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If you are just starting out, then the best method is to find a night-school course, or failing that a good book: Addison Wesley, Wrox, and Microsoft Press do good ones (and you may find your local library can lend them to you). Follow from the beginning to the end, and do every exercise - you should learn enough to get started on building experience (but don't expect to be a top-notch programmer in a week, it takes quite a while to build up the "mind-set" that you need).
I'd suggest starting with C#: it's flexible, relatively simple, and is used for everything from websites to desktops, to mobile devices.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Quote: I'd suggest starting with C#
I agree 100% But would add that the best development platform to start with, will be Visual Studio 2017 (Community Edition.) VS2017 CE is a free download. I would also suggest he learns Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). However, it is a lot to learn for a newcomer. He will have to be seriously motivated. 
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Definitely agree on VS: there is no better dev platform anywhere! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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While I do love me a good programming book designed to be read from cover to cover, is anyone still publishing valuable books on recent topics? Seems to me now that documentation is all online, but documentation is not a replacement for good tutorials...and those have moved on to random blogs. So while you can find answers for very specific questions, I find it's not as easy to find an organized series that progresses on a given topic like a book does. In other words, a lesson plan.
OTOH, it seems like the Microsoft Virtual Academy has a substantial number of good places for a beginner to start, if one was interested in video.
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The trouble with online tutorials is there are a huge number of them, and they are mostly total rubbish produced by people who know little more than the people they are "teaching" (and who have no idea how to teach, it's a skill, and a difficult one to learn as well).
But you don't need the "latest and greatest" to start with anyway: get a damn good grounding in the basics and learn to think think a developer; you can pick up the latest bells and whistles later on.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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My problem in my case is that I need to "unlearn" over 2 decades worth of traditional desktop/server development habits and start thinking like a web developer (if I was to get in that area). I mean, I can put together some HTML/CSS/scripts, but the result would be "a web site obviously done by an old-school developer". It's not just "the latest bells and whistles"...it's an entirely different mindset. It can obviously be learned, but (personally) I'm having a hard time finding something that will teach me to leverage what I already know, and make good use of it in a web environment. Blogs generally do a terrible job of this sort of thing. And web development books waste too many pages going over the basics that the totally inexperienced need--and those books end just as it starts getting interesting.
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Have you tried searching on Codeproject?
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: DotNetBookZero[^]
I always recommend that book first too. If you are just going to learn the basics it is a great place to start and written by a master writer.
However, for the same reason that Petzold starts the user out with command-line work (because VStudio can be overwhelming itself) I also think that beginners should start with...JavaScript.
As long as they keep the caveat in mind that JS doesn't provide much guidance in the way of structure and organization of code, it is a good language to learn because there are such low barriers to entry. ie - You can write code right in your browser and see it run.
But, of course, I also understand the inherent dangers of a newbie learning JS and thinking it is a perfect language.
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So true. It's always difficult to recommend a good path to people with little or no programming background. Especially as they can be misled into thinking that you can become a top developer in a couple of weeks.
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: Especially as they can be misled into thinking that you can become a top developer in a couple of weeks.
That is the root problem, really.
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When I retired around 2009, I really got stuck into C# and Windows Forms for the first time. Prior to that I did a lot of embedded C and C++ with MFC. Working most days in retirement it took me years to get reasonably proficient in C# and WPF, including MVVM and the Prism platform. Lately I am getting into UWP. The frigging learning never stops. I've been at it for 8 years! 
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Cornelius Henning wrote: Lately I am getting into UWP*. The frigging learning never stops. I've been at it for 8 years!
I agree. I remember, back around 1998/99 I we had these huge Netscape Enterprise Server (old dead web server) logs (in excess of 5GB per day) and we needed a good way to extract data.
PERL bubbled to the top and I started looking at it and hated the syntax.
I was resistant for about 1 week, then I jumped into learning PERL.
I decided at that moment that was what the IT world was all about. Learning new stuff continually.
Fortunately (as I'm sure you know too), much of the foundational knowledge really is there in every language and things just repeat themselves.
*Gratuitous self promotion --- Have you read the 15 chapters of my book here at CP?
I just completed Chapter 15: Programming Windows 10 Desktop: UWP Focus (15 of 15)[^]
You can get the Kindle version at Amazon too ($1.99).
The articles / book contains over 350 screen shot images which walk you through the material.
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I wasn't aware of your book. I'm going to check it out right now!
[Edit] I don't have a Kindle. I'm way too old-fashioned for that! So I ordered the paper copy from Amazon a minute or so ago. (Shhhh: Don't tell anybody, but I also learnt your real name in the process!) 
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Cornelius Henning wrote: Don't tell anybody, but I also learnt your real name in the process!
Oh no, what will I do? 
Thanks so much for checking out my book.  That is very kind of you and I really hope you enjoy it.
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Quote: I really hope you enjoy it.
I'm sure I will. I will let you, and others, know!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Cornelius Henning wrote: I will let you, and others, know!
Thanks, again, very much. really nice.
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dandy72 wrote: While I do love me a good programming book designed to be read from cover to cover, is anyone still publishing valuable books on recent topics?
