Coding & scripting forum: General Programming?

You can start out with a '____ for Dummies' book, many of which are good for giving you a quick introduction of the most notable points. You can start with something generic, like 'Programming for Dummies,' or something more specific, like 'Java for Dummies.'

Some quick points:
1.) The amount of math depends on the type of program you're creating. A FPS game, for instance, includes a significant amount whereas a note-taker contains a minimal amount.
2.) C/C++ are considered harder to learn than, say, C# or Java as the language itself does less for you. (The meaning of that will become clear down the road.)
3.) The language of choice depends largely on what type of programs you want to create and where you want to run them. (Ex: C# is great if you're customizing Windows while Java's great is you want a program that works on most devices.)
4.) Python was designed as a language for beginners, so it is a good place to start, but Java's a classic starting point for college-level programming courses.

Hope this helps,
John

1.) More concepts, not elements. Given the range of programming paradigms and syntax, the most important thing is to understand the concepts of functions, methods, classes, typed variables, loops, conditionals, et cetera. That way, you can apply your understanding to a number of languages and quickly adapt to the different structures.

2.) Varies widely. Android and Blackberry are mostly Java, but also have C and C++ mixed in. Windows Phone is Silverlight (Flash competitor) and XNA (known for Xbox 360 development). iOS (iPhone OS) is primarily Objective-C (common for Mac OS X development), but also uses some C and C++. WebOS primarily uses HTML and JavaScript (web technologies), but also some C, C++, and Java.

3.) Apple prohibits Java from running on their operating system, and Microsoft have adopted that philosophy with Windows Phone (contrary to Windows Mobile). Reason: They prohibit users from obtaining programs from outside their own app stores (so they can block 'undesirable' applications and collect part of the profits), and Java would let users avoid that restriction. Outside of those two, though, Java will run nearly anywhere - Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, WebOS, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, et cetera. Perhaps that wasn't your question, but that is the answer.

Hope this helps,
John

I've noticed Apple won't let a lot of languages run on their devices. Java and Flash specifically. I'm going to be programming more for BlackBerry and Android markets, so it's not a big obstacle, but still, you'd think they would allow those languages.