Programming from scratch: where to start? How to start learning programming from scratch in Java? Learning programming from scratch: where to start learning at home

You should start your path to a career as a programmer by answering the question, do you need programming at all? This question does not apply to those who are studying or have studied in a specialty close to programming. If you were better at math at school than the humanities, if you like to spend a lot of time on the computer, if you want to learn something new, then programming is for you.

Where to start

There are several options for the development of events, as a result of which a person becomes a programmer. The first is parents-programmers who taught their children everything. These children don't even need to go to university. The second option is the fashionable profession of a programmer. After school, we had to choose where to go to study, and we chose the fashionable field of IT, which we seemed to like. And the last option is a hobby that has grown into work.

If none of the above happened to you, then you have a choice of four options:

Self-education. This option can be used either independently or in combination with other methods. The Internet is full of applications that help you study various languages programming and technology. But this is the most difficult path for beginners.
University. If you finish school and want to be a programmer, then go to university. If not for knowledge, then for the crust. It can serve as a bonus when applying for a job. Although you will also gain some knowledge. But don't forget to educate yourself. You should approach the choice of a university very responsibly. Carefully study the training programs and choose the best technical universities.
Mentor. It will be very good if you find a person who agrees to help you and point you in the right direction. He will suggest suitable books and resources, check your code, give useful tips. By the way, we have already written about where you can find a mentor. You can look for a mentor among familiar programmers, at IT parties and conferences, on online forums, and so on.
Specialized practical courses. Try looking for courses in your city that will teach you some programming language or technology. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of such courses in Kyiv, including free ones and with subsequent employment.

Which language, technology and direction to choose

When you become a programmer, after a year or two you will be free to choose any language you like. But when choosing a first programming language, a beginner should consider the following criteria:

Availability of vacancies on the market. The ultimate goal of this path is to find a job as a programmer. And this will be difficult to do if no one is looking for developers in your programming language on the job market. Check job sites, see who is most sought after, write down a dozen languages. And move on to the next criterion.
Low entry level. If you have to spend long time to learn a language, it may discourage you from programming in general. Read about the languages you selected above. Review the literature you will need to read to learn these languages. And choose those that are described as easy, or that seemed easy to you. Such languages may be PHP, Ruby, Python.
The thrill of the process. If you don't enjoy writing code in your chosen language, you won't enjoy the process, your work, or your life. Do you need it? Make the right choices.

You will also have to decide on the direction of programming. Mobile, desktop, games, web, low-level programming and so on. The most popular and relatively easy industries are development for web, mobile and desktop clients. One language may be suitable for each direction and not another at all. That is, when choosing a programming language, it is also worth starting from this factor.

Either way, learn web technologies. This is a markup language, styles and that will make your page dynamic. On next stage Learn a server-side language (Python, PHP, Ruby and others) and web frameworks suitable for it. Study the databases: almost every programmer vacancy mentions this.

How to get initial experience

Without experience you won't get a job. Without work you won't get experience. Vicious circle real life. But it’s okay, we’ll get out of it.

First, don't wait until you've read every book on your chosen programming language. Start writing your first lines of code after the second chapter of the book. Complete all the tasks from the books, retype the examples, understand them. Complicate the examples and tasks from books with your own ideas. Create your own tasks for the material you have covered. Solve these problems.

Secondly, you need to find your first projects. This is probably the most difficult option, but it works. You will have to look for orders yourself, fulfill them, and bother with payment. For a beginner, this is extremely difficult, but then all other options will seem like a piece of cake. Completed projects can be recorded as experience and shown to your future employer. Real projects are a big plus on your resume.

If you know English language, it is better to register on English-language exchanges. The market is bigger there. If you don't know English, learn it. In the meantime, Russian-language freelance exchanges are available to you. Look for small projects that are at or just above your skill level. Apply for a couple dozen of these jobs. And get ready to receive a sea of refusals. But if one or two applications come through, you'll have a chance to gain real experience.

Another good option for getting real experience is open source. Such projects always need new people, even beginners. You can search for bugs in the project or look in the bug tracker and suggest methods for solving them. You can easily find such projects on GitHub or . Feel free to ask questions there.

