I'm new to programming any professional advise from others in the field?

Question

I am practicing with C but I know there is html, java script, perl, PHP, C+, C++, C#, and the list goes on. I want to know what a good standard would be for many types of operating systems for like software design. I work with windows, but I am getting really good with Linux Ubuntu and scripting is coming natural to me. I want to get involved in the community and help out.

Ok, now second question and probably the most important. I need advise for self training on programming and a good compiler. I am currently getting books from www.ebookee.org and using www.smorgasbordet.com/pellesc/ for my compiler, I know there are better methods but google gives sites top visited not always meaning top rated.

Third question would have to be, if there are any programmers out there currently reading this tell me is programming has ruined your life all together or if it has given you great happiness in what you do.

Answer 1

java is the best multiplatformed programming language in my opinion



you can search google for thenewboston to learn java

also i think http://thenewboston.com is his website

Answer 2

For the first question...



Ummm, I'm no pro, but If by the first question you mean that you want to know what software languages would be useful all around, I would suggest you learn (probably the most recent version of) C, and Labview. What language is most useful depends on what you're trying to do though.



Second question...



For learning programming languages in general, I think you should check out books from libraries and bookstores after checking their ratings on amazon, for all of them (that way you know which books are any good). Specifically for javascript, html, css, etc., try http://w3schools.com/ and http://davesite.com/ for html and css. Both of these sites have tutorials, which let you input your own code and then view it in a window and are good for most of the basics, but books are your best bet for the more advanced stuff. You should try learning sections of code from books and then input it into one of these websites compilers, if you want to experiment.



Third question...



I'm still/have been a programmer for multiple robotics teams; programming can be fun (get a mindstorms kit for this) and sometimes frustrating... it helps when stuck to think everything through really thouroughly (think pseodo-code).



Good luck! :)

Answer 3

Python is another language, used quite a bit in linux projects, and is cross-platform. I also believe it's extensible, via C or C++. (I forgot which)