I recommend throwing out the entire field of computers and starting from first principles. Let's put the Ermine back in determine and stop weaseling our way out of deterministic systems.
Where would you begin?
How to become a programmer
21–30 of 37 posts
Re: How to become a programmer
#22I recommend throwing out the entire field of computers and starting from first principles. Let's put the Ermine back in determine and stop weaseling our way out of deterministic systems.
Where would you begin?
> Where would you begin?
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Re: How to become a programmer
#23Find someone around you who can program, and somehow get them to mentor you. It's less intimidating, but rather equivalent, if you ask them if they could be available for questions every now and then. I think many people who really like to program will be happy to help you out, as long as you do your homework and show respect for their time.
Ideally, you'd work in the same room as your mentor, but it should be enough if you can meet once a day or so. A longer feedback cycle, or mentoring remotely through the net, is less than ideal, but anything you can get is better than being on your own.
Ask them what language they'd be more comfortable helping you out with. Start playing with that language. For that, follow other advice in this thread. Don't expect to be spoonfed.
If you get stuck in something after giving it a honest try, ask. Every now and then, show them what you are doing, even if you have no immediate problems. Chances are that they can steer you into better ways to think about problems, simplify your code, etc. These are insights that only come through experience. They are often hard to explain out of the blue, and hard to internalize so that you can put them to use later, when explained in abstract terms. They are best communicated in little doses, while commenting on actual code that addresses actual problems. Ideally, your code and your problems.
Re: How to become a programmer
#24First, ignore the language wars. They are all BS. You want to use PHP, use PHP. Just keep in mind that every language was written for a fairly specific task and it's very good at that task. Don't try to use C to write a server-side script. Likewise, it doesn't make sense to use PHP to write an OS. Try to understand what problem you want to solve and then pick the right tool for the job based on performance, libraries…
"You don't have to write a novel and explain that you are adding 2 to variable i" Better yet, don't name your variable "i". Name it something like "PartCounter" or "CustCtr". Then you won't have to write many comments. Your code can be largely self-commenting. As a general rule of thumb (IMO), never name any variable with less than 3 characters and never allow one variable name to be completely contained within anoth…
and, as always, take other people's rules (of thumb) and guidelines with a grain of salt. there's almost always someone who will argue the opposite, all, or part of the time.
( i for one will continue to name my counters i :-) )
Re: How to become a programmer
#25PHP is probably a pretty good place to start. I built myself a couple web apps with it years back, having never coded anything previously that wasn't on a TI-82. It's a good introductory language to web programming.
I'm now spending my time on RoR, and I don't think it's a very good language for starters. It's just too much to learn at once.
Re: How to become a programmer
#26I'm not sure PHP is the best first language.
There is one thing that PHP has going for it as a first language:
You can do "cool" things with it almost immediately. It is like making an animated drawing back in the day in [whatever version of] Basic.
Most into tutorials start "this is an int, this is a char, this is a variable, etc." Before you even get to anything interesting you are already dozing off.
With PHP, however, you can hack together your own blog/website show it to your friends and say "I made this." The ability to say "I made this" is the best feature of any language, but usually it is a pretty inaccessible feature for the beginner.
Re: How to become a programmer
#27I'd also like to add that becoming an active member of a forum helps a little bit, as long as you only use it as a last resort.
For a first project, I'd say, just don't give up, think of something you want to make and dont stop until it's done.
Re: How to become a programmer
#281. Read SICP
2. Do the exercises
3. In parallel, choose an open source project and join on that
4. Share with us your experience
Re: How to become a programmer
#29I'm not sure PHP is the best first language.
There is one thing that PHP has going for it as a first language: You can do "cool" things with it almost immediately. It is like making an animated drawing back in the day in [whatever version of] Basic. Most into tutorials start "this is an int, this is a char, this is a variable, etc." Before you even get to anything interesting you are already dozing off. With PHP, however, you can hack together your own blog/web…
This is so true. The starting developer will feel an immediate response, without (typically) first having to install/configure the webserver, compile code, setup deployment scripts etc.
PHP is definitely not a good language to start programming at first (for that I'd recommend Scheme, ala SICP) but it's definitely a great one for a My First Website project.
Re: How to become a programmer
#30Learn many languages as soon as you feel interested. See programing from as many points of view as possible.