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Learn how to program

Posted in Programming, Software by (kb) on September 24, 2009

So you want to be a programmer ? Which programming languages should you learn ?

  1. Python (wikipedia article)
  2. Perl (wikipedia article)
  3. Lisp (wikipedia article)
  4. C/C++ (wikipedia article C)/(wikipedia article C++)
  5. Java (wikipedia article)

Next I would recommend to learn Ruby (wikipedia article), and Javascript (wikipedia article). And although not really programming languages, I think it’s necessary to learn PHP (wikipedia article) and MySQL (wikipedia article) (after spending several years learning to master the 5 initial languages…).

And of course spend also some time working with a Linux distribution (wikipedia article) (go for Ubuntu or Debian).

One final word: reading books on the subject is good, practice is better.

Do you agree with this choice ?

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Emblem

Posted in Design, IT, Internet, Programming, Software, Technology by (kb) on February 13, 2009

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Processing 1.0

Posted in Design, Programming, Software by (kb) on November 26, 2008

Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions. It is used by students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists for learning, prototyping, and production. It is created to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context and to serve as a software sketchbook and professional production tool. Processing is an alternative to proprietary software tools in the same domain.

Processing is free to download and available for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.

Ben Fry writes about it and Casey Reas as well.

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Computer programming

Posted in Books, IT, Programming by (kb) on November 14, 2008

Two must read books about computer programming:

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) is a textbook about general computer programming concepts from MIT Press written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman, with Julie Sussman. Widely considered a classic text in computer science, it is also known as the Wizard Book (there is a wizard on the cover). Using a dialect of the Lisp programming language known as Scheme, the book explains core computer science concepts. The full text is freely available here (html). There is also an official SICP site, and also the MIT Open Courseware version of the SICP course to assist.

How to Design Programs (HtDP) is another very good textbook on the systematic design of computer programs published in 2001 by MIT Press. Like SICP, HtDP relies on a variant of the Scheme programming language. Indeed, it comes with its own programming environment, dubbed DrScheme. This book also comes with an own web site including the full text.

I think you should read these books BEFORE starting to learn programming languages.

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