The fourth option for gaining experience is helping fellow programmers. Ask them to hand over small, simple tasks to you. If something doesn't work out, you will always have someone to turn to. And at the same time you will participate in a real project.

The last way is your own projects, various hackathons or working in a coworking space. It’s difficult to start your own projects on your own; it’s better to look for acquaintances or friends.

Why choose Python

Let's talk a little more about choosing your first programming language. The first language should be simple and popular in the market. Such a language is Python. I highly recommend choosing it as your first programming language.

The Python program code is readable. You don't even need to be a programmer to get a basic understanding of what's going on in a program. Because of the simple Python syntax you will need less time to write a program than, for example, in Java. A huge database of libraries that will save you a lot of effort, nerves and time. Python is high level language. This means you don’t have to think too much about memory cells and what to put there. Python is a general purpose language. And it's so simple that even children can learn it.

In fairness, it is worth mentioning other programming languages. Java could be a good choice for a beginner. This language is more popular than Python, but also a little more complex. But the development tools are much better developed. One has only to compare Eclipse and IDLE. After Java, it will be easier for you to move on to working with low-level languages programming.

PHP- another very popular language. And I think it's even simpler than Python. It is very easy to find a mentor or a solution to a problem on the forum. This is because there are a huge number of PHP programmers of different levels in the world. There is no normal import in PHP; there are many options for solving the same problem. And this complicates learning. And PHP is designed exclusively for the web.

Languages C And C# very difficult for a beginner. Ruby - good choice as a second language, but not a first. JavaScript- a very simple language, but it won’t teach you anything good. But the task of the first programming language is still to teach you something correct, to set some kind of logic.

Is English important?

Important! Don't know? Teach. Do you know? Improve. Learn to read, write, listen and speak English. Focus on technical literature. Listen to English-language podcasts. Read English-language programming textbooks.

What you need to know besides the programming language

Of course, besides the programming language and English, you need to know something else. But what depends on the direction you choose. A web programmer must know HTML, CSS, JavaScript. A desktop programmer teaches operating system APIs and various frameworks. Developer mobile applications teaches Android, iOS or Windows Phone frameworks.

Everyone needs to learn algorithms. Try taking a course on Coursera or finding a book on algorithms that suits you. In addition, you need to know one of the databases, programming patterns, and data structures. It's also worth checking out code repositories. At least with one. Knowledge of version control systems is required. Choose Git, it's the most popular. You need to know the tools you are working with, operating system and development environment. And the main skill of a programmer is to be able to Google. You won't live without this.

Last steps

You need to prepare a resume. Not just a resume, but a . You shouldn’t write there, but you also don’t need to remain silent about your skills. Once you are invited to an interview, you must prepare for it. Go through the material that is listed on your resume. You must be confident in your knowledge. Look back at the projects you've worked on and think about the technologies you've used. And forward - to a bright future with a new profession as a programmer.

These tutorials are for everyone, whether you're new to programming or have extensive programming experience in other languages! This material is for those who want to learn the C/C++ languages from its very basics to the most complex structures.

C++ is a programming language, knowledge of this programming language will allow you to control your computer on top level. Ideally, you will be able to make the computer do whatever you want. Our site will help you master the C++ programming language.

Installation /IDE

The very first thing you should do before you start learning C++ is to make sure that you have an IDE - an integrated development environment (the program in which you will program). If you don't have an IDE, then here you go. Once you decide on the choice of IDE, install it and practice creating simple projects.

Introduction to C++

The C++ language is a set of commands that tell the computer what to do. This set of commands is usually called source code or just code. The commands are either "functions" or " keywords" Keywords (C/C++ reserved words) are the basic building blocks of the language. Functions are complex building blocks because they are written in terms of more simple functions- you will see this in our very first program, which is shown below. This structure of functions resembles the contents of a book. The content can show the chapters of the book, each chapter in the book can have its own content consisting of paragraphs, each paragraph can have its own subparagraphs. Although C++ provides a lot general functions and reserved words that you can use, there is still a need to write your own functions.

What part of the program does it start at? Each program in C++ has one function, it is called the main or main function, program execution begins with this function. From the main function, you can also call any other functions, whether they are ones we wrote or, as mentioned earlier, provided by the compiler.

