions of the systems they work with. (Some people would disagree with me on that.) But for satisfying your curiousity about just what computers do, it's a nice exercise.

Or instead of going very low level, you can go very high level, and learn some basic computer science while you're at it. That the route if you read the classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs and work its Scheme programming exercises.

Then again, learning programming on your own is not for everybody. If somebody has managed to be around computers for a long time, but has never go around to learning programming, he probably is the sort of person who needs some initial handholding. Community colleges often have good classes.

Re:To steal a line from the sneaker company

[stanmann]

Buy some books from the 90s with source code, documentation and specs. Doesn't matter what language or environment particularly. Basic is OK, C is OK, Pascal is OK. type in the code, or scan and OCR it. Kick the tires, see how it works. Change it. Break it. Fix it. Make it do something different. Make it do the same thing differently.

Low cost of entry/decent return on investment...

[COBOL/MVS]

For a really low (and I mean low) cost of entry into the programming world, why don't you start with your web browser, a text editor and a good book on Javascript.

Javascript is not the world's best language to get started with (not sure what is really), but it's good for instant graphical gratification. Make a .js file and an html file and simply load the html file into your browser. Any changes you make to your code would be viewable by simply refreshing the page.

Another good language to start off with assuming you have a Windows setup is VBScript. This would be a better option teaching you control flow and how to structure a program. In spite of its reputation, it's a good "starter language". (Please, no replies about viruses or other results given from VBScript over the years--I'm being serious. As a teaching tool, it's a good start)

Perfect timing

[MarkGriz]

I've been wondering how to get out of programming.
Do you want my job?