Skip to navigation | Skip to content

Share your knowledge. Make a difference.

Programming Beginner

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 14 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Ranked #234 in Tech & Geek, #6201 overall

Rated G. (Control what you see)

Are you a beginning programmer?

 

There are some programming languages like Ruby and Python that are not too hard for beginners to learn. Of course you could dive right in to C++, but once you know one programming language it is much easier to learn a new one.

A good beginner's programming book helps to learn programming fundamentals and you'll find many beginning programming books here that don't assume you know another programming language first. I will also update this page with beginning programming links and videos that I find.

Baby Sitting at Desk Using Computer


Teach Yourself Programming in 24 Hours 

Sams Teach Yourself Beginning Programming in 24 Hours (2nd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself)

Amazon Price: $23.09 (as of 10/07/2008)

This book is good for beginning programmers, going over the fundamentals of programming. If you have no experience programming, this is a good book to get first! Don't expect to become an expert in 24 hours, but it's a good place to start.

Beginning programming links 

these aren't for a specific language

How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Computing and Programming
Online book about programming from MIT. Starts out with why everyone should learn how to program.
Erratic Wisdom: 5 Tips For a Beginning Programmer
5 Useful tips for beginning programmers

C++ Without Fear 

C++ Without Fear: A Beginner's Guide That Makes You Feel Smart

Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 10/07/2008)

C++ may not be the easiest language, but if you want to start out with C++ and don't have prior programming experience, this may be the best book for you. It doesn't have everything you need to know about C++ so use it as a starting point.

Beginner C++ Programming Tutorial Videos 


C++ Tutorial 1 ("Hello World")

Runtime: 7:28
17538 views
10 Comments:


Strelok - First C++ Tutorial

Runtime: 9:53
2683 views
7 Comments:


C++ - 19 Video Tutorials from Stanford and More

Runtime: 2:13
3518 views
4 Comments:

Beginning C++ programming links 

Programming Tutorials: C++ Made Easy
C++ tutorial that "Includes basics, pointers, arrays, classes and structs, recursion, linked lists, encryption, OpenGL graphics, and more."
Should I learn C++ First?
Article that examines if you should learn C++ before C, and has information on procedural programming languages, and object oriented languages.
C++ Language Tutorial - cplusplus.com
C++ tutorial with working example programs, no programming experience necessary.

Thoughtful Young Woman Using Black Computer

Beginning Programming with Java for Dummies 

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 10/07/2008)

This is a good book on programming fundamentals to get your feet wet with programming and Java. It doesn't assume you know how to program yet so it helps you get a basic understanding.

Beginner Java Programming Tutorial Videos 


Eclipse and Java for Total Beginners

Runtime: 8:10
45858 views
10 Comments:


Tutorial:: Intro to Java

Runtime: 9:51
25029 views
10 Comments:


The Basics Of Java Programming

Runtime: 4:54
113082 views
10 Comments:


Java Tutorial #1 - Hello World

Runtime: 8:38
59009 views
10 Comments:


Java Tutorial Intro - Installing EasyEclipse

Runtime: 7:00
6868 views
5 Comments:

Beginning Java programming links 

Java Programming Beginner Lens
My Java Programming Beginner lens with more Java links, including Java video tutorials.
Getting started with Java
Beginner Java tutorials to help you get started with Java
JavaRanch - A Friendly Place for Java Greenhorns
Learn Java with the Cattle Drive, has some good programming exercises you can try, and Java forums.
The Java tutorials
Java tutorials on Sun's site

Male Young Adult Sitting on Couch Using Laptop Computer

Ruby: Learn to Program 

Learn to Program (Pragmatic Programmers)

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 10/07/2008)

This book by Chris Pine is a great way to learn Ruby if you don't have any experience programming. It teaches the basics, and is easy to understand. You can also check out Chris Pine's tutorial below which is free before deciding if you want the entire book.

Beginning Ruby programming links 

Learn to Program (using Ruby) by Chris Pine
Excellent online tutorial for learning to program using Ruby. The tutorial has expanded into a book that you can buy as well.
try ruby! (in your browser)
You can try Ruby right in your web browser--it has a 15 minute basic interactive tutorial.
Learning Ruby
Beginner's Ruby tutorial
Ruby Home Page - Download Ruby
Download Ruby - it's free. It also comes with some documentation.

Young Woman Studying in Front of Computer at Her Desk

Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner 

Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)

If you are an absolute beginner to programming, this book can help! It is for the Python programming language, but you can find Absolute Beginners books for your language of choice as well. Absolute Beginners books make learning programming fun as they tend to use games as examples.

Beginner Python Programming YouTube Videos 


Python 1: Installation and beginner's tutorial.

