best place to start

Tomas_S

Hi, i was thinking about getting into programming for some time now. So wanted some opinions where to start. myself I was thinking maybe Java? Seen some introduction courses, and then see how it goes?

jcf

Java is definetely a good starting point - lots of online tutorials and "Ground up Java" by Philip Heller is an excellent book.

Tomas_S

im just in the middle of dilemma now, try and get a degree course in college which is expensive,3-4 yrs and involves a lot more then just programming. or just take few courses in programming and stay with no degree!

Help

stevenmu

It depends on what you want out of it. And to some extent what your current situation is.

If you just want to learn how to program as a hobby, just take a few courses and/or learn from online materials. You can learn to program fine just using books and online resources, in fact you'll probably get through it at a much quicker rate than a college course, partly because you'll be skipping the non-directly programming modules, and partly because you can move forward at your own pace and you're not waiting for the rest of the class (if you're interested in programming you're probably smarter than 80% of your potential classmates). The non-directly-programming stuff you do in college as well would become useful as your programming advances, but mostly you can just pick it up as you need it.

If you want to do it as a career then a college degree will be a huge help. It's not the be all and end all of it, but it'll open a lot of doors. All other things being equal, the person with the college degree will get the job over people with just programming courses/certs most of the time. Also, the non-programming stuff may seem trivial, but can often become crucial, not to mention interesting and fun.

If you're unsure and in a position where you could wait a year, you could always learn yourself or do a course, then consider college if it really appeals to you.

Tomas_S

yeah ment to say that im thinking about some kind of career in it not just hobby. so probably gonna start looking for cheaper colleges

conor.hogan.2

You could try a post grad, they last a year or two and can cost around 2500.

zom

Tomas_S wrote: »

yeah ment to say that im thinking about some kind of career in it not just hobby. so probably gonna start looking for cheaper colleges

Do you have any programming experience? I myself have construction backgrounds but being always interested in computers and graphic now trying to get in to www bussiness. I know a bit of few systems - Pascal, C+, Java, PHP, ActionScripy (Flash) and have strong math background (Engineering degree) but all that computer stuff is more like hobby. I cant imagine someone doing programming without actually "liking" it like "hobby". What's your backgrounds?

Mr. Loverman

Do you like programming?

Are you happy to sit in front of a computer all day surrounded by [generalisation]people with poor social skills[/generalisation]?

Be aware most people working as programmers do not like their job.

See if you like it before jumping head first into an expensive education...

Tomas_S

well what i was saying about the hobby i meant more like a hobby, not just messing around at home, but try and build something up for the future. In general i was always interested in IT, but have no qualifications and my background is- dont realy have one, so decided its time to get serious
And would love to be one who actually love what they do, not just sit in front of comp. with grumpy face