Nathan Levesque

I’ve recently been considering how I would start off programming if I were someone coming into the field right now. It’s a bit of overload once you really take a look out there to see what you can do. C#, Java, C++, Visual Basic, Python, JavaScript, or Perl? Windows, Linux, Mac or mobile? Applications, games or the in-between? There really is no limit to what you can do these day. So where should you start?

Well, first of all, I’d like to say that I’m going to be making some very general statements here. They may work for you, they may not, although I hope more of the former.

I’d like to say that the most primal thing you should learn about programming is how to program, more than how to program in X. The best thing for you is to jump in and learn the fundamentals of what programming is. You should learn variables, functions and IO. Once you’ve got strong skills in that area move on to more complicated things such as Object Oriented Programming and learning to use frameworks and design patterns.

Languages of first choice: Ruby or Python. Really, these two languages are the easiest to master quickly as the syntax is very simple. Yet, they have some very powerful features when you begin to go into advanced stuff. Both have applications on the desktop and on the web.

After that I would move on to languages that are more strongly typed such as C++, C#, Java or Visual Basic. Visual Basic will feel familiar if you’ve programmed Python or Ruby. Java and C# are very close cousins as far as syntax and both have similar language concepts to C++. I have to say, though C++ is a very popular language it is also the most abused language. You really have to know what you’re doing. Also consider that C# and Visual Basic are almost exclusively Microsoft platform languages. All the other languages mentioned thus far are cross-platform. That said, Java is probably your best choice.

So, to recap,  focus on either Python or Ruby. After that move on to Java. After that, branch out in every direction you can!

This morning felt like an early Christmas for some developers. For Flex Developers, Beta 3 of Flex 3 was released today, along with Beta 3 of Adobe AIR. This was hinted to at last week’s Flex Camp Boston (actually all they said was “wait until 12/12″, but I think anyone who had been following Flex knew what they meant). This means we’re one step closer to the release of AIR 1.0 and Flex 3.

Also released today was the release version of XNA Game Studio 2.0, which marks the first release use of the Windows Live and XBox Live on the XBox 360 for the casual developer. This new version also works with alternative editions of Visual Studio 2005 other than the Express version. Hopefully this will invite more commercial developers and help push the platform further.

All in all, I really don’t know which to program first tonight!

DreamBuildPlay.com has updated with a new warm-up contest. I can’t remember exactly what they were last year, but it seems to me that the prizes this warm-up contest is nearly as good as last year’s main contest itself! Only thing would be there are no publishing deals in the warm-up. Anyway, kinda makes me wonder what this year’s main contest is gonna be like.

I have previously had an XNA-related blog that I posted on occasionally. I’ve decided it will be far too difficult to keep track of two different blog, so if you’re reading this because you were directed here from that blog you may wish to update your bookmarks.

You will also be able to browse XNA-specific posts.