Windows 7: Starting programming/web designing.

Hi i would like to know all the different kinds of languages and can you list them from the most basic to the hardest?
Thanks

The difficulty of programming languages are just what you make of them and how easy you can grasp them really. For web designing you only really need to worry about HTML and CSS at first, and programs like Dreamweaver make it even easier for you. To get more out of a website you need to start looking at scripting with JavaScript or PHP.

For programming languages stuff like C and Java are good places to learn. C is simple, but once you start getting in to the advanced stuff can be very powerful and provides a foundation for other languages such as Java, C++ etc as the syntax and functions are familiar throughout. You won't be making websites with C, or GUI applications.

VisualBasic or C# with .NET are good for GUI applications, as well as Java if you start learning the GUI stuff with that.

Then you've got the lower level languages like assembly language.

They're just a some languages to name a few. There's plenty of others and each one is better at a certain thing than another, but C or Java are probably the two best to start off with I personally find.

+1

i'll only talk about simple stuff, as it's all i know.

strictly speaking, html and css are not programming languages, as you can't write programs with them - you can only markup, layout and prettify webpages with them (and you could argue that html is a subset of big daddy xml - but i digress...)

BUT they are easy to learn, and will get you into the basics of coding and syntax - and you can make web sites too!

back in the last millennium, before wysiwyg software came out, we actually had to learn html (even before css was invented), and had to write webpages all by ourselves in notepad - these days, programs like dreamweaver make it so much easier and quicker.

as far as the web goes, in order to get a page to actually do something rather than just display static words and pictures, you will need a scripting language such as javascript (which is actually called ecmascript, but nobody calls it that - and has nothing to do with java at all. it was only called javascript, as 'java' was a trendy word at the time, and the name has stuck.) all modern browsers should be able to read and interpret javascript, although there are a few annoying things to watch out for, as a command that works in one browser may work slightly differently (or not at all!) in another. however this problem is getting less of an issue as browsers are becoming more and more standards compliant - the same is true for css.

again, javascript is pretty simple as a first 'programming' or 'scripting' language as it introduces you to the concepts of variables, objects, functions, conditions etc etc - all elements of a 'proper grown-up' programming language.

i was a teenager in the early eighties, back when affordable micro-computers were starting to come into homes and schools, so i was taught BASIC, which is a very simple language to learn, using simple english words like IF, THEN, GOTO etc. back then we used to buy magazines with pages and pages of long program listings that we would sit and type (and debug!) into our little computers for hours and hours and hours (picking up geeky/nerdy solitary antisocial habits along the way ).

that was a good way to learn BASIC, if you were paying attention. however nobody uses basic anymore afaik, as it could lead you into poor programming habits. instead it has evolved into visual basic, which is also pretty simple, and is another good place to start learning how to code proper programs that can run outside of a web browser.

Ok thanks guys

So if i wanted to learn programming, what should i start with and continue learning?
Visual basic, then c, c++, etc?

Everlong knows more about it than I, and he suggests C or Java.

i would definitely recommend getting a book about it, for easy readability and reference - maybe one of those 'dummies guide' type books?

maybe wait for some more replies, too.

I have C++ for dummies and it is a great book, so yes I would suggest purchasing a dummies book.

Yea there's some good stuff in the Dummies books.

Like I said before, I'd recommend starting with C/C++ or Java. Both are similar in syntax, so once you get to grips with one, then the other will be easier to learn.

Alright thanks guys, im gonna go to the library and check some HTML, CSS, and java books.
Once i get those 3 im gonna work on C and C++

Good luck and enjoy