I've been looking into eventually doing PC game development as a hobby, and while I do have the program RPG Maker, (which is a very bare-bones way to make some games without any coding experience) it will only get me so far before I hit a dead end. I want to be able to actually write my own software, not just point-and-click my whole way through it. So as the title says, I want to start digging into coding languages but I don't know where to begin. I am thinking that C# or C++ would be an ideal end goal for a language to master but a lot of my sources tell me that both of these require more experience in other languages before I can tackle them. So first, a few questions: -What would you consider to be a beginner's ideal coding language? What are some examples of what I could do with this language? -What tools/software will I need to study the language? Will I need more than that to start writing my own code? -Any research materials that you can recommend? Books, websites, YouTube channels, phone apps, desktop apps, anything at all. Thanks in advance!

In my opinion, the most pleasant language for beginners would be Python, but if you're looking in to game development, I don't think that starting with C/C++ would be a bad idea; they are definitely more difficult than Python or some of the other fancy modern languages, but they are about as involved as it gets without delving in to the world of Assembly, i.e. a lot of memory/data management is up to you, integers have real limits, arrays are a pain in the ass. While this can be rather overwhelming, it can teach you quite a bit about the more inner workings of the PC itself. Python just takes care of all that stuff for you. C# is also a popular choice, but I have no knowledge of it. C is pretty barebones, though it would probably be useful to learn anyway if you're going down the C++ route, as the latter is heavily based on the former. C++ is often considered to be a language that once mastered, makes learning other languages trivial. To start coding in Python, just download it from https://www.python.org/ - I use 3.4.4 x64, though a lot of people will be using 2.7, as it has the greatest package support. For C/C++, if you're on Windows, you can use Visual Studio, though I would personally advise against that - I use gcc (for C) and g++ (for C++) that comes with Mingw-w64 . If you're on Linux, then you could probably look up what development tools to use with your distros package manager, though it'll still be gcc and g++. If you're on a Mac, then I dunno. I personally always just relied on some quick start guides on how to use the language, from then on Google/StackOverflow/CPlusPlus/PythonDocs is my friend. Thinking of a project or a simpler task that could be automated is also a good way of learning the language. I can PM you a couple of examples of what I've done, if you like.

Before I recommend a language, I suggest you get a good editor. My favorite editor is Atom: https://atom.io/ . There are two languages that I think are good for beginners. Popular opinion: Javascript. In 2016, this is the de facto language for all things web development and server scripting, and it's also the language with the highest associated salary (first year React developer salary is $150k+). All you need to get started is a browser, since you can run Javascript directly in it. But you probably want to go further and do actual development, so you should install Node.js: https://nodejs.org/en/ It's a quick download, coming in at an unbelievably tiny 10 MB, which includes the Javascript runtime as well as the package manager, npm. Javascript is pretty easy to pick up, and there are resources all over the net to help you do so. Unpopular opinion: Haskell. It gets a bad rap for being overly formal with abstract nonsense. But really, people who say that are just those who start off learning languages like Java and Python and proceed to confine themselves to a certain mindset. Using this language is pretty much the only way to be certain that your programs are correct and bug free. Although the learning curve is steep, it'll quickly teach you the fundamentals of programming that most people would otherwise take years to understand. To get started, you should download the Haskell Platform: https://www.haskell.org/downloads#platform . It'll give you a Haskell compiler, package manager, and some extra goodies that you might find useful later on. The definitive resource for learning Haskell is this book: http://learnyouahaskell.com/ . It walks you through the language and its concepts at a quick pace but it's also very clear and understandable. I've been programming for many years, but these two are still, by far, the languages I use most. Both also happen to be excellent for game development; Javascript is used in many game engines and Haskell's type system is great for modeling Game Objects and hierarchies.

I can chip in with some ebooks whenever you'd like. My collection isn't the best right now but I can expand it :3

If you want to make a living through programming, I'd recommend taking Akiba's route. It'll help you be more well-rounded, I think (I'm far from being knowledgeable on the matter). I'd recommend Sublime Text 3 over Atom, though. If you'd like to get into game development, I'd recommend doing what malmon73 suggested. I also can't recommend Tom Francis's How To Make a Game With No Experience Gamemaker tutorial playlist enough. It's pretty basic, but it's not drag and drop, and it can get you into making decent games pretty quickly. What I personally really want to strive for is focusing on more conventional programming for a living (maybe becoming a freelancer) and making nice games on the side. This question's a bit thread-hijacky but I feel like it's relevant to the topic - how do any of you guys stay motivated to learn? I usually try to learn something but fizzle out before making too much progress . I (technically) know Javascript and Ruby but I've no idea how they're actually used because, again, I've never bothered to learn properly. It's really frustrating and I just wanted to know if you have any methods, or if you just kind of ' do it '.