So how do you access these Standard Features? To access standard functions, which come with the compiler, you need to include the header file using the preprocessor directive - #include . Why is this effective? Let's look at an example work program:

#include << "Моя первая программа на С++\n"; cin.get(); }

Let us consider in detail the elements of the program. #include is a "preprocessor" directive that tells the compiler to put the code from the iostream header file into our program before creating the executable. By connecting a header file to your program, you get access to many different functions that you can use in your program. For example, the cout operator requires iostream . Line using namespace std; tells the compiler to use a group of functions that are part of the std standard library. This line also allows the program to use operators such as cout . The semicolon is part of C++ syntax. It tells the compiler that this is the end of the command. You'll see in a moment that semicolons are used to terminate most commands in C++.

The next important line of the program is int main(). This line tells the compiler that there is a function called main and that the function returns an integer. Curly braces ( and ) signal the start (and end) of a function. Curly braces are also used in other blocks of code, but they always indicate one thing - the beginning and end of the block, respectively.

In C++, the cout object is used to display text (pronounced "C out"). He uses symbols<< , известные как «оператор сдвига», чтобы указать, что отправляется к выводу на экран. Результатом вызова функции cout << является отображение текста на экране. Последовательность \n фактически рассматривается как единый символ, который обозначает новую строку (мы поговорим об этом позже более подробно). Символ \n перемещает курсор на экране на следующую строку. Опять же, обратите внимание на точку с запятой, её добавляют в конец, после каждого оператора С++.

The next command is cin.get() . This is another function call that reads data from the input data stream and waits for the ENTER key to be pressed. This command keeps the console window from closing until the ENTER key is pressed. This gives you time to see the output of the program.

Upon reaching the end of the main function (closing brace), our program will return the value 0 to the operating system. This return value is important because by analyzing it, the OS can judge whether our program completed successfully or not. A return value of 0 means success and is returned automatically (but only for the int data type; other functions require you to manually return the value), but if we wanted to return something else, such as 1, we would have to do it manually.

#include using namespace std; int main() ( cout<<"Моя первая программа на С++\n"; cin.get(); return 1; }

To consolidate the material, type the program code in your IDE and run it. Once the program has run and you've seen the output, experiment a little with the cout statement. This will help you get used to the language.

Be sure to comment on your programs!

Add comments to your code to make it clearer not only for yourself but also for others. The compiler ignores comments when executing code, allowing you to use any number of comments to describe the actual code. To create a comment, use or // , which tells the compiler that the rest of the line is a comment, or /* and then */ . When you're learning to program, it's useful to be able to comment on parts of the code to see how the program's output changes. You can read in detail about the commenting technique.

What to do with all these types of variables?

It can sometimes be confusing to have multiple variable types when some variable types seem to be redundant. It is very important to use the correct variable type, as some variables require more memory than others. Additionally, due to the way they are stored in memory, floating point numbers, the float and double data types are "imprecise" and should not be used when a precise integer value needs to be stored.

Declaring Variables in C++

To declare a variable, use the syntax type<имя>; . Here are some examples of variable declarations:

Int num; char character; float num_float;

It is permissible to declare several variables of the same type on one line; to do this, each of them must be separated by a comma.

Int x, y, z, d;

If you've looked closely, you may have seen that a variable declaration is always followed by a semicolon. You can learn more about the convention “on naming variables”.

Common mistakes when declaring variables in C++

If you try to use a variable that is not declared, your program will not compile and you will receive an error message. In C++, all language keywords, all functions, and all variables are case sensitive.

Using Variables

So now you know how to declare a variable. Here is an example program demonstrating the use of a variable:

#include using namespace std; int main() ( int number; cout<< "Введите число: "; cin >>number; cin.ignore(); cout<< "Вы ввели: "<< number <<"\n"; cin.get(); }

Let's take a look at this program and examine its code, line by line. The keyword int indicates that number is an integer. The cin >> function reads the value into number , the user must press enter after the entered number. cin.ignore() is a function that reads a character and ignores it. We have organized our input into the program; after entering a number, we press the ENTER key, a symbol that is also transmitted to the input stream. We don't need it, so we discard it. Keep in mind that the variable was declared as an integer type, if the user tries to enter a decimal number, it will be truncated (that is, the decimal part of the number will be ignored). Try entering a decimal number or a sequence of characters, when you run the example program, the answer will depend on the input value.

