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How to learning programming and do not give up?

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fonliner:
Well I can tell you that I already had tried learning programming by using C++, PHP or AngelScript but always I throw it very quickly away. I do not know why maybe it is my poor motivation or later I can not understand everything and I stop learning.  :-\

I have no idea how I can find something interesting in it because when I start for example watching simple video couse the basics are very easy and I am so happy. Later is much harder and you know I give up and do nothing.

Also, for example when I know some about variables, loop I do not know what kind of programme or script I should write because I can not use my knowledge and plan my application.

Generally, I am interested in web development, I have my own simple projects based on CSS framework Bootstrap which I was creating earlier. But for few months I do not nothing because I was too lazy, bored and do not have motivation to learn/do something new. :(

Any suggestions for me where I should start and where I can find something useful? Maybe someone could help me a bit?

JovankaB:
Maybe try programming in JavaScript
It's used in Web development, it's simpler than C++ and you can do fun stuff faster.

fonliner:
Can you recommend me a good tutorial or even ebook? How should I plan my scripts before I start learning and writing something. How do you build your stuff from scratch?  Do you typing from your head or prepare someting or what ???

Lidae:
I would recommend setting some goals for yourself, like a project you want to make. Just learning a programming language without any further plans can get pretty boring. But if you have something clear in mind that you want to use that knowledge for, that helps. Try to find or come up with some project that you're inherently interested in - if you want to make a game, make a game that you would enjoy playing yourself.

Of course in the beginning it needs to be simple, so you don't get overwhelmed. Something that you can maybe make a very basic version of and then keep adding to and improve as you go along and learn more. I usually find that once I get started with something good, it's easy to think of ways to improve it and add more features. Anyway, if you want to make games, I would suggest thinking of some simple game that you enjoy. Tetris, minesweeper, solitaire, doesn't matter that much. The simpler it is, the better, because you'll be more likely to have something "playable" sooner. I did minesweeper once, that's not a bad choice if you like that game.

It might not be the best thing right from the start, but once you get slightly more advanced, it really helps with motivation (for me at least) if you're working on a project together with other people. I typically get bored of my solo projects before they are completely finished.

As for what language to start with, I don't think it really matters that much. Personally I like Python.

One thing to consider, if you can't think of anything interesting and "easy" to make, is to mod existing games. It's a nice way to learn the basics of programming (and, depending on the game, some really advanced stuff too), because you typically get to see cool results with very little effort. That certainly helps with motivation.


Once you know what you want to make, then you just have to start crunching some beginners tutorials. The most basic ones are typically easy to find and easy to follow. Once you have a basic grasp of the syntax, I think the easiest way to learn is by looking at existing code. Look at it, test it, try to figure out how it works, and don't be afraid to tamper with it and ask questions like "I wonder what would happen if...".

If you know what you need, try to find/recall something that does something similar, even remotely similar. If you have nothing, see if you can find a tutorial or sample code or something else that might fit. And then get in there and start adjusting. Take it one step at a time, don't try to make too many changes at once.

It's always slow at first, but after a while you get the hang of it, you remember all the syntax at heart, and you can start writing code from scratch.

Hope that helps a little bit. Good luck!

raynor009:
Try Code Academy if you like doing web related stuff. It has free interactive lessons for pretty much every web based programming language. Even Javascript. And as Lidae said don't force yourself to learn everything at once. Take it easy. Learning to code is like building a brick wall, you can't build the entire wall at once, you need to build it brick by brick and in time it will be finished. When I first started to learn coding I took a notebook and a pen and I wrote down everything I learned, it helped me a lot with memorizing everything and it's also good if you forget things so you can just go back review what you learned. Oh and I was terrible at math, always had bad grades in school  ;D , programming helped me a lot with this matter.

I really recommend you try Code Academy it has many languages for you available that you can learn. Try them all, see which one is easier for you to learn and go for it  ;)

I recently bought Project Zomboid and this game relies on Lua I decided to start learning to code for it so I can make my own mods.

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