Programming???

[ghock]

I am looking into getting programming and I had a few questions....first off what type of programming should I look into (what one is best to learn when you are starting out)...I have done some VB work but nothing to in depth. The question i would have to ask is....is programming worth getting to are there really jobs out there for it??

P.S. I guess should state that I have gone through college and got a degree in network and communication management....more and more I am realizing i really don't like this side of things....I did enjoy learning the little I learned about VB and I think that I would want to get into programming....but is it worth it?

[TonyT]

Ask yourself "what do I want to DO as a programmer? What do I want to produce?" Once you determine what you want to be producing (desktop applications, server backend apps, drivers, etc.) you can then be steered toward the appropriate languages.

If you approach it as "I want to program so I can perhaps move into new types of work cause I don't dig what I'm doing now" then you will end up nowhere. First deternine what you want to produce, then set the goal of doing what's necessary to accomplish the production.

[ghock]

I guess I would have to say either desktop apps or server back end....I have also done some basic SQL scripting in data transformation packages.......wouldn't mind doing stuff with databases.............

[Amro]

so java and .net are pretty prevalent for doing a lot of stuff in that genre

[TonyT]

Learn PHP and C variants. They are similar too. Both are useful for server apps and databases. Java will net you more $ in the longrun because most govt and financial institutions use java backends due to its security features.

[ghock]

Lets say I pick up PHP and java...do some side work and get decent with it....would it hurt me in terms of trying to get a job that I don't have a programming degree? or that fact I have a degree in computer science good enough?

[Amro]

Lets say I pick up PHP and java...do some side work and get decent with it....would it hurt me in terms of trying to get a job that I don't have a programming degree? or that fact I have a degree in computer science good enough?

computer science degrees typically include how to design, architect, implement, and maintain systems (amung other things).......so you should already know how to program if you have a CS degree.

[ghock]

computer science degrees typically include how to design, architect, implement, and maintain systems (amung other things).......so you should already know how to program if you have a CS degree.

well some basic shell scripting is all we did...nothing really in designing anything...

[Amro]

I see. Imo, it's a good idea to understand how some of the basics work as it'll help you write better applications. Specifically, if you know the logical layout of a program you want to write and know the basic underpinnings of CS, then you can make your system easier to maintain and closer to bug-free (pretty hard to make any software perfect but testing is very important).

[Cyberhunk]

I suggest you learn python programming language, its because it's easy to understand and once you understand everything its easy for you to grasp information in any programming languages, in my opinion learning programming the best way is to "program", c/c++ is my first programming language, and as you progress the language becomes difficult to understand, but then i got this book "C++ in Action" by Bartosz Milewski it teaches you how to program in real life situation, and thats how i understand the language more. but when i started python i realized that its much easier to understand, so i suggest learn python first then c++. I recommend python cause you wont get discouraged easily, then after that you'll get used to the concepts of programming language and you'll understand under languages easily. . . . well thats in my own opinion... anyway if youll be looking for books, there are many references out there in the net...

[ghock]

i will have to look into python...I got my hands on a book that teaches you perl...since i already have that I have already started that.....but I thank you for suggestion..