Is it to late to start learning programming at age 20?

[Lag]

Opinions are appreciated

 

[gamer1357]

Definitely not. Im a college student also age 20 doing computer science. College kids don't really start programming until second or third semester when they are around 19. You're still young. You can either learn on your own or go for a computer science degree.

 

[HEXiT]

nope. im dyslexic and old (44) but managed to learned to program in 3 languages in my late teens early 20's.
none of them are relevant today though, as the platforms i learned on are long since dead or fell out of general use.
(atari/stepheson basic, amiga amos and qbasic). that being said i can read c++ and web scripts like java/html all thanks to learning the basics from basic.

so yeah if you apply yourself no matter what age you are YOU CAN DO IIIIT!.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VZ2HcRl4wSk

 

[Lag]

Thank you, Think I will start with a little C# to fool around with in Space Engineers Figured it was a good place to start learning the basics.

 

[Pinhedd]

Thank you, Think I will start with a little C# to fool around with in Space Engineers Figured it was a good place to start learning the basics.

If you really want to learn the basics, then C#, Java, and Python are not the place to start. These semantics of these languages (and accompanying standard libraries) are designed specifically to hide the basics behind layers of abstraction. If you wish to learn programming from the ground up (which is the right way to learn it), you should start with a BASIC dialect (VB.NET is fine) as well as C (not C++ or C#).

I recommend C because it's the language that I use to teach proper programming techniques. C is extremely powerful and it puts a lot of power in the hands of the programmer while simultaneously forcing them to learn how to use that power correctly. What I like most about it though, and the reason that I use it as a teaching tool, is that it forces the programmer to do almost everything on their own.

 

[Lag]

Thank you, Think I will start with a little C# to fool around with in Space Engineers Figured it was a good place to start learning the basics.

If you really want to learn the basics, then C#, Java, and Python are not the place to start. These semantics of these languages (and accompanying standard libraries) are designed specifically to hide the basics behind layers of abstraction. If you wish to learn programming from the ground up (which is the right way to learn it), you should start with a BASIC dialect (VB.NET is fine) as well as C (not C++ or C#).

I recommend C because it's the language that I use to teach proper programming techniques. C is extremely powerful and it puts a lot of power in the hands of the programmer while simultaneously forcing them to learn how to use that power correctly. What I like most about it though, and the reason that I use it as a teaching tool, is that it forces the programmer to do almost everything on their own.

Sorry, I should have phrased it differently. I meant I want to learn a language that is easy to learn, and that I know I will use a lot. I'm going to do surgery on my leg in the fall, so then I will have more time to learn the more "low level" languages. I agree that starting with C would be best, but that takes more time, and i currently have a lot of exams coming up, so I wouldn't be able to focus that much on it, and learning C requires a lot of work.

 

[Pinhedd]

Thank you, Think I will start with a little C# to fool around with in Space Engineers Figured it was a good place to start learning the basics.

If you really want to learn the basics, then C#, Java, and Python are not the place to start. These semantics of these languages (and accompanying standard libraries) are designed specifically to hide the basics behind layers of abstraction. If you wish to learn programming from the ground up (which is the right way to learn it), you should start with a BASIC dialect (VB.NET is fine) as well as C (not C++ or C#).

I recommend C because it's the language that I use to teach proper programming techniques. C is extremely powerful and it puts a lot of power in the hands of the programmer while simultaneously forcing them to learn how to use that power correctly. What I like most about it though, and the reason that I use it as a teaching tool, is that it forces the programmer to do almost everything on their own.

Sorry, I should have phrased it differently. I meant I want to learn a language