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Thread: My first program.

  1. #1
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    Talking My first program.

    I'm gonna plunge into the dark, smelly world of code.

    I want to write a program which is essentially an updated version of Statbar. Its not great with Vista64, and I've used it for years.

    I have a tiny, tiny, amount of Java experience from about 5 years ago, but thats as far as my programming history goes.

    I'm open to a good challenge (as this will be). I've got a few questions :

    1. What language?
    2. How long for a complete newbie to get something similar to statbar working (Assuming an hour a day of work on it)?
    3. Can you deal with hundreds of questions once I start?


    Advice appreciated.
    "Don't wanna see your face, don't wanna hear your voice . . ."

  2. #2
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    Re: My first program.

    Yeah. Go on, I'll take ya on

    Oh ... and I see we live in the same dump. Nice.

    At the minute I'm using Microsoft C# for game dev work. It really depends on what you want to do. Here are the usual options:

    Web development: C#, PHP, Java
    Games: C#, Java, C++
    Applications: Visual Basic, C#, Java, C++

    Those are the usual suspects. From a newbie viewpoint, steer clear of C++ and web development. I've done web dev and I honestly don't understand why anyone would want to do it.

    What platform are you thinking of getting into? PC? Mobile phones? XBox360? Yeah - I can do all three Mobile phone development can be quite fun for a newbie but you'll have to learn Java. The good thing about Java is that the tools for phone dev are free.

    If you REALLY want to go slow and understand the basic concepts in development then I would actually suggest getting an old classic computer and playing around with one of the original flavours of BASIC for a while. Just to get to grips with programming and a few techniques before diving into object oriented languages like Java and C#. There are versions of BASIC similar to the ones available for the old 8-bit and 16-bit machines on the PC, such as Dark Basic and Blitz Basic.

    At the end of the day it really boils down to a) what you want to achieve b) how quickly you want to achieve it c) how confident you are of learning how to program and d) how many late nights you can live with when you're trying to work out "WHY THE BLOODY HELL ISN'T IT WORKING??" As a programmer of 20 years' I have found that the best trick for d) is to walk away and go sit on the toilet for a bit. You'd be amazed how many solutions to tricky problems and bugs have come to me while sitting on the can.

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    Re: My first program.

    Thanks for the advice, I'll mull it over today at work whilst feeding the masses.
    "Don't wanna see your face, don't wanna hear your voice . . ."

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    Re: My first program.

    Hi

    1. What language?
    Since you look like you are interested in Windows platform (Vista) why not opt for a .net language... VB.net (not to be confused with Visual Basic offereing) and C# would seem the most logical choice. Seeing that C# is similar in syntax to Java.. you might have your work cut out for you.

    You can download .net development kits FREE from from Microsoft.. if you dont want to folk out cash and tinker a bit.

    2. How long for a complete newbie to get something similar to statbar working (Assuming an hour a day of work on it)?
    A complete newbie.. well probobaly months to years.. depending on how fast you pick it up. It's like anything the more experience you have the faster it will be. The other part of the equation is just how 'similar' do you want... slapping together a few components to give the same look doesn't make it similar. You could probably find lots of little routines on the Internet and patch them together to give you a result (you'd be suprised how many apps I've seen take this cobbled approach), or you could take the time to learn to program in a more structured approach and built a technically more elagant solution which is expandable and more flexible to changes. Have you actually documented what it is you want program, that will give you some idea of the task ahead, good design is the key. BTW for a newbie an hour a day is not really useful.. you'd better take 2 hours every other day. I say this from experience.. my own and watching those I've helped learn pogramming ... sometimes its take time to settle down.. and that's where you need your hour (if thats all you got) to start from.

    3. Can you deal with hundreds of questions once I start?
    Sure.. its not the quantity of the questions it the quality of the questions. Asking "how can I open a file" or something like that would be easily found by googling.. design questions those are the ones to ask.."What framework or design pattern would be most suitable for this?"

    I've done BBC Basic, Specturm (ah memories) Basic, STOS for the Atari ST, Comal, C, Pascal, C++, Delphi, Java, C#, VB.net, worked with Paradox, Interbase, Oracle, MS Access and SQL Server..Developed for companies large and small, desktop and on the web...and there's not a lot I couldn't find on the Internet (when it actually came round) as a few searches on Google.. before that.. just a good few books from a local library and some patience.

    Hope that helps and best of luck in your project.

  5. #5
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    Re: My first program.

    Ta for the reply, still considering if I have the time to start a project like this. Work is a pain.
    "Don't wanna see your face, don't wanna hear your voice . . ."

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