PHP is a great place to start if you want to learn how not to code. I personally think that adopting something like Ruby or Crystal would help give you the logic behind coding as their syntax closely resembles english. If you delve into Ruby, it'd be beneficial to code things for Ruby on Rails, where the community is very strict on their coding standards and will overall help you become a better coder.

Holy shit this thread blew up fast... Thank you SO SO MUCH GUYS!!! To say I am overwhelmed by all this information at once is an understatement, but I will make note of every last bit you've given me. I've been working on a couple small tasks with Codecademy's Python course, so I'll stick to that for now as my first baby steps. I'll try to keep you all updated on my progress and let you know if I run into any problems later. Thank you so much! <3

None_At_All wrote: how do any of you guys stay motivated to learn? I get off on being in an ivory tower so haskell was pretty easy

At the risk of being called a Microsoft shill, I'm going to recommend C#. In my opinion, it's the easiest language to do things in. In a very short amount of time, you can have a GUI application that leverages APIs, reads and modifies database information, and keeps everything threaded and working efficiently. I'm biased, because I use it for work, but it really is a dream to program in compared to something like C++ and Python.

Kwazzi wrote: At the risk of being called a Microsoft shill, I'm going to recommend C#. In my opinion, it's the easiest language to do things in. In a very short amount of time, you can have a GUI application that leverages APIs, reads and modifies database information, and keeps everything threaded and working efficiently. I'm biased, because I use it for work, but it really is a dream to program in compared to something like C++ and Python. Threads are dumb, you Microsoft shill. [spoiler]But srs. C# is actually pretty fun, because the standard library has so much stuff. And it's pretty fast. It's just that I don't like property getters, since obfuscating function calls is really, really bad practice. The worst part is that a huge chunk of the standard library uses it. And it makes OOP even more complicated with sealeds, partials, extension methods, covariance/contravariance, and whatnot. OOP is kinda bullshit in the first place, hence my aversion to Java, C#, C++ etc. As for async, Promises/coroutines are usually better than raw threads because they give you mutex for free.[/spoiler]

I would recommend you to start with c, shure its not the easiest language but you'll learn all the basic stuff

I want to learn coding. What tools do I need, and where do I start?

Ashley

Senpai wrote:
malmon73 wrote:
nerd wrote:
Java is a good beginner language for desktop apps imo

Funnily enough, the only Java program with a good GUI that I've ever used has been Minecraft.

Not even Minecraft uses Java anymore.

what the fuckity fuck are you on about? as someone who works with the code of Minecraft, it certainly does still use Java. windows 10 edition uses like c# or something but that's not the official game as of now.

clicky

nerd wrote:
Senpai wrote:
malmon73 wrote:
nerd wrote:
Java is a good beginner language for desktop apps imo

Funnily enough, the only Java program with a good GUI that I've ever used has been Minecraft.

Not even Minecraft uses Java anymore.

what the fuckity fuck are you on about? as someone who works with the code of Minecraft, it certainly does still use Java. windows 10 edition uses like c# or something but that's not the official game as of now.

it told me to uninstall minecraft and install a new non-java version on osx.

[deleted]

Senpai wrote:
it told me to uninstall minecraft and install a new non-java version on osx.

I think they are using a stand-alone version of it now where it is already bundled with the game

clicky

Vlad wrote:
Senpai wrote:
it told me to uninstall minecraft and install a new non-java version on osx.

I think they are using a stand-alone version of it now where it is already bundled with the game

Ah, that makes sense.

Steph

Senpai wrote:
Vlad wrote:
Senpai wrote:
it told me to uninstall minecraft and install a new non-java version on osx.

I think they are using a stand-alone version of it now where it is already bundled with the game

Ah, that makes sense.

They bundle java 8 so they don't have to worry about old java versions. As java 8 has loads of great new features, they are looking towards requiring it.

[deleted]

RX14 wrote:
They bundle java 8 so they don't have to worry about old java versions. As java 8 has loads of great new features, they are looking towards requiring it.