Note that when printing from a variable, quotes are not used. The absence of quotes tells the compiler that there is a variable, and therefore that the program should check the value of the variable in order to replace the variable name with its value at execution. Multiple shift statements on the same line are perfectly acceptable and the output will be done in the same order. You should separate string literals (strings enclosed in quotes) and variables, giving each its own shift operator<< . Попытка поставить две переменные вместе с одним оператором сдвига << выдаст сообщение об ошибке . Не забудьте поставить точку с запятой. Если вы забыли про точку с запятой, компилятор выдаст вам сообщение об ошибке при попытке скомпилировать программу.

Changing and comparing values

Of course, no matter what type of data you're using, variables aren't very interesting without the ability to change their value. The following shows some operators used in conjunction with variables:

* multiplication,
- subtraction,
+ addition,
/ division,
= assignment,
== equality,
>more
< меньше.
!= unequal
>= greater than or equal to
<= меньше или равно

Operators that perform mathematical functions must be used to the right of the assignment sign in order to assign the result to the variable on the left.

Here are some examples:

A = 4 * 6; // use line comment and semicolon, a is equal to 24 a = a + 5; // equal to the sum of the original value and five a == 5 // does not assign five, checks whether it is equal to 5 or not

You'll often use == in constructs such as conditional statements and loops.

A< 5 // Проверка, a менее пяти? a >5 // Check, is a more than five? a == 5 // Checking, is a equal to five? a != 5 // Check, is it not equal to five? a >= 5 // Check if a is greater than or equal to five? a<= 5 // Проверка, a меньше или равно пяти?

These examples don't show the use of comparison signs very clearly, but when we start studying selection operators, you'll understand why this is necessary.

Today, many people are interested in whether it is possible to learn to program from scratch.

We have all heard stories that people who do this business have huge incomes, go to Bali every weekend and in the first months of their work were able to buy apartments for all their relatives.

In principle, this is not far from the truth, but For such results you need experience and reputation. And you need to start with the simplest. We will look at what steps a person who knows nothing about writing programs needs to follow in order to travel to Bali and buy real estate in the future.

Contents:

Step one. Preparation

Often, beginning programmers cannot achieve success for the simple reason that they initially failed to set priorities correctly.

They present this craft as something romantic, dynamic - just some kind of constant action.

In films, this process is shown completely different from what it really is.

Moreover, there is generally The writing of codes is not displayed, we are only shown events that revolve around it.

The films also show that anyone can become a programmer without knowledge, experience, or even gray matter in the brain. In this case, we can recall the film “Frames”.

So if you are simply saturated with the spirit of all kinds of films and want to start “coding” yourself, programming is clearly not for you.

Here's the truth about the craft in question - programming is:

hours and sometimes days of monotonous work, during which you cannot relax, you must always be focused;
endless learning in pursuit of the latest trends in this area;
similar projects with customers who don’t know what they want and what it should look like.

As for the latter, you must It’s worth watching a video about seven red lines of different colors, one of which is in the form of a kitten. In principle, this is close to the truth, since customers often demand the impossible. It also happens that they order something, but they are always not satisfied with the result.

If you understand all this and are ready to plunge into the wonderful world of programming, then proceed to the next step.

Step two. Selecting your first language

There are a huge number of programming languages. According to some estimates, their number has already reached several thousand.

In general, C is one of the simplest languages that provides the basis for everything else. Moreover, its elements are used in many other systems and programs.

But it is interesting that in good educational institutions, as well as During the courses, students study languages in the following order:

1 Pascal.

2 C++.

3 PHP and everything related to web programming, as well as SQL(this is a system designed to work with databases through queries).

Web(website development, online systems and everything connected with it) – html(although it cannot be called a full-fledged programming language), PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Java, Groovy, as well as ASP.NET technology.
Custom software(all kinds of programs like reference books, browsers, instant messengers, etc.) – Delphi, C, C++, C#.
Custom software for mobile devices– Java, Objective-C.
Machine developments(working with microprocessors and other devices, designing robotics) – Assembler, modifications C.

