Pilot

As the theme of this blog suggests, today's hot topic is about how to start programming. How I started programming and what is the ideal and absolute paradigm to get started. It doesn't matter if you are a mere beginner or an intermediate level programmer. As many of the reader would agree with me that there's a compulsion in programmers to find as much resources as they can to be aware of.

What are the ways to start programming?

There are two ways of doing it. First is a good way and the second is a bad way. 

Let's talk about the bad way first.

In my two and a half years of experience in programming, I have seen a lot of people(most of them are my friends) who learned it just by jumping into the chrome and searching on google tutorials, video lectures etc. They thought that internet is all they need to have to learn it. I remember most of them saying more often,"Oh! Come on dude! We are living in the "Information Age". What's worth if we are not gaining it".I wouldn't say that what they said was wrong. What's better than the internet.Just one search key and Whoosh!. But believe me, this 'is' is bad way to learn.It may seem feasible in the short term but the long term results are terrible.

Now, the good and absolutely the best way. 

If you want to learn programming in a decent manner, you have to do it the ideal way. And the ideal way to start is to get a decent book. Yeah, you heard it right. It doesn't matter which programming language you want to learn. Books are the trusted and reliable foundation. If you don't agree with me at this point of time. it's okay. But I would like to redirect you to this great article written by an internationally known software developer Jeff Atwood Programmers Don't Read Books -- But You Should.

Here, I'm not going to discuss about what are the good books to get started it. There is a loads of information about good to great books on the internet. Just google it and roam around a little bit. You will get the idea.

My experience with books

I love books. Though, my reading list is big, I'm not going to discuss about each of them.

My first books was Programming in ANSI C. It's a very down to earth book. It's assumes that the reader has no previous knowledge of any kind of programming language. It is written in the easiest way one can think of. The text walk you through every aspect of C language. The examples are fun and worth practicing. The exercises vary from easy to moderate to difficult.

In short, the book is a complete package for any beginner to C programming language.

Other books that read subsequently are:

Head First Java

I want to talk a little bit about this book here. This is the most expressive and eloquent book I've ever came across. This books walks you through the rich text it supplies in a way that you feel that the images are talking with you. The kind of exercises it provides is overwhelming. The code snippets given in this books give a precise description of the concepts of the Java programming language. It's the best book for any beginner who want to learn Java as his/her first language.

Introduction to Algorithms

This is probably the best book for studying algorithms and the underlying data structures. It's a classic. There is no need to elaborate about the greatness of this book. Anyone who want to dive in the world of algorithms should read this book. It builds a good foundation and made you really think and stress upon your mind. The exercises demand a mathematical background but 'No Worries'. You'll find confidence after reading it.

That's it for now.

I think I'm out of thoughts since it's my first article.

See you later READERS.