Howdy! I just entered the magical world of community college, with the idea of finding an introductory class to test the waters of programming.
Test is the word, I am strong in logic, physics, and math, I have an unbridled passion for games and arts, but can't animator or draw to save my life. Programming seemed like a simple thing to try, see if I like it.
I was planning on getting my associate of arts (AA), and then getting a Bachelor in whatever I discover I want, I'm not going assume it's programming.
I, however, can't use any awarded money to put towards a class that will not achieve my AA, and any programming classes offered in my area will not aid my AA what so ever, which means I have to pay out of pocket.

I can't pay out of pocket right now. I can, however, use any awarded money to buy books on Amazon, bookstore, etc. So what I really want to do is buy a textbook, just go though it at my own speed, and if I like it, find a gaming one of the same language.

If anyone has any solid book suggestions for teaching a language of their preference, and then a gaming suggestion, it would be greatly appreciated.

I've dabbled lightly using online tuts, and seem to enjoy Java the most, just because of it's closeness to Unity. I don't want to block any great books or learning chances simply because I haven't seen the language yet.

TL: Quick, recommend your favorite learning resource that helped you learn/understand programming!


On another note, I've seen people offer lessons/tutoring because it helps them ground programming as well as their padawan, if anyone is offering, i'd gladly go under someone's wing.

Kids these days!

Back in my era, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the primordial soup was for dinner every Thursday, we didn't have books. Or tutors. Or the Internet. We just hacked around in our compiler until something worked, and by God, we liked it. Hell, we were happy to even get a compiler, and not have to write everything by hand in assembly language!

Now get off my lawn!





In all seriousness, though, I wouldn't stress too much about finding printed resources to learn from. Experimentation is worth far more than rote memorization of someone else's techniques. These days I learn most things by a combination of playing around with the tools and using Google to look up specific questions I might have. Start small and build up; you'll find that after a while you get a feel for the conventions and patterns used in naming things, or talking about concepts, or whatnot, and that'll help you expand even faster.

I would suggest C# over Java, for reasons which you won't appreciate until much later in your programming career, but also for one big reason you might find useful immediately: C# has a much more consistent style to it than Java does. Once you learn a few basics, you can figure out how to use pretty much anything in C# that follows that pattern. It's a philosophically similar language to Java, but with a lot less historical cruft and notably fewer warts.

[quote name='Confirm4Crit' timestamp='1316199580' post='4862559']
I've dabbled lightly using online tuts, and seem to enjoy Java the most, just because of it's closeness to Unity. I don't want to block any great books or learning chances simply because I haven't seen the language yet.

Just a nitpick, but Java has no relation to Unity3D. Unity is scripted using JavaScript, C#, and Boo. JavaScript and Java are completely different languages.

As for learning material, I suggest sticking to the internet if you want free learning material. You can't beat it, but you do have to get good at being able to Google for what you need and separate the wheat from the chaff. If you are already using Unity, then I suggest sticking with it and making some small games using the free resources that they make available. Worst case, you can just use the geometric shapes they give you in place of art and focus on game logic.

Other than that, you can check out XNA Game Studio. The basic tools are free and AppHub has tons of learning resources available for free.
[/quote]
I get what you mean. I've dabbled in C#, made a address book in VS, I've toyed around with games in XNA, I just haven't found that...flow.

I hate copy/paste learning.
This is what it does, this is what you should have done.

I hate that, i much prefer, "Here's your tools, mash them together and see what you can do"

I just got told. xD. I know, it's just....odd. The books I've seen have been so....do this, this, this, here's your result. They never present problems, challenges, etc, just.....look. It's odd.