macOS Learn to program

[alexp195]

hello
i am a newbie to programming and would like to learn. I'm looking for any suggestions on how to program in xcode. not for iphone but for mac. and i have never programmed before. every time i have tried i have become lost in the language please help.
thanks for any replies
MBP 13" 2.4gh 4gb RAM 250Gb HDD iphone 4 16gb

 

[hiddenpremise]

Starting from nothing is a long path, but I believe a great place to start is with this book
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Objecti...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292557120&sr=1-1

If you have absolutely NO programming experience at all, perhaps maybe one book back at
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-C-Mac-D...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292557185&sr=1-1

These books will teach you to write command line applications at first (no graphical interface), but will get you the language skills you need.

Then maybe move to
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Cocoa-M...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292557232&sr=1-3

I have used both of the first two books that I recommend.

C or Obj-C will be a tough start for a complete beginner. It may be easier learning a basic scripting language like JavaScript or PHP first.

 

[hiddenpremise]

hello
every time i have tried i have become lost in the language please help

Beginning with a language like C may not be the way to go then. It may be easier for you to learn a scripting language like javascript or PHP which do a lot more for you automatically. These languages are typically used to develop web applications, but will teach you important programming concepts like loops, if/else, variables, basic syntax, etc. I would suggest PHP personally, it is fairly forgiving. There are hundreds of good books on PHP. Both of these languages are syntacticly similar to C.

if you decide on PHP, grab http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-macosx.html to run your php apps on

 

[ZebraineZ]

http://www.amazon.com/Python-Programming-Introduction-Computer-Science/dp/1887902996

I don't know programming at all lol, but from all the advice and books and whatnot I can say this is the best...Python is one of the best languages to start learning from fresh, especially down the path of learning C (which is also good since it can be ported to almost anything).

And this book has it all obviously from the reviews and stuff you could see how much people like it, and I guess it also gives you a lot of info on computer programming/science in general, so overall it's really a good book.

It starts out really helpful and easy and overall FUN, doesn't get you bored, not like other books that are just retarded or weird and boring, surprising how this was written almost 10 years ago too.

 

[larswik]

I asked this same question years ago and started with Python with this book
http://www.amazon.com/Python-Progra...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292574119&sr=1-2

I got about have way through and had to stop when my mom passed away. When I started again I made the jump to C and started with this book which I highly recommend, I am half way though it now.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

-Lars

 

[(marc)]

Learn Java first. You won't have to deal with pointers but you'll get used to object orientation from the start.

 

[MsMerryMac]

Learn Java first. You won't have to deal with pointers but you'll get used to object orientation from the start.

Agree with this and PHP...you won't be creating Mac stuff but you will be more "gently" eased into the sometimes overwhelming language that is used in programming.

 

[SidBala]

If you want a really solid foundation, then start with C.

It will be hard, but it will teach you the skills you need to learn a language.

Easy route - start with python or php or any script language.