Author Topic: programming? (Read 528 times)

BlkKnit · « **on:** February 17, 2004, 06:48:52 PM »

looking for any genius' out there.

I have been looking at DarkBasic....anyone familiar with it?

Now, I am in no way a programmer, but I would like to learn something about it and judging from the free demo I can say I have an aweful lot ot learn!

What I want to know is:
1. are their claims that any goober can do it valid?
2. Is it worth the $60 or 90?
3. Would I really need the companion programs ($300 total) and would they be worth having?
4. Would a wannabe be properly served with these programs or would it all be so far over my head that its a total waste of the money, and what might be a worthwhile alternative?

Appreciate your input.

Ripsnort · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2004, 06:59:22 PM »

Sorry, just APT programming is all I've done.

Munkii · « **Reply #2 on:** February 17, 2004, 08:31:51 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Sorry, just APT programming is all I've done.

Then why bother replying?

To the original poster, I don't know much about DarkBasic, but I may be able to get you a full liscensed copy of Visual Basic pretty cheap. My friend recieved it for Christmas, and has never used it, if he still has it he would be willing to let go if it really cheap. Email me at munkii@cox.net if your interested.

Sandman · « **Reply #3 on:** February 17, 2004, 08:39:27 PM »

VB is a good launch point into C++.

Never heard of DarkBasic. Student versions of VB can be had for cheap.

Boozer2 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2004, 09:22:00 PM »

Head over to sun.com and get a copy of Java Developer Kit 1.4 for free. For what you want to do it can remain fairly simple and you'd get started quick, lots of tutorials and help on the sun pages as well as ENDLESS online resources to help you. A whole free online book at http://www.bruceeckel.com with source examples you can play with and your Java effots can be directly integrated into your existing web pages as applets etc

Ripsnort · « **Reply #5 on:** February 18, 2004, 07:19:42 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Munkii
Then why bother replying?

Punted.

Munkii · « **Reply #6 on:** February 18, 2004, 11:04:12 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Punted.

Ehh.. I'll accept it.

BlkKnit · « **Reply #7 on:** February 18, 2004, 12:21:46 PM »

Thanks guys. I am thinkin about a Java course next fall at the local college, i just dont know how much they'll actually teach.

I have not wanted to go for anything free, though....the tutorials I have found on various things always seemed to only skim the surface, and I really do need an instructor to kick me in the butt sometimes

I'm gonna look into those links though, thanks.

maslo · « **Reply #8 on:** February 18, 2004, 01:26:04 PM »

well i did start with assembler and i think it was great start
here is few basics if you are not ASm friendly yet http://www.heyrick.co.uk/assembler/

well its not that cool to use pure asm , but you can decide what to study later after you will have good knowledge of asm.

straffo · « **Reply #9 on:** February 18, 2004, 01:55:12 PM »

You would better stay away to any form of basic ,it's a language to permissive and so lead to bad practice.

A good start would (for me) a language with strong type check like C++ but I'm biased as I use it daily

Have a look to C#

Lance · « **Reply #10 on:** February 18, 2004, 04:02:39 PM »

If you are interested in object-oriented programming, java is a great way to go. Its cheap (free), powerful, and widely used. All of the oop principles you learn in java will carry over into any other oop language you may want to migrate to.

Do what Boozer said, head to java.sun.com and download the JDK 1.4 and take a peak at their tutorials. If you are completely new to programming, you might want to pick up a book geared towards beginners.

EDIT: I looked at DarkBASIC and it looks like a high level language for making games. If you want to mess around and try to make a game, it might be worthwhile. If you are more generically wanting to become a programmer, you should check out the other alternatives listed here. I have no experience with DarkBASIC myself.

Pei · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2004, 04:25:08 PM »

Most games are written in C: it seems to be the industry standard.

Java is a good place to learn though you might as well go straight to C and C++ if you want to get into games. The Java community is very large and there is a lot of support nad help available for beginners.

C# is very similar to Java but I find it's libraries more difficult to use and it has some pointless hold-overs from C. It's also M$ windows only (not that should be a problem for you).

Like Straffo I don't think any form of BASIC is a good place to learn: it encourages bad practices that will cause you major headaches when you get into languages like C.