Runtime: 8:25
26858 views
10 Comments:


Python 2: Getting around Python modules

Runtime: 9:19
19461 views
10 Comments:


First 5 Minutes Programming with Python

Runtime: 2:44
16538 views
10 Comments:

Beginning Python programming links 

Beginner's Guide to Python
"New to programming? Python is free, and easy to learn if you know where to start! This guide will help you to get started quickly." Includes Has python tutorials and some videos for beginners.
Python Babysteps Tutorial
Python baby steps tutorial--great for if you have never programmed in your life!
Beginner's Python Tutorial
Teaches a beginner the basics of the Python programming language.

Astronaut Figurines Standing White Computer

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition Programming for the Absolute Beginner 

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner)

Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 10/07/2008)

This is a good way to start programming in Visual Basic without spending a lot of money. Hopefully they will come out with a good beginner's book for Visual Basic 2008 soon. In the meantime, this is a good book to learn the Visual Basic 2005 Express edition if you are new to programming.

Beginner Visual Basic Programming Tutorial Videos 


my Visual Basic Tutorial Lesson 1 Part 1

Runtime: 8:55
10960 views
10 Comments:


my Visual Basic Tutorial Lesson 1 part 2

Runtime: 7:06
3534 views
10 Comments:


Tutorials-Visual Basic 2005 (Video #1)

Runtime: 9:51
14500 views
10 Comments:

Beginning Visual Basic programming links 

Is Visual Basic a Good Beginner's Language? - Slashdot
Is Visual Basic a Good Beginner's Language? Slashdotters will let you know what they think.
Visual Basic 2005 Express- Absolute Beginner series
Free collection of over 10 hours of video tutorials for learning Visual Basic using Visual Basic Express 2005.(msdn.microsoft.com)
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET tutorials for Beginners
Visual Basic .NET tutorials for complete beginners, and you can use the free Visual Basic Express 2005 for these.
CESPage.com Visual Basic - Tutorials
Has some beginner Visual Basic tutorials with nice pictures!
Visual Basic 2005 lessons at hello-world.com
Has downloadable (pdf) Visual Basic 2005 Express lessons.

C Programming for the Absolute Beginner 

C Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition (For the Absolute Beginner)

Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 10/07/2008)

If you want to learn C as a first language, check out C Programming for Absolute Beginners. It makes learning fun with games as examples. C is not an object oriented programming language like C++, so if you want to learn object oriented programming from the beginning go with C++ instead.

Beginning C programming links 

C Made Easy Programming Tutorial
C programming language tutorial, based off the C++ Made Easy tutorial at cprogramming.com
Programming Language Tutorial
C programming language tutorial (Published in Computer Buyer: June 1998)
The C Book
C Programming Language Book that was originally published in 1991 by Addison Wesley, but is now online for free.
Common C Programming Errors
Common C programming errors, including beginner errors.
C Programming Notes
C Programming notes, part of UW Experimental college course on Introduction to C Programming.

Learning Programming Videos 

Summary of Over 700 Programmer Videos
This is an organized summary of over 700 programmer videos that are referenced on Ideal Programmer.

Beginning other programming languages links 

Rebol Programming For The Absolute Beginner
Rebol is supposed to be a very easy to learn programming language; this tutorial shows you how to program in Rebol.
Leopard Programming
A beginner's programming language--easy to learn if you have trouble with other languages, then you can move on to other programming languages once you've learned leopard.
Pascalite (Pascal) Programming Tutorials- PLTut
Pascal programming language tutorials. (Pascal is pretty much a teaching language, and Delphi, based off of Pascal, is more advanced. )
Welcome To Pascal for Programming Illiterates!
Pascal Tutorial and reference guide for the beginner

Source Code / Example programs 

Google Code Search
Search for public source code. Could come in handy for a beginner to find examples.

Reader Feedback 

Satish Talim

Nice lens. You can learn Ruby Programming for free and online with a dedicated team of assistants at - http://rubylearning.org/

Posted August 10, 2008

Huseyin Kecoglu

i create a website which will help people who are interesting in Java. My website is new so it will get better with help of Java users. http://www.worldofjava.net

Posted July 28, 2008

hamutie28

Great lens!

Posted July 18, 2007

BobSteen

I've started a new group and was hoping you would add your Lens on programming to my group.

http://www.squidoo.com/group/create_lens/everythingdata/331a44a6b795e0ff8398880fad0eae11

I hope you consider it!

Thanks
Bob.

Posted May 23, 2007

 
1 of 2 pages
X
fefe

About fefe

I'm a Squidoo Lensmaster with over 100 lenses about various topics from Anne of Green Gables to Roger Zelazny.

Check out my Lensography.

fefe's Pages

See all of fefe's pages

X

Gold Star

This is a certified gold star lens, which means it's the best of its kind on Squidoo (or shows some serious potential for getting there!)

Read more about gold stars »

X

fefe is a Giant Squid!

Giants are distinguished by their exceptional skill for making top-notch lenses, and lots of them. Whenever you land on a Giant Squid's lens, you know the person behind it is passionate about the topic and is hard at work making the lens worthy of your time and attention.

Learn more about what it takes to be a Giant »