What is quicker, easier, and more effective for a 100% programming noobie?

Question

OK, when i grow up i want to be the lead programmer/graphics designer, and i want to learn to program now. Which, is quicker, for a 12 year old (under the circumstances of advanced classes), C# or Java, and how long will they take. And which is more useful? Now, under the circumstances of a "gifted" 12 year old, how long is your estimation?

Answer 1

C# and Java are essentially identical. I personally prefer C# because of some small details, but Java is more commonly used. If you learn one, it will be extremely easy to use the other.

Answer 2

Actually, being a programmer and a graphics designer, you won't be programming alone. There are teams for designing and teams for programming. I was able to learn C and Java at 14 years old but it was only basic classes. I don't believe that being gifted will give you the upper hand of being the best programmer. Programming after all is a skill not knowledge. But it has its own principles.



As to the question which is more important, C and Java are different programming languages and both have a unique purpose. Java is mainly used for applications because it can be compiled easily in many platforms and C is mainly used for execution of computer commands. But if you want to learn both, I suggest learning C first since it is more basic than Java.

Answer 3

You don't start by learning languages, you start by learning programming. It's not a matter of quicker or easier (it's not going to be either quick or easy), it's a matter of what you need to know before you can learn the next thing. (You can't learn spelling before you learn the alphabet, for instance.) Start with http://www-old.oberon.ethz.ch/WirthPubl/AD.pdf This is WAY above what most 12 year olds, gifted or not, can handle, but that's the first thing you have to learn. Keep at it until you're old enough to learn it. (Whatever you want, you're NOT going to learn to program now. You might learn to do enough to make a few programs, but that's as much programming as nuking a frozen dinner is being a chef. The only one you'll fool will be yourself.)



THEN learn C, to start, then object oriented programming, C++, C#, Java, and any other languages you want to learn. One at a time - master one before you move on to the next. (A good carpenter knows how to use more than one tool. A good programmer knows how to use more than one language.)



Lead programmer? You work as a programmer for 10-15 years - that's how you become lead programmer on a project. No one is hired as a lead programmer as his first job. Your first job will be entry-level programmer, no matter how gifted you are and no matter how many languages you know. You'll get to write all the code that no one else wants to write. (ALL jobs start at the bottom. Bill Gates didn't start as CEO of a large corporation.)

Answer 4

How you rate "easier" and "more effective" depends on two things:



1) Time

2) Money



That's a fact. Time is an investment which gives you experience and knowledge if you use your time to learn. Money can be invested to save you time when you CAN take shortcuts, but it doesn't give you knowledge even though it can buy information.



What software producers want is for you to spend YOUR money on THEIR programming tools, and so the design environment (especially the language constructs involved) has been carefully tailored to maximize the odds that you'll buy shortcuts rather than plug through trying to find your own way (for free, except for the time involved) of doing what you want done.



As I said, learning a language is an investment in time. But what return are you going to get on your investment if the language you choose forces you into dependency on other people's code?



That depends on how you rate time and money and what you think your time is worth. You DO want to make an investment like a "savings account" which RETURNS interest to you rather than in something that requires money to maintain status quo. That's only a practical viewpoint, so you would have to judge what your intellectual experience is going to be WITH dedicated learning experiences that can free you from "the mill" or WITHOUT them. And in the long run, your resilence in response to the cruelty of fate is going to depend on whether you chose a course of learning that can maintain itself without needing "informational perks" periodically to keep it alive.



So which language clearly delineates the principles of algorithm and data structure design?



Figure that out and then choose that language to learn first. I'd say learn Pascal. Get a free Pascal compiler from the Internet (VirtualPascal, FreePascal, etc.) and invest your time in it. Write every kind of procedure you can think of or find descriptions of, and test, debug, and optimize them. Then you won't be caught HAVING to buy something because you can't write it yourself.

Answer 5

"Gifted" or not, studies have shown that it takes about ten years of intensive application to any study to become "expert" at it.