Where do i start programming?

[smith88]

Hey all, i've been using linux for about two years now and I love it. I also really want to give something back for all the great (free!) software I've been able to use.

Previously when I used windows I learnt how to program in Visual Basic (about as difficult as HTML I know, but it was a start). Now i want to learn a more powerful language to make decent applications (with GUI frontends) for my beloved linux.

So, doing some research, i though Python might be a good start. Any suggestions? Does anyone know where I might start learning? or of a good website with some guides? I have no idea where to start, and as with most things, starting is the hardest part.

So if anyone knows good resources, IDEs or can recommend a better language to learn on please do so!

Thanks

[Thinker]

Hi smith88,
Good to know that you are interested in making your own contributions to Free Software World.

The best resource for Python is : -

http://www.python.org/

Do a web search for more tutorials.

GTK+ and Qt are good GUI tool kits to use. Web search for more information.

For IDEs, again, do a web search, there are many to pick.

Tcl programming language and Tk graphical tool kit is also a good language. Again, search the web for more information on this.

Perl is also a powerful language. There is a tutorial in the home page of Linux Forums. Do web search for more information.

I cannot suggest which language you should use. I pick according to what suits my needs, which varies most of the times.

Which language to pick depends on what kind of application you want to create and also on how comfortable you feel to use them. For the last time, do a web search for more reviews on these languages.

With Regards,
Thinker

[Roxoff]

If you want to give back by getting involved with an existing project, then take a look on souceforge for something you'd like to help with.

You may find that you can contribute without learning any new programming languages, projects are always screaming out for help writing manuals and doing graphics and such.

If you're volunteering to help with coding then you might want to look at learning C then C++, as these are used commonly throughout Linux development.

[smith88]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think perhaps I'll start by reading some reviews of the different languages, and then begin by helping on a project which is close to my heart on sourceforge. Once i get a feel for how it all works then i'll start some hardcore programming.

The only reason I have steered away from C and C++ is that they seem to be very low level programming languages, and i just dont have the time to make applications with them. I understand the fragile balance (between power/efficiency and development time) and i'm afraid that my time is more important, so i'll probably end up with python (and i'll look more into perl!)

Thanks again

[Javasnob]

Don't forget to check out freshmeat.net; I typically go there for my project needs.