Taking The Next Step

[chez17]

Hello, I am hoping for some of you to point me in the right direction, allow me to explain.

I recently switched to Ubuntu from XP. That was the first time I have ever really used Linux at all. I am already a fan. I have a background CS, a proud grad of the University of Vermont with a CS degree, but I wasn't one of those kids who loved CS more than anything, I'm terrible at English and I was decent at it in high school so I majored in it. I am saying all this because I want you to know my position. I DO enjoy CS, Im just not very good at it, With Ubuntu, I am already using some awesome programs that people have spent so much time on. I want to be able to give back and become a part of the linux programming community. I was taught C++ in college but that was a while ago. I currently am a freelance web developer that codes mostly in PHP and I am decent with javascript. But I know nothing about application programming. I want to learn how to write programs that will actually do something, not just make a pretty slide show on a website. But I have no idea where to begin. Can somebody point me in the right direction? I was planning on learning a new language, probably python, for fun, but I am not sure if this is a good one to start doing some application programming. What are your thoughts? Where do I even begin? What language should I learn? Any good books? Whats a good first project? How much harder is it to start coding a game? Am a fool for even thinking about coding a game? Whats the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Clearly, I am not very knowledgeable in this area, but hey, the greatest journey starts with a single step. I think Splinter said that. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Dave

[fingal]

Hi - I don't program myself (although I understand the principles behind it) however from looking at similar questions I know that people will suggest that 'the best' language to learn is the one you enjoy using the most. Open source development is very focused on doing what you like.

Python would - IMHO - be a very good starting point. It's powerful, and you could certainly develop games using that language. It's not silly to consider coding a game because if you're imaginative there's a lot of scope for originality.

The O'Reilly series of books is excellent (I have a few of those myself) but you can begin learning just by finding programing resources online. It's easy to get hung up on what you should or shouldn't be using / doing for specific tasks... but again, the answer is to do whatever you enjoy.

Of course, you'll now be able to study the code for existing projects. You can read it, learn from it, improve it and redistribute it.

A journey of a thousand steps... That might be Lao Tzu you're quoting (not sure). The rest is Python.

PS: This is worth looking at.