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May 12th, 2012, 12:30 PM

FrostHeart07

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Where to start?

Hello everyone, I'm an incoming Computer Science student. It has always been my dream to actually create programs and use programming languages as easy as I could speak my own native language, that's why I took Computer Science and thankfully I passed the course's passing entrance exam score bracket. Classes will start on June 4, and I'm pretty excited and at the same time nervous as I don't have any programming skills to use yet, well aside from HTML and some basic CSS codes taught in high school... I also don't wanna be a student who is only good at academics and actually sucks when it's already the real thing, if you know what I mean... hahah. I wanna do some advance studying on my own to at least orient myself about the course and its basics, but I don't know where to start... any good recommendations on what to do?

And also what can I do to actually become a good programmer in the future? Thanks.

May 15th, 2012, 08:54 AM

ManiacDan

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Well you certainly have a good attitude.

The first thing you need to do is figure out which languages you'll be taught. There's no use in me telling you to learn Python or PHP if your school is going to be focusing on C and java, you'll just get confused.

If you don't care what languages you learn, then Python and PHP are very beginner friendly. The new user guide to PHP is right below this message if you'd like to start there.

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May 30th, 2012, 01:15 AM

Veebers

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If you were like me, I couldn't wait to dive right in. So do it! It's not that hard to make your first program. In fact...

Microsoft has a version of Visual Studio that is FREE. It's called Visual Studio Express. It has limited functionality, but it's very well-suited for beginners.

Link: Visual Studio Express 2010

Download Visual C++, perhaps. And make a "Hello World" program. Such a program merely places "Hello World" on the screen. Good beginner exercise.

Here's an easy-to-follow set of instructions on how to make your first "Hello World" program in Visual C++:

HelloWorld Tutorial

Once you get your toe in the water, all hell breaks loose. There are TONS of free tutorials online. If you get stuck, come back here. HAPPY CODING

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