Java
Great features

[spoiler]
Don't mind me. I'm just trying to trigger Java developers. (I know nothing about Java)
[/spoiler]

Ashley

Vlad wrote:
RX14 wrote:
They bundle java 8 so they don't have to worry about old java versions. As java 8 has loads of great new features, they are looking towards requiring it.

Java
Great features

Don't mind me. I'm just trying to trigger Java developers. (I know nothing about Java)

Java 8 includes lambdas and streams and stuff. but yes, Java is awful, I agree

metod

nerd wrote:
Java 8 includes lambdas and streams and stuff. but yes, Java is awful, I agree

Honestly, really there's no language that is either awful or perfect.

Maybe except for Pascal, but I'm sure there's someone out there who's able to point out something good about it.

Steph

Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

clicky

RX14 wrote:
Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

Lisp is for neckbeards.

[spoiler]
jk, don't hurt me ;-;
[/spoiler]

metod

RX14 wrote:
Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

php is popular, so you can find a lot of solutions for it (like wordpress).
I don't speak Lisp /

[deleted]

Senpai wrote:
RX14 wrote:
Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

Lisp is for neckbeards.

[spoiler]
jk, don't hurt me ;-;
[/spoiler]

It's a well known fact that Lisp is the language of choice for Gentoo and Arch users that don't use desktop environments or window managers, and Lisp programmers do all of their work inside of vim.

tips fedora

malmon

Vlad wrote:
Senpai wrote:
RX14 wrote:
Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

Lisp is for neckbeards.

[spoiler]
jk, don't hurt me ;-;
[/spoiler]

It's a well known fact that Lisp is the language of choice for Gentoo and Arch users that don't use desktop environments or window managers, and Lisp programmers do all of their work inside of vim.

tips fedora

Why does vim exist?

Steph

malmon73 wrote:
Vlad wrote:
Senpai wrote:
RX14 wrote:
Lisp is clearly perfect in every way and PHP is clearly horrible in every way.

Lisp is for neckbeards.

[spoiler]
jk, don't hurt me ;-;
[/spoiler]

It's a well known fact that Lisp is the language of choice for Gentoo and Arch users that don't use desktop environments or window managers, and Lisp programmers do all of their work inside of vim.

tips fedora

Why does vim exist?

Vim exists to edit text at the speed of thought. Couldn't give up vim.

clicky

RX14 wrote:
malmon73 wrote:
Vlad wrote:
Senpai wrote:
Lisp is for neckbeards.

[spoiler]
jk, don't hurt me ;-;
[/spoiler]

It's a well known fact that Lisp is the language of choice for Gentoo and Arch users that don't use desktop environments or window managers, and Lisp programmers do all of their work inside of vim.

tips fedora

Why does vim exist?

Vim exists to edit text at the speed of thought. Couldn't give up vim.

The first time I used vim I got stuck in it and had to google how to get out.

Steph

Senpai wrote:
RX14 wrote:
malmon73 wrote:
Vlad wrote:
It's a well known fact that Lisp is the language of choice for Gentoo and Arch users that don't use desktop environments or window managers, and Lisp programmers do all of their work inside of vim.

tips fedora

Why does vim exist?

Vim exists to edit text at the speed of thought. Couldn't give up vim.

The first time I used vim I got stuck in it and had to google how to get out.

same fam

malmon

RX14 wrote:
Senpai wrote:
RX14 wrote:
malmon73 wrote:
Why does vim exist?

Vim exists to edit text at the speed of thought. Couldn't give up vim.

The first time I used vim I got stuck in it and had to google how to get out.

same fam

Then one went back to nano and all was ok.

Akiba

@rx14 @senpai tfw not using vimtutor

haskell is basically lisp with an order of magnitude fewer parentheses

Steph

Akiba wrote:
@rx14 @senpai tfw not using vimtutor

Late reply, but I use vim all the time now, learnt it by simply using it, not from a tutor.

Backlash

based_bluetawn wrote:
Take a free Python course online from MIT. Learn python because it teaches you the basics of pretty much any language. If you want to get intense C++ or rackett.

Python is pretty great, tbh. I'd recommend looking at the "turtle" module. My introductory class at uni was pretty lax, so I spent the entire time making geometric art out of tiny bits of code.

The language also has one of the best, most concise and informative tutorials I've ever read. Here, have a link!

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