Yes. O'Reilly.
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This is not something that is easy to get into without a good degree in the discipline, and some experience - typical Catch 22, I'm afraid. However, if you still want to proceed I would agree with OriginalGriff that C# is probably the best route. Get hold of a copy of Visual Studio Community 2017 from Visual Studio Express | Now Visual Studio Community[^]. And a good starter teaching guide is Dot Net Book Zero, by Charles Petzold[^], although it does assume a reasonable understanding of the basics of programming.
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I have found that books containing exercises have helped me a lot.
In particular the 24 Hour series of books(SAMS teach yourself series), although not hardcore manuals, have helped me a lot by taking me through projects within the books learning as I go.
I agree with others who say to start with C#. C# will teach you good programming habits and knowledge if you are disciplined and from there you will be able to pick up javascript and sql as you go along.
We all have different ways of learning and I find the best way for me to learn is to decide on a project which is beyond my current ability and to complete that project - of course if you are just starting out it probably helps to have some background first.
You don't have to decide which direction to take from the very beginning - thankfully, or maybe not, nowadays in IT one is generally expected to understand a lot of different areas but not necessarily in depth, so you don't have to become an expert in communication protocols unless of course that is want you want to be an expert in.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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The first decision is what to learn by deciding for what you want to develop. Have any idea what job you may get?
The mobile market is red hot and you may start with Android Studio or Visual Studio for PCs, but my advice is also to think about web programming. Coding websites isnt so easy as people think, because a lot of skills beyound HTML, CSS and graphics is needed. Javascript and PHP a full programming languages. The advantage of web programming is that is easier to start, always job offered but not so well paid like programming C++ or for Apple.
Search on Youtube for some tutorials with a lot of lessons in programming. Compare some - there are bad, good and some outstanding.
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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Just up-voted Karsten's post - breaking into "coding" is the wrong way to think about it. We solve problems with code, so you really have to ask yourself what problems do you want to solve. I mainly work in the embedded side of things - I like talking to hardware, but I'm an electrical engineer, so it fits.
Others are compiler freaks - really smart people who are locked in labs and fed by remote (just kidding).
There are those of us that reduce what we know about control systems and aerodynamics and help planes fly.
Some do web sites, and as already mentioned, mobile is red-hot. The list goes on an on.
After a few years, you sort of know what you like working on and gravitate in that direction. I don't know what you do for a full time job, but one thing to consider - can you sit staring at the screen for hours on end designing, writing, deleting and re-writing, and debugging? Of all the children I have had, not one has said to me, "Gee dad, I wish I could sit in front of a computer and code all day like you." In reality, they ask me, "How do you sit there all day? Oh, can you fix my car?" Truth is - I love it.
It's okay to not have a clue - so pick 3 and be prepared to toss them if you don't like what you are doing. Creating a simple web site would be a good start. VS2017 will hold your hand doing this. Best way to figure it out is to pick a problem and try to solve it. Keep the problem VERY restricted. Many developers have had their heads explode trying to get a grip on what Microsoft is doing. The web world is even worse than Microsoft.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
modified 1-Jan-18 13:55pm.
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Here's a test:
0) How many different ways can you come up with the answer "73"?
1) What are the properties of the number "73"?
Yes, there's a reason I'm asking both questions, and I can predict your level of success based on your answers.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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I thought it was 42.
I'm retired. There's a nap for that...
- Harvey
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Saw the answers above and I don't disagree with the advice,
but,
first think of what you want programs to do.
It's like saying "I want to make food" - what food? simple dinner, cordon bleu, cakes, dessert, ...
c# is a good choice, but if all you want is a website it's like using a 283 piece tool set to change a flat tire or even change the oil on your car. For say websites there are far better ways to get into that. (much lower learning curve, far faster presentable results, all around easier). Take a look at w3schools where you can actually learn and try it online - no need to install anything. Within a week or two you can have a site with some really amazing effects, pictures that fade in/out, forms that change depending on answers, mouse pointer changing shape as it moves - using c# it'll take a beginner a few months or more to get even close to those same effects.
So yes you can do all that in c#, Visual Studio, ASP, .net... too, after also installing IIS and a few other bits and pieces (- as a beginner add minimum a week just to get that all together before you even start). And yes it's all free, but oh, you also need a fairly respectable rig for it to be effective, whereas all you need for w3schools is your browser - chrome, firefox, edge or even internet explorer - what you are using right now.
If you want to go up a class from there why not rust (it's in the top 5 of languages employers are looking for - true c# is top 10, but rust is ahead) - and again there are fully on-line learn & try sites, all you need to start is that very same browser - rustbyexample.com and play.rust-lang.org
There's in-between options, more advanced options, free on-line, no need to spend a frustrating week downloading and setting up. (Remember those that suggested visual studio or/and c# have done it before, like a chef telling you it's easy to properly fillet, spice and saute a fish and dress the plate - but why invest in the equipment (even for free) and learn all that if all you want is to make scones (or "biscuits" if your from USA)
Once more: first think what food you want to cook, then search/ask for advice on more pointed to those goals.
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