Learning computer programming

[lukefleming1]

I am currently a student entering his junior year of high school in the US
I am planning to go to college for computer hardware engineering, not software

However I realize to be a well versed computer hardware engineer I should be able to program software as well
I was wondering if anyone could direct to some good free sites to learn java online as i understand that is a good place to start learning programming
If someone with expertise in the area of computer programming could direct me to the next level i should take after learning java that would be very helpful
Thanks for any help

[BlackFox898]

I was wondering if anyone could direct to some good free sites to learn java online as i understand that is a good place to start learning programming
If someone with expertise in the area of computer programming could direct me to the next level i should take after learning java that would be very helpful
Thanks for any help

i don't think it works that way, you should at least have taken a few courses then if you really want, go online. i didn't like java that much and next year were learning C++ which we be even harder, i had a hard time understanding Java for half a year, i doubt it would be easier online.

[lavapockets]

I am currently a student entering his junior year of high school in the US
I am planning to go to college for computer hardware engineering, not software

However I realize to be a well versed computer hardware engineer I should be able to program software as well
I was wondering if anyone could direct to some good free sites to learn java online as i understand that is a good place to start learning programming
If someone with expertise in the area of computer programming could direct me to the next level i should take after learning java that would be very helpful
Thanks for any help

I thought the logical place to start for software were the C languages? It's where they start most programming classes, at least at the universities around here.

[Da_Realest]

http://www.silkroadforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=93232

I suggest you go Java -> Javascript -> C++ and then chooose what you want to learn from there. Java is a great language to learn for first time programmers.

[Toasty]

Isn't javascript completely different to Java / C++?

[SwordCloud]

Buy book,i learned from that.

[lukefleming1]

http://www.silkroadforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=93232

I suggest you go Java -> Javascript -> C++ and then chooose what you want to learn from there. Java is a great language to learn for first time programmers.

thanks some links in the article seem to be very helpful
I am reading one now

[Da_Realest]

Isn't javascript completely different to Java / C++?

Sort of, but if you take some time to learn it could be a helpful asset. Javascript is relatively easy to learn compared to Java/C++ and its used frequently so I don't really see a reason not to learn it early on.

[Amarisa]

i learned it this way

visual basic, c#, XNA, C++, then OpenGL

how i learned this was my teacher told me to make some program in the language he wanted and then i'm on my own. i can use the internet or anything else i could use to program the program he wanted. i would say get visual studio express and make a few programs and use what ever you have to make it. start off simple and then go bigger like making a box move when you press a button then go to like a mp3 player and so on.

[CrimsonNuker]

For my computer programming class, I used Visual Basic. For my computer engineering class, I used..that shit used to program BoBots, I thin it was called like Parallax Basic Stamp

[Doomsday]

I am currently a student entering his junior year of high school in the US
I am planning to go to college for computer hardware engineering, not software

However I realize to be a well versed computer hardware engineer I should be able to program software as well
I was wondering if anyone could direct to some good free sites to learn java online as i understand that is a good place to start learning programming
If someone with expertise in the area of computer programming could direct me to the next level i should take after learning java that would be very helpful
Thanks for any help

If this is your first time I should recommend you something not to get bored.
I'm 26 and I've been programming since I was 14.

This is a list from my very start to today:
-Basic
-Pascal
-ASM
-C++
-C (C++ was too dark to me so I switch back to C)
-Java
-everything

I should choose Python nowadays because it's really enjoyable and it has a fast learning curve and you can start right now doing utilities.
The help file is really good also and you don't have to mess too much with data types.

