[|Erasmus|]

Originally Posted by Zepph

Yeah never recommend C++ right off the bat. I know you're a python fan Erasmus but I feel there are better languages out there (dumber versions of java, java itself, c#) that are more suited to a beginner. I say this because Python has a weird flexibility that can confuse a beginner later on when suddenly they find they cant stick ints and strings in the same array :3

But! As others have said if you want some help on the programming side, let me know!

It's also a little weird with it's variable scoping which confuses some people.

But I recommend it not because I use it a lot personally (it's a job, I don't choose which language I get to write in most of the time), but it feels (to me) like it's the closest language I've tried to just describing what you want a program to do without getting bogged down in a lot of weird syntactic stuff.

And unlike C#/Java it doesn't enforce you learning about classes at the start (biggest facepalm for me ever was my first university lecture on programming where they had to try and teach us about classes because we were doing Java... )

Plus I think it teaches good habits with it's indentation requirements

There are a lot of good guides for doing relatively simple things in Java or C# though which will teach a beginner though.

[Cordance]

Honestly it doesnt really matter which language you use lets face it every single language boils down to how easy it is to implement something. If someone says you cant do something in a true programing language(one you compile not a scripting language) they are lying, what they are really saying is it cant be done easy or efficiently. Lets face it all a program does is plays around with 1 and 0. Anyone who has ever written a program in machine code will tell you "DONT" but after that they will tell you at a base level programing is simple logic made complex only by its size.

There are only two important things when writing a program. Number one good logic. Number two good notes. The reason for this number one makes it easier to understand good logic when you are trying to find bugs or implement it with other parts of code. The reason for number two is because 2 hours after you are eyeball deep in code your notes at the only thing that helps you follow number 1.

An important question that no one has asked are you looking to hobby program (aka in spare time) or looking to work towards a full paying job well programing because both these goals are very different and are much better server from different paths once you get past the very basics of understanding programing. Like writing a program you really need to map it out before you start your work.

Random side note.

Originally Posted by |Erasmus|

Plus I think it teaches good habits with it's indentation requirements

Good habits will be beaten into you with in the first week of programing if you are coding with someone else. Personally I dont like any language that forces me into some structure because I like to use the same one for all my programing but thats a personal thing.

For everyone else who makes comments on some programing languages have strange quirks that can be confusing, every language does. Thats why its advised to learn one language first then spread your wings to other ones with a greater understanding of what you are trying to do. I remember the good old days of making a double with 300 digits and watching the computer blue screen as you overwrite the OS with your information ... fun with C as people use to call it, always double check double.

[Pox]

Python's definitely a good place to start. To branch out after that and get a feel for the variety of languages that are out there, I'd try C (to get familiar with low-level stuff) and Haskell (because functional programming is best programming).

For practical web dev work, PHP is certainly the most common language in use, probably followed by Perl, Python and Ruby.

[foxmeep]

Originally Posted by Arma

If you are gonna focus on programming for websites, might want to have a look at web-scripting languages such as javascript, php, asp, jsp etc. Rather than C or C++. Python is also helpful and not difficult to learn. Generally once you have a strong grasp of one language, and understand the concepts, then others become a lot easier.

I'm a software engineer, with knowledge of C, C++, Java, Ruby, Python, SQL etc. etc. But I currently do a lot of web-development at work, so I use a fair bit of Javascript, as well as deal with databases, so a lot of SQL too. It really falls down to what kind of stuff you want to be programming for in the end - but like I said, once you have a good grasp of the concepts, things become easier

This is by far the best advice so far. What you want to achieve with your programming should greatly define which language/s you choose to learn. It's all good to say that it doesn't really matter which language you learn from a learning perspective, but the fact is that different languages have different applications in the real world. Learning a programming language properly is time consuming, so unless you have countless hours to spare then it's a good idea to invest your time wisely.

This site is pretty handy to see what languages are popular - http://langpop.com/

[TCPGunter]

i reckon learning this stuff would be awsome ive always been interested in learning photoshop at a reasonable standard

[TABottles]

Hey man, when I fumble around on photoshop I usually like to make interesting patterns and shapes. Mainly because it's very simple to do and it's symmetrical - well this method is.

Basically what you want to do is open up a new project and set the following:



(It can be any dimension as long as they're square.)

You should have a completely square blank canvas to work on. Next thing you want to do is find your gradient tool (most likely on the left), click it and the mode of which you want to use. In my example i'm using ''difference''. I'm also using a variety of different gradients (Radial, angle and reflected gradients etc.) and my colour is from black to white. I then proceed to swipe around the screen until something like this comes up.

+ Show +

(remember yours will not look exactly like mine - that's not the intention.)

Easy enough right? It only gets easier from here. Next thing you want to do is dublicate your background layer. You can use the hotkey ctrl + J. You should now have new layer visible at the bottom right hand side of the screen. You want to tweak your layer so that it's either a ''lighten'' or ''darken''. This will make your layers show up.

Next step is to ''transform'' your newly created layer. Do this by pressing ctrl + T and a box should appear around your layer. Right click the image and choose ''Rotate 90 CW''. Here's what mine looks like after this.

+ Show +

Continue dublicating your layers and rotating them 90 degrees until you've got a completely symmetrical pattern.

You can now merge your layers by shift selecting all of them (including background) and right clicking to open a drop down box. Merge layers should be there. You now have a pattern ready to go. You can do some adjustments with the colour balance, add some filter effects. Anything!

Finshed in just over 10mins:

+ Show +

This isn't my favourite design.. but luckily you can do this as many times as you like! If you found this helpful.. or need more help just ask. Also would love to see what the community can create using this method!!

[Konayuki]

You may want to check out www.deviantart.com

Quick Comments

mGGAequitas:

not really the best for tutorials, but great site!!