Programming is one of the most valuable skills for career growth, self-development and creating something amazing. Ten tips for those just starting their journey into the world of programming, from Lifehacker.

10. Find out why you want to program

The chosen direction of study will depend to a large extent on why exactly you want to learn to program and how much time you are willing to devote to this process. If you want to become a programmer, the first thing you should do is enroll in professional courses (Google has compiled a list of skills and courses for those who want to become software engineers). If you want to create games and websites for fun... free time, best choice are interactive courses. Bloc has created a comparison chart of courses based on download, cost, and reason to learn programming.

9. Choose the right language

7. Try apps for kids

Nowadays even kids are learning programming. Although many children's learning programs are quite simple, some (like Scratch) are suitable for all ages. It doesn't matter how old you are, even kids' animation apps can teach the basics of coding (edX has a new Scratch tutorial).

6. Take advantage of free online training

Free online trainings and projects (Codecademy, Hour of Code, etc.) can help you write your first program. Tutorials from Khan Academy, Codecademy, Code.org and others will introduce you to the basics of programming and everything you need to create a game, website or other project. Find the source you need based on your programming language using . This is a good starting point, but further learning is your responsibility.

5. Take an online course

Online programming courses provide more extensive educational training than sites that offer online training in a single language. These courses are designed to teach basic skills over several months in university-level classes. I big fan Harvard online course CS50 (available for free). There are also other possibilities. You can even get a university-level education by choosing one of 15 online courses.

4. Free books on programming

If you are stuck on a problem or need to find the answer to your question, don't forget about reference books. You can find a huge collection of over 500 on GitHub free books on programming. Collection also available e-books, covering 24 programming languages.

3. Learn by playing

Sometimes the best way learning are games. While many programming textbooks teach you how to program simple or challenging games, some educational sites are games themselves: Code Combat and CodinGame are tools that you can use to have fun.

2. Find or become a mentor.

The programming community is full of people willing to help the next generation of programmers. Hack.pledge() is a site that will help you find a mentor. Or you can become a mentor for someone else. Teaching what you've learned will help you remember the information better.

1. Parse someone else's code

Understand how loops work. Cycles are one of the most important aspects programming because they allow individual blocks of code to be run repeatedly until a certain condition is met. This allows you to simplify program recording repetitive actions and saves you from having to write new conditions every time you want the program to do something.

• There are three main types of loops: FOR, WHILE and DO...WHILE.

Use a FOR loop. This is the most popular and useful of the cycles. It continues to execute the given function until the conditions set in FOR are met. FOR loops require three conditions to be specified: the variable to be initialized, the condition to be satisfied, and how to update the value of the variable. If you don't need all three of these conditions, you need to leave a space with a semicolon in their place, in which case the loop will last forever.

#include int main() ( int y; for ( y = 0 ; y< 15 ; y++ ) { printf ( "%d\n",y) ; ) getchar () ; )

• In the above program, the initial value of the variable y is zero and the loop continues until the value of the variable remains less than 15. Each time a new value of y is displayed, it is incremented by one and the loop repeats. As soon as the variable y is equal to 15, the loop will end.

Use a WHILE loop. WHILE loops easier than FOR loops. They set only one condition and the loop runs as long as this condition is met. Here you don't need to initialize or update the variable, but this can be done in the main part of the code of the loop itself.

#include int main() ( int y; while ( y<= 15 ) { printf ( "%d\n",y) ; y++; ) getchar () ; )

• The y++ command adds one to the value of the y variable each time the loop is executed. As soon as the variable y becomes 16 (note that the loop must be executed until the variable less than or equal to 15), the cycle stops.

Apply a loop D.O...WHILE. This loop is very useful in cases where the loop operations need to be performed at least once. In the FOR and WHILE loops, the condition is checked at the very beginning, that is, if a false result is obtained, the operation specified by the condition is skipped and not performed. The DO...WHILE loop checks for conditions at the very end, which allows the loop to be executed at least once.

#include int main() ( int y; y = 5 ; do ( printf ( "The cycle is working!\n ") ; ) while ( y != 5 ) ; getchar(); )

• This loop will display the intended message even though the condition test fails. The variable y is set to five, and the loop must repeat when the variable is not equal to five, so the loop is exited. The message is displayed on the screen once, since the condition is checked only at the very end.
• The WHILE clause in a DO...WHILE loop must end with a semicolon. This is the only loop that requires a semicolon at the end.

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. Beginning of work

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++

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 begin

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 learn various programming languages ​​and technologies. 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. Choosing a university should be approached 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, and give useful advice. 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 a long time learning a language, it may discourage you from programming at all. 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. The next step is to 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. A vicious circle of 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, 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. Due to Python's uncomplicated syntax, it will take you 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 a 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 programming languages.

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- a 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! Do not 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. A mobile application developer learns 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're working with, the operating system, and the 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 through the projects you've worked on, think about the technologies you've used. And forward - to a bright future with a new profession as a programmer.

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 Such results require 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).

1. 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.
2. Custom software(all kinds of programs like reference books, browsers, instant messengers, etc.) – Delphi, C, C++, C#.
3. Custom software for mobile devices– Java, Objective-C.
4. Machine developments(working with microprocessors and other devices, robotics design) – 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 ones and zeros, 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:

ConcerningDelphi, 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. 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.