If you need help with your Python scripts just PM.
Edit: hope it helps

[Jstar1]

its a good idea to be more than a programmer. All the low level programming jobs are getting shipped to india.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

tbh a hardware engineer needs to understand machine code more then a high level language for more oblivous reasons, you dont nesseceraly need to know how to program it but learning to read a code is pretty simple bugs stand out to you meaning you can hot fix quickly

programming is something else although if memory serves if you go over 4gb ram on xp you need to program bios chips to accept the extra (someone confirm please) this would be a low level language dedicated to that system only

this is where i thnk you should start looking, learn about computer architecture's (processor namly) one thing been able to put together but learning the technical side of it will benefit you in matching hardware and solving conflicts

im a novice but i have studied at college on 2 computing courses this side of things

[lukefleming1]

tbh a hardware engineer needs to understand machine code more then a high level language for more oblivous reasons, you dont nesseceraly need to know how to program it but learning to read a code is pretty simple bugs stand out to you meaning you can hot fix quickly

programming is something else although if memory serves if you go over 4gb ram on xp you need to program bios chips to accept the extra (someone confirm please) this would be a low level language dedicated to that system only

this is where i thnk you should start looking, learn about computer architecture's (processor namly) one thing been able to put together but learning the technical side of it will benefit you in matching hardware and solving conflicts

im a novice but i have studied at college on 2 computing courses this side of things

thanks for the suggestion any website for this sort of thing i can check out?

[Da_Realest]

I think [SD]Master_Wong is referring to an assembly language. It's the only programming language that I can think of that is very close to hardware. I don't know the language myself, but here is a sort of guide I think.

http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/AoA/DOS/pdf/0_AoAPDF.html

Edit: I'll just go ahead and link you to the wiki page as well so you can get a bit more background on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language

[[SD]Master_Wong]

I think [SD]Master_Wong is referring to an assembly language. It's the only programming language that I can think of that is very close to hardware. I don't know the language myself, but here is a sort of guide I think.

http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/AoA/DOS/pdf/0_AoAPDF.html

Edit: I'll just go ahead and link you to the wiki page as well so you can get a bit more background on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language

yeh you can also refer to it as a low level programming language its 1 step above binary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-level_language

to write in a program this close to the hardware you need to learn the processor each are different but you can take what you learn from one processor and work it onto another it will be different but the same techniques apply

[NuclearSilo]

forget about Pascal. It's too old @@
Javascript is for web...
You simply need ASM and C++

[boast]

Learn C.

You can learn java, C++, etc.. for fun, but you should NOT be using object oriented programming for hardware level stuff. If i spotted someone using like C# to program a microcontroller, i might have to stab them in the throat.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

thats why i said low level its faster ten fold think of it like this

you go to a country you dont speak their language so you get a translator, you need to speak to the translator who in turns needs to think for a sec and translate to the other person making convos slower

low level language is like have a 1 on 1 convo with someone its way faster and less prone to mistakes

[blackfalcon]

Learn C.

You can learn java, C++, etc.. for fun, but you should NOT be using object oriented programming for hardware level stuff. If i spotted someone using like C# to program a microcontroller, i might have to stab them in the throat.

why not start with c++ since C has a lot of issues and u can use C headers in your c++ code anyways.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

Learn C.

You can learn java, C++, etc.. for fun, but you should NOT be using object oriented programming for hardware level stuff. If i spotted someone using like C# to program a microcontroller, i might have to stab them in the throat.

just reread what you said, you shouldnt be using any high level language for hardware level let alone object orientated so C should also be out of the question

[KillAndChill]

Learn C.

You can learn java, C++, etc.. for fun, but you should NOT be using object oriented programming for hardware level stuff. If i spotted someone using like C# to program a microcontroller, i might have to stab them in the throat.

just reread what you said, you shouldnt be using any high level language for hardware level let alone object orientated so C should also be out of the question

From my perspective, a current junior working on a Computer Engineering major, he should learn C. Assembly would have been holy Farking shit hard if I never learned C. Plus, I don't know about other colleges, but at mine I have been learning C for 2 semesters now and going on to a third (requirement). And if this helps you decide what to learn, C is not really that hard to learn except for pointers.

[Doomsday]

C/C++ with no knowledge in programming would be too dark for him... more with pointers.

and C++ has been the most darkness language ever. xD

D is a good option. Too similar to Java, C and it let you write ASM code.
It's free.