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I have a weird obsession with computers. I love them. I love Linux. I love customizing my computer.
I have taken a couple of courses in the past. A free online HTML course, and a Perl course at a local college. But, they were just introductions to the wider world of programming languages…
The problem I have is that I really don’t know where to start! There are frickin’ TONS of different languages out there. What one makes the biggest bang for your buck? If I learn one, will I have an easy time learning others?
I have been following the Lifehacker ‘Learn How to Code‘ week, where they suggest you start with Java. I have started reading C_Programming from Wikibooks. But at the same time I really love using the Terminal, so I’ve started a course on Bash online. Too much at the same time…
So I am looking for suggestions. Anyone?
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You could try Python. It’ versatile, readable, and much more.
The Zen of Python: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/
There is a very interesting MIT course available through Open Course Ware, “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming”. It teaches you to write simple programs in Python, but also explains the basic programming frame of mind, the way of thinking like a programmer. Which starts from mapping real-world problems into something computational, and touches up on issues like simple computer players for word games, unit testing, etc. Check out the videos, transcripts and assignments.
The course website: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/
My post about lecture 1: http://apprenticecoder.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/mit-600-part-1-mapping-world-to-something-computational/
My post about the word game assignment: http://apprenticecoder.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/test-2/
Wish you good learning! Have fun.
Thank you so much for the comment and suggestion. I am going to check this out!