How can I learn how to program?

This question is really big on answers... Is nearly as asking: "How can I cure people been a medic ?"

What you meant, maybe, is what do you need to know to program, to code. This question is more easily to answer.

To begin with programming, you should know what type of things are you going to develop, for example, if you want to make a robot, you should learn C/C++ and/or Assembler. If you want a software for Windows you should know C/C++/C#. You can learn Java too. If you want to make a web page, learn PHP/ASP + (HTML+CSS+JavaScript).

The most important thing is that you learn ways of solving certain problems. Algorithms and math. But most important is that you can apply this knowledge on other languages, because you are only doing an algorithm that solves that problem, it doesn't depend on the language, it depends on what solution you will bring to that problem.

On a beginner side I would go with PHP if you want to learn Web Development or JavaScript. For Software, I would go with C# because this is easier than C/C++. Remember, a variable on all types of languages are the same, same as functions/methods, and all that stuff... You can apply it on other languages.

I hope this answer gave you an idea.

What I would do is pick a beginner course online. Choose a free one to get your feet wet. Some cool resources out there I like and have used are:

Khan Academy (all free): https://www.khanacademy.org
Coursera (you can audit for free): https://www.coursera.org
Udemy (free courses offered): https://www.udemy.com
Lynda (10 day free trial): https://www.lynda.com

I hope this helps!! Happy coding!

Hii,

Don't just read the books. The best way to learn how to program is by doing it. It's easy to spend hours reading about syntax, but computer languages like human languages require you to use them in order to understand them.

Try starting with simple projects. If you're going the HTML / CSS route, play with JavaScript and get a simple div to move around on the page when you click on something. Then work your way up to more complex ones. For instance, write a simple todo list with HTML form elements. You have to learn DOM manipulation to properly handle when the user interacts with the page.

At Stanford, they teach beginning CS with games. Try building a hangman game using JS, or even just on the command prompt using Ruby or Python.

Edit: A new YC company called Codecademy (http://codecademy.com) just released an all-Javascript tutorial that is quite good. (Disclosure: I'm a venture partner at YC and worked with the founders this past summer.)

I began using Codecademy when it was new and before they moved further towards monetization. It was, in my opinion, the best resource for a beginner to get introduced to HTML, CSS, Java, JS, etc.

I've used udemy, Coursera and a few others

I found Free Code Camp and I truly believe it is hands down the best resource out there and the strong community is always there to help you when you get stuck.

What makes Codecademy and Free Code Camp great is they teach you by doing. I have tried quite a few other traditional formats of learning such as
lecture-style videos, flashcards, etc. Both organizations challenge you by walking you through coding different parts of a website, this accelerated my learning exponentially.

Good luck! The younger you start, the further you go!

Hi Jonathan,

To Learn how to program your First step should be to learn about Programming Languages like( C .C++. Java. JavaScript etc)
Choose a programming language which you want to Learn .
Computer programming is done as essentially a set of written instructions that the computer follows (also known as binary coding). These instructions can be written in a number of different "languages", or which are simply different ways of organizing the instructions and text. Different languages tend to be used to create different types of programs, however, so choose a language that you feel is relevant to what you want to do. If you decide that a language does not suit your needs, you can always move on to a new language.
This is the First step towards learning how to Program.

HI If you want to create a program, then first start with the basics. If Basics is clear then you can jump to other languages.
Now
First go with the "C and C++ " from yeshwant kanetkar books . It will help you to build your programming skills.
then
Second
Once you are have learned basics (it will take atleast 6 months for you to get used to it ). Now you can start creating programming in Visual Studio 2016 version easily and fast .
third then you can start jumping on other languages. Like JAVA , Oracle , HADOOP , C#sharp,PHP etc etc

[ Learing proramming is easy , putting logic into a programming is a god gift , if you are person who have logical mind then this is the way that you can approach]

Tips :
You can purchase the books from Amazon and easily availble.In case if you need any more information , then reply back

thanks
Vishnu