Teenager wants to learn to program...which language?

3,157 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by Tailgate88
Tailgate88
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AG
Asking for a friend. (really). He is interested in desktop apps more than web development.

TIA
Ganondorf
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Depends on what type of programming. Not sure what desktop apps are written in but there's a few you can do for phone apps.

http://www.androidauthority.com/want-develop-android-apps-languages-learn-391008/

http://mashable.com/2012/07/11/language-app/
permabull
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UmustBKidding
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Learn to program then learn a language. I am from the era before OO design and names for what we did when we designed programs. Probably would call it Functional Decomposition today. Still valid in OO methods and general problem solving not just programming. So probably would start with basic OO with at least a introduction to SOLID. For introduction to using these principals I would probably do Python.

Tailgate88
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Thanks!
exp
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C# is in incredible demand in the marketplace right now. Couldn't recommend it more.
aggolfer
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Another thought would be to do some VB for excel.
JDCAG (NOT Colin)
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I'd say Python or ruby. Low cost of entry, lots of documentation online and very popular languages right now.
rynning
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Ask him *what* he wants to program, then figure out the fastest path to be productive. If it's an Android app, Java. If it's iPhone, Swift. Website, PHP or Python then JavaScript. Google for a good 101 tutorial to get going.
Philip J Fry
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C++
TechnoAg
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I agree in theory, but some languages are harder to pick up than others. I'd recommend C#, because in addition to being a good language with lots of learning resources, you can get Visual Studio Community Edition for free and I think having a great IDE helps lower the learning curve.
UmustBKidding
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At this point I personally would not be the one to recommend learning DART, Objective C, or even Java. And actually the .NET ecosystems seems to be shrinking some. But if mobile is of interest along with the desktop and the web Xamarin makes .net solutions that you can use the same code base across all platforms. Have several friends that are actually fluent mobile app developers that just were fed up having two codes bases that have converted to C# for IOS & Android.

But again I learned during the days of old. But the process and mindset is the thing to learn first. Volume one of the Art of computer programming by Donald Knuth is actually a great book, and learning MIX is fun but I suspect no teenager is going to think so. And if you survive to volume three you can learn to sort with the temp file on a mag tape. :-)

javajaws
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Ok, so I might be a little biased...but the op said "wants to learn to program" and also "desktop applications". From that right there I would omit Python, perl, php, and JavaScript. Great tools, just not the best fit for what is being asked. I'd lean toward Java, c++, and c#.

Between those it depends. I think c++ would be a little rough as a first language for a teenager - but if they have some hard desire to make native window apps it's probably the best.

I would give the edge to Java as a good language to learn programming fundamentals and lean toward using it with SWT for writing desktop apps over Swing. And the great thing is if they changed their mind and wanted to write web stuff there's various ways they could use Java for that as well (either alone or with other languages).
permabull
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Rex Racer
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My first language was AppleSoft Basic.
nukeaggie2000
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what about turbo pascal? that's what I used in high school
Tailgate88
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quote:
My first language was AppleSoft Basic.
PET 20 or GTFO!
taxpreparer
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For me, it was FORTRAN with WATFOR and WATFIV. Lots of fun, but it really hurt if you dropped your program cards.
Duncan Idaho
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Cobol or logo.
logs10
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I would say Python.

Highly recommend the website below for a nice free introduction.

http://www.codecademy.com/
Deputy Travis Junior
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The distinction between desktop and web apps is shrinking by the day and isn't that important. Do Python. Fast, simple, and wildly popular (so he'll have lots of support).
coastalAg
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I did the Learn to Code the Hard Way for Python course and it gave me a really good foundation. It doesn't cut any corners so I would definitely recommend for someone brand new to coding.
agnerd
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Are there any resources available at the kid's school? Programming class I had in HS for beginners was excellent. Maybe something at the community center or community college? As others have said, language doesn't matter that much, but I'd recommend having something structured to start out and then let the kid go out and do the rest on his own.
bigtruckguy3500
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http://blog.ted.com/10-places-where-anyone-can-learn-to-code/
khkman22
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After seeing this, I'd probably go with Python if I were a teenager.
Deputy Travis Junior
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2.7
HECUBUS
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I got mine writing Java plugins for minecraft when he was eleven. It's a fun way to learn. I had to learn Java, but it's very much like C++.
Gary79Ag
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quote:
For me, it was FORTRAN with WATFOR and WATFIV. Lots of fun, but it really hurt if you dropped your program cards.
Been there. done that...know exactly what you mean, especially if your card deck consisted of multiple boxes of cards!
Tailgate88
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He's on Code Academy learning Python. Thanks all!

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