Beginner Programmer, HELP!

T

tk4two1

Professional Crastinator
Was just wondering what someonw who knows nothing about programming starts. I have installed developer tools and know some basic apple scripting (by basic I mean VERRRY basic). Where do I find a beginners guide to programming? What do I need to know? I have looked at Apple's ADC site and everything looks Russian to me (I only speak English...) So... Its up to all of you peoples to guide me down the right path of programming 101. Thanks!:D
 
Well, it depends on what language you'd like to learn. Good options for Mac OS X are Objective-C/C++ and Java.
The ADC site is available in different languages and you may have strayed onto the Russian language pages by mistake. I know they're in English for me, with a fair bit of confusing jargon.
I think Java is a fantastic place to start; you can use just about any Java textbook, so you can buy your books secondhand, and your programs will work even if they were written for other platforms. You won't have to worry too much about adapting to the specifics of the Mac platform. Once you're comfortable with that and can write your own programs, then you can start learning to use Cocoa-Java to take advantage of the Mac system better.
And then, you can start playing around with C++/Objective-C once you're comfortable with it.
 
Since I mainly want to program in Cocoa would it be safe to say that I need to start with C? Or am I a complete idiot and just need to do as I'm told and just start with Java?
 
You can program Cocoa apps in Java if you want. You can also use Objective-C, which has a very different syntax than C, C++ and Java. Java is a good language to start with, but Objective-C is also good. I find Objective-C a bit weird though since I come from a C++ background, and it's a lot different syntax.
 
Java is more portable, more efficient, more easy than other languages ...
(OK!, it depends on the type of the application ... did you mind to program in assembly?, PPC assembly is amusing :D )
 
Ok, let me ask you this. Which would be a better choice for someone (Me) who wants to keep it as easy as possible? Java or Objective-C?
 
If you are learning I would have to say Java just because you will have more resources available to you. There are books available to teach you about Objective-C and Cocoa but they are not geared to teaching you how to program using those languages as the medium of instruction.

Also don't shy away from writting little applets and text based things in a desire to write stuff in cocoa. As with anything once you are past hello world adding a GUI will increase the complexity of what you are doing. So simplify whenever you can.

All of that said I really like Objective-C and I would choose to write my stuff in it over Java for reasons of personal taste, if that were all I was considering.

Good Luck,

-Eric
 
I would think that Cocoa would be a rather steep learning curve if one were to try to 1) learn basic programing skills 2) learn the Objective-C language 3) learn OOP concepts and 4) learn the Project Builder / Interface Builder IDE.

Make the curve to steep and one might quit from frustration. Therefore, may I add three more possible suggestions:

1)Try REALbasic -- even if to just download the demo (which will not allow you to compile the application for use -- but will only run is for a short time). It can be free [in demo], and the language is easy to master; the GUI is a snap. Or rather, just a double click.

2) Start off with C and later C++ without the GUI -- till you feel comfortable programing terminal applications before trying to add a GUI. You can use Project Builder; and using the project wizard, declare your project to be a "tool." (First a "standard" tool for C; then a C++ tool.) Again, free; and the jump from C to C++ to Objective-C to Cocoa [w/GUI] is a natural progression.

3) And if you insist on jumping into the deep end: Download J Builder from Borland. The personal edition is free. You can download several tutorials for step by step instruction, and I think the specialized IDE is more intuative than the all purpose Project Builder.

just my 2¢
 
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