The Programming Thread (was New to Programming)

[bcass]

Java is currently no.2 at itjobswatch.com for IT contractor jobs in the UK.

[Duncan James Waugh]

Well since Android's taken off, it's not surprising that's it's popular for contractor jobs where short, focused projects are common. I did specify my original statement by saying outside of Android, it didn't seem to have much job market penetration.

[bcass]

It's also at no.4 on the permanant jobs list, ahead of both C and C++. Bizarrely (to me) commanding higher average salaries than both C and C++. Java is pretty vast with a large number of popular libraries but I think it's becoming more popular for server-side work too for web apps. Some pretty big companies use Java like amazon and ebay.

[Brad]

I guess with the popularity of ios obj c was bound to creep up the ladder.

I believe Python ia popular in academic circles these days. Been many years since I taught at college. Was all c++ back then. Java seems simple enough. Not had much of a chance to use it beyond writing a parser for it. It maps nicely to UML I must say.

I quite like obj c but it's a bit verbose.

[hudson]

The Programming Thread (was New to Programming)

He didn't mention game development. He wants a list that multiple people can update. Maybe that's going to form part of a game though I suppose.

I don't know about Java being the primary language taught at universities. Where have you got those stats from? What courses are we talking about etc. There's a damn good reason why Obj-C isn't taught and that's because it's extremely niche.

EDIT: I agree in general about not drawing an application though. Doesn't really teach you anything and when something goes wrong you're well and truly stuck.

Agree also. Drawing my app would teach me nothing. Was just interested to know if there was a dream weaver equivalent for coding.

How best to approach this? Start at the beginning or dive in trying to make what I want from the off, winging it, if you will? I'm guessing there isn't a shortcut?

[randombs]

Yesterday while thinking of things to do to take up my free time at school between lessons, I found out about Code Academy and have been going through their Javascript course.

No idea how in demand it is but at the job fair I went to in Tokyo I was often asked about programming skills(I can't program anything useful from scratch but I can do things like taking VB sample code from the internet for Excel and making it do what I want. I also used to edit some of my company's websites but I don't really look at HTML as a regular programming language like C, etc) so I thought I should try something at least.

I'd rather get into C# or something like that but as I work on a Mac, it's annoying having to fire up Virtualbox to get into Visual Studio, etc.

I guess I could do C++

[Brad]

Agree also. Drawing my app would teach me nothing. Was just interested to know if there was a dream weaver equivalent for coding.

How best to approach this? Start at the beginning or dive in trying to make what I want from the off, winging it, if you will? I'm guessing there isn't a shortcut?

That's a damn good question. I do things very formally these days but I doubt you'll want to bother with a lot of the stuff I do. How complex is the app you want to write? If it's pretty simple and doesn't need to do much I'd be tempted to dive right in.

[sj33]

So I made this thread two years ago. Two years later, I still can't program for toffee, and was just today thinking I should start to learn how to program. Just like I did two years ago.

Bugger.

[Brad]

You new guys should all work on something together to help each other out I reckon, provide some inspiration for each other etc.

[hudson]

I think if you have an aim, a product you want to make, then that's a good start and hopefully a good incentive to get you to start coding. Hopefully, this will help me drive on. I have a problem of seeing things through as gaming tends to get in the way.

I'm going to give it a go and dive in. I have a Dummies book on Facebook app development, I am aware of GitHub, and tonight I will dabble.

[Brad]

Worth getting used to the idea of source control before you start IMO. At some point I guarantee you will ask yourself "Why has this stopped working? It was working yesterday!". If you have your code under source control and check in changes regularly then you'll be able to answer this question yourself in no time usually by differencing the code you knew was working with your current code. I realise it's a hassle. Join bitbucket.org and they'll keep a backup of your source code for you too, even for private (non open-source) projects.

Best of luck and keep us updated on your progress.

[sj33]

Just wondering, if I was to decide to start to learn programming again from scratch, are the information and resources on the first page still correct? Are there better places to start for people looking to learn how to program?

C++ still seems like a good place to start for somebody purely doing this for curiosity's sake.

[Brad]

C++ kinda has it all. It hides nothing from you but also has all the cool OO and generic (template) stuff. I am extremely biased though as it's been my language for 20+ years. I've used C# and Java (and loads of other stuff) as well. I'd still say C++ is a great place to start for someone who wants to understand programming rather than someone who wants to write some app as quick as possible.

[sj33]

Honestly, my motivation is being able to understand what people are talking about when discussing programming stuff on a forum. I feel like it's a major gap in my understanding of computing.

I would like to reach a point where I can read source codes and understand what things do.

[Brad]

Go for it then mate. Try stuff out, post on here for us to critique or if you get stuck etc.