How do you learn a programming language?

[Gemini]

I do C# so its very helpful to me.

[relapse]

Ah, I see. That is all you use?

[Brandon W]

Knowing C# can be useful if you wish to continue on with the .NET framework.

[xsonline]

The syntax of a language like C++ isn't the most important. You should first focus on ways to structure your code, so others can read them after you've written them. I think the best way to start, is to read about UML.

UML is a unified moddeling language for Object Oriented environments. If you learn this, you only have to translate these techniques into your favorite Programming Language. The syntax of any language mostly isn't so very difficult.

[jpiche]

How do you learn a new language? Research which books are used in college classes and pick one up on amazon, or if they are too expensive, pick up an O'Reilly book--that's how I learned Perl.

[xsonline]

following tutorials is an efficient way. you learn a language by using it

[NatalieM]

I've subscribed to Safari, which lets you access loads of books including all of the O'Reilly ones. The subscription is kinda expensive (about $45 a month) but if you are learning full time, it's well worth it considering that each book would cost about the same. I plan on subscribing for up to a year - at the moment, I'm checking out/reading about 10 books a month so it's well worth it but I suppose that as I learn more, I will refer to books less often and therefore might not be able to justify such a cost.

I decided on this after researching my local library and finding out that they had very few programming books and because I am opposed to illegal downloads, I looked for a way to access many books and I found Safari and I am very satisfied with it.

At first, I was going to my local bookstore and checking books there but there's only so many times you can do that without attracting attention lol

As for learning a programming language in general, I use a mixture of books and trying to do my own apps. When I'm stuck, I then go on the internet to find some example code or a forum with somebody with a similar problem. Quite often, my question can be answered without having to directly ask for help but of course, if I couldn't, I would post on here.

I've been looking at ULM for a while and I think it's a great concept. Is it widely used?

[Rustix666]

2 Years on Programming Courses.

[:Matt:]

2 Years on Programming Courses.

So you take two years of courses for each new language? I doubt that. You didn't answer the question correctly.

What I do is I look at maybe three or four different online tutorials to get a basic understanding of the language. (Just enough to be able to read most source code, write a 'hello world' app, etc...) From there I look at source code from other people then I write a few small projects on my own.

[Orjan]

to learn enough to write a hello world-app, you would not need more than maybe an hour for each language with no knowledge at all before.

But to learn to program, you would problably need a month or two to know the basics with iterations, selections and other basic moments. with that knowledge, you can learn other languages easier.