Someone can also add so-called 1C programming to this list. Don't trust laymen and people who don't know anything! This is not programming at all.

Once you become familiar with the basics of the work in question, you will understand why this can be said.

Choose what you like best.

Advice: Make your choice right away! You must know exactly in which direction you will develop and what to study in the future.

Most specialists also It is recommended to start your learning with Pascal. This option will allow

You need to write the simplest programs and have a general idea of the craft in question as a whole.

We can say that Pascal is a kind of bridge. A person who simply knows mathematics well can move through it into the world of programming.

Attention! Whatever company you choose to work for after training, you will be retrained for yourself. Therefore, you just have to understand the very principle of writing programs. And for this there's nothing better than Pascal.

Step three. Studying Compilers

For reference: Compiler is a technical solution designed to translate input commands into machine instructions, roughly speaking, into zeros and ones, that is, into an interpretation in which the machine will understand what to do.

Actually, you will write and execute all your programs in compilers.

If you decide to follow our advice and start with Pascal, then you should download Free Pascal. This compiler is absolutely free and is distributed on the official website.

As you can see, it looks quite “old-fashioned”, but programming begins exactly with this. By the way, the C++ compiler looks almost the same.

It's called Turbo C++ (you can download it).

As for Pascal, there is also GNU Pascal, Turbo/Borland Pascal, TMT Pascal and Virtual Pascal. And for C++ you can use Borland C++, Visual C++, Dev C++, GCC and Eclipse.

But this, as we said above, is just the beginning. You can't stop there. Once you've made a choice about your direction, you can move on to more complex compilers.

Here is a list of the most popular compilers today depending on the areas of activity:

RegardingDelphi, then that’s what the compiler is called there. There is also Embarcadero Delphi and some other modifications. Delphi 7 can be downloaded from many sites, for example. If you chose C, C++ or C#, then you need Microsoft Visual Studio. You can download it directly from the manufacturer's official website.

If we talk aboutAssembler and other languages used in robotics, then you need to immediately download MASM if you are working on Windows. In general, depending on the field of activity you choose and the company for which you get a job, compilers can be very different. Some firms write their own code processing solutions. Therefore, if you have chosen robotics, it is better to study the relevant books and do everything as they say. We'll talk about this later.

There are also many online compilers. They are useful because they support many programming languages and do not require installation - very convenient!

Here are the most popular ones:

This is a unique service that allows you to create several virtual computers and do whatever you want on them, including compiling ciphers.

Virtual machines will run under . On them you can at least delete the system folder, install absolutely any program, and so on.

Now let's start writing your first cipher (code). This can be done even without books and long instructions.

Step four. First code

For the first code, we will use the first language and the first compiler, which we advised to choose above. These are Pascal and Free Pascal.

One of the simplest programs is written as follows:

1 Download Free Pascal follow the link above and run it on your computer.

2 Enter the following: “program [name];”. That is, if you want the program to be called “hello”, you must enter “program hello;”.

3 Enter the "begin" statement. This means that the code that will need to be executed later has begun.

4 We use one of the most common constructions in Pascal “writeln(‘[some text]’);”. It simply displays text on the screen. Which is contained in parentheses and quotation marks. We will introduce the combination "Hello, world!". This is usually where people start their journey into the big world of software development. So the next line would look like “writeln(‘Hello, world!’);”.

5 To complete the cipher being executed, enter "end."(necessarily with a period at the end).

6 Now press the button "F9" to run what you wrote. You will see the words appear on the screen "Hello, world!". This is what was required!

To get you started with other languages, books usually also provide instructions on how to write “Hello, world!” , that is, instructions that simply display such simple text on the screen.

So, you have mastered your first cipher! A start has been made. Now move on to intensive training.

Step five. Take online training

The advantage of online lessons is that you see everything clearly, from start to finish.

