🚀 go-pugleaf

>C is definately a good start if you were wanting to learn how to program,
>but the best advice would be to learn as much as you can about the 
system
>itself (Nab "Upgrading and Repairing PC's 6th Ed." somehow and have a
>squiz.)  Because, well from my experience, programming is a little easier
>then.  Once you have a good foundation in C, yeah sure try OOP and Java
>but try little bits and pieces at first, then move on forward if you like
>it.

I disagree.  I don't think that you REALLY need to know all the hardware 
stuff to be a good programmer.  Of course, it would help (and most likely a 
lot), but if you are just learning to become a programmer, you don't need 
all that stuff.  All you really need is to familiarize yourself with the software 
side of your computer (the system, APIs, etc) and learn the language that 
you've chosen.

>I know this may sound like drivel, but probably the best for
>a beginner is QBASIC or Turbo Pascal as they are frequently used
>to teach programmers, well, how to program. :)
>Pascal is especially good to learn on, because it has enough flexibility
>to allow you write more intense code (It has an inline assembler like C).

Well, I've known some people who jumped in on stuff like Visual Basic 
and Powerbuilder and they didn't know a thing about computers (some of 
them didn't even know how to turn them on!).  They took some 
programming courses (don't ask me which ones - I don't have a 
slightest idea) and in about six months they were already passing 
interviews and getting jobs!

Yes, QuickBasic and Turbo Pascal are great to be learning programming 
with, but if you want to learn programming just to get a job (and not as 
much because of personal interest), I'd suggest you start with VB or 
Powerbuilder and especially learn some of the Databases (ex. Access, 
Oracle, etc).

>It depends on how good at solving problems you are... and how much 
you love to program.  Coding is my LIFE but I didn't really realise it until a
>few years back when I discovered TASM v2.51.  I thought it was the
>greatest.  I mucked around with GW-Basic when I was about 12 or so but 
>didn't really have much motivation to 'do' things with it.  I'm still
>learning assembly language, and I'm pretty sure I've got everything
>I will need out of C++ and Pascal though there's still plenty more tricks 
>to learn.

Yes, Assembler is a fantastically powerful language, but unfortunately 
there is not much use for it, in terms of available jobs.  It's also the most 
complicated language that I know of, and it really shouldn't be the one that 
you want to start learning programming with.

Dmitri
dmitri@cdc.net