Learning Programming, and how to learn better?

[Ghost]

Ghost here,

My supreme goal of being the most badass game creator in history can't come to fruition if I can't make games.

And one aspect of making games is programming, but programming is a flexible tool.

It can be used in other things like the growing IT world.

But then learning is a problem, not just programming. I also need to advance my learning.

Absorbing knowledge, and then retaining it. How can I better that?

Any free and easy programming tutorials, start simple build up?

Tips on retaining and absorbing knowledge?

[sbutler1]

www.codecademy.com

[161803398874989]

projecteuler.net

[rix]

Could you give us some additional information? Have you already some prgramming knowledge or practice? Have you mathematical knowledge?

What kind of games do you want to develop?

Do you want to write your own engine or rely on some other, like the Unreal Engine? Depending on that:

Which language do you want to learn? Scripting / OO / procedural ... ?

Regardless of your specific ideas and experiences, I second Project Euler, it is a great way to learn mathematical stuff in an interesting and playful way.

As an additional resource, I'd recommend this reddit comment and the FAQ of r/learnprogamming. I'll be happy to help you further if you have any questions.

[wildross]

Find an open source game or project you love and figure out how it works. Use that to guide your learning. Make it better.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

[tigersheart]

take classes.

read books

program...then program some more..then more...then keep at it.

It is exactly like exercise, the more you do, the better you are.

[Jcannon98188]

Find an open source game or project you love and figure out how it works. Use that to guide your learning. Make it better.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

This. I thought myself Visual Basic by examining the code for an open source 2d mmo engine called Mirage Source. Between looking at the source, and reading tutorials online for it, I managed to teach myself VB pretty easily.

Another great website I recommend is wibit.net

These guys make free video tutorials. Their voices are not all the boring, and they teach really good information. They share the different programming languages, and the pro's/con's of them. They also have a pretty good range of tutorials available.

[Ghost]

Wow thanks guys, I didn't expect so many replies.

I don't have any specifics, and my only previous programming knowledge is from a Year 10 Information Software Technology class.

I think that there is a Software Design Class opening next year, so I will trey that too.

Now I just need an open source game, and between that and tutorials, hopefull I will be on my way.

[fire.eagle]

Once you get started on it, http://stackoverflow.com/ and one of their sub sites, http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ are great resources if you get stuck on a problem.

[rix]

Now I just need an open source game, and between that and tutorials, hopefull I will be on my way.

I don't know about high-level games, but I know that the source code of the HTML5 game BrowserQuest is available at GitHub.

[gerbilOFdoom]

I've done some work for 0AD, it's a pretty solid game and they have beginner's tickets available so you can jump in with some small tasks to get started into game programming. http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/

As for absorbing and retaining knowledge, the best way is just to solve problems. When I started with Java, I'd spend hours debugging a simple prime factorization program only to discover I forgot a semicolon. Now, I pick up on those mistakes almost instinctively, they just pop out at me. I didn't study for hours, I just jumped in and googled anything I didn't know. It'll take a long time but you'll learn how to program with true skill if you just do it.

[Hrunter]

As an general instructor, a few recommendations;

Practice everything - especially with programming, even the smallest parts of the skill sets can be integral.

Learn about how YOU learn - different people, different learning styles. If you take classes, there's no guarantee that it will be presented in a format compatible with YOUR learning style.

Find a way to translate into and out of your learning style. This can be beneficial for studying as well as applying.

Use units of time that work for you. The pomodoro technique (http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/book.html - download & read it there) is one such way of doing it.