MacBreak Tech has a recent podcast talking about learning to program. They begin with the question "how do I start programming games" and break it down.
- Pick a project. Don't learn for learning's sake. Learn to accomplish something. It will give you a structure to hang your learning on.
- Pick a language. They suggest Python, Basic, and Flash. Those aren't bad places to start.
- Book or class? Think about your learning style. Classes force the pace. Books are often better than reference material. They make a cohesive whole out of all the parts.
- Borrow code. Think about starting by modifying something someone else has already done.
Of course, the podcast is a little Mac-centric. They don't mention Visual Basic or C#, but most of the content is applicable to any language. If you have an MP3 player and are wondering where to start, try this podcast.
>Of course, the podcast is a little Mac-centric. They don't mention Visual
ReplyDelete> Basic or C#, but most of the content is applicable to any language.
There's nothing wrong with either of those languages. However, neither of them is very accessible on the Mac. You have to run vmWare or Parallels to take full advantage of them. Of course there's always Mono or dotGNU. I have not worked with either project. As for VisualBasic, Mac-wise the only thing close is Real Basic.
Funny thing about recording the "hello world" show is that we decided to make it specifically Mac centric. For example we didn't talk about Qt as a cross plateform application framework. Which really is beyond the scope of "hey! I want to learn to program my Mac."
What's really cool is that we could re-record the show, take out the Mac references, insert another platform(s) and we've got another show.
Thanks for the link!
John