Therefore, it is better for beginners to start their journey with online trainings. Here best courses in Russian:

Course “Programming Fundamentals” from the Educational IT portal GeekBrains. Everything is told here from the very beginning, from the very basics. You will be able to study the history, development of this industry, and then gradually become part of it. The same series of trainings can be downloaded from a torrent (here is the link).
Lessons from the School of Programmers. This course is suitable for those who don’t even know anything about mathematics, don’t know the nature of numbers, how information is represented in a computer, and other similar points. That is, if you consider yourself a complete layman, watch these video lessons.
"Programming Foundation" from EG Lab. Here they will talk about this craft in general, about the development of complex tasks and data types (three lessons in total). Watching these lessons will be a great help to start learning a specific language in the future.

After viewing these courses, you need to move on to lessons dedicated to a specific language or industry of your choice.

If you know English, it's a huge advantage, but only if you already know something.

For some reason, courses for those who are absolutely zero in this matter are not provided there (or they are impossible to find).

But there are courses for specific languages. For example, there is Learn Java Simply, C++ Programming Tutorial for Beginners, How to program in C# - BASICS and much more.

Choose training depending on the direction of your activity.

If you have watched at least a few lessons, you can move on to something more meaningful, studying books.

Basics and subtleties of the C++ programming language. Practical tasks and tests. Do you want to learn to program? Then you are at the right place. Whether you have programming experience or not, these lessons will help you get started creating, compiling, and debugging C++ programs in a variety of development environments: Visual Studio, Code::Blocks, Xcode, Eclipse, and other IDEs. Lots of examples and detailed explanations. Perfect for both beginners (dummies) and more advanced ones. Everything is explained from scratch to the very details. These lessons (200+) will give you a good base/foundation in understanding programming not only in C++, but also in other languages. And it's absolutely free!

All you need is desire, a desire to learn. You can find everything else here.

For reposting +20 to karma and my gratitude!

Chapter No. 0. Introduction. Getting started

Chapter No. 1. C++ Basics

Chapter No. 2. Variables and basic data types in C++

Chapter No. 3. Operators in C++

Chapter No. 4. Scope and other types of variables in C++

Okay, let's get started - you want to learn how to program in C/C++, and you want to know exactly what you have to do. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do right now. If you are hesitant and don't know what to do next, then this is the place for you.

Installing a C/C++ compiler so that you can run your program.
Start reading C++ articles on our website.
Solving problems in programming.

You can also start learning C/C++ from a book. Recommended books for beginners, you can. If you are having problems, take a look at the following articles:

5 most common problems of novice programmers, and ways to solve them

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What is C (C)? What is C++ (C++)? What's the difference?

C is a programming language originally developed for the developing Unix operating systems. It is a powerful low-level language, but it lacks many modern and useful constructs. C++ is a new language based on C, which in turn complements most modern programming languages.

In principle, C++ supports all aspects of the C language, providing new features for programmers that make programming easier, allowing them to write useful and complex programs.

For example, C++ allows for easier memory management and adds several features thanks to object-oriented programming. OOP basically makes the work of programmers easier, since there is no need to think about the smallest details, the programmer is focused on solving the main problem.

So what is C++ used for?

C++ is a powerful general-purpose programming language. It can be used to create small programs or large applications. C++ is used to write CGI scripts, and DOS programs can also be easily created in C++. C++ allows you to create almost any program you might need. Read more about the C++ programming language.

How to learn to program in C++?

You don't need any special knowledge to learn C++. If you want to learn how to program on your own, electronic textbooks or books will help you with this. There are many free online learning resources, including a website, some of which do not require previous programming experience. You can also choose books on programming on our website.

When reading a textbook or book, it is often useful to type the program code into the compiler manually, without copying. Typing code manually will help you remember the syntax of the language, familiarize you with the general structure of the program and the use of common commands. After running the sample program and making sure you understand how the code works, you should experiment with it: play with the program and test your own ideas. By seeing what changes each piece of code causes, you'll learn about programming step by step.

In order to run program code in C or C++, you need a compiler. The compiler converts the source code into an executable file. You can learn more about the compilation process.

Can you help me choose a compiler?

Definitely for beginners, Code::Blocks is our recommended, free and easy-to-use compiler for Windows. For Linux - g++, gcc or Qt. All of these links will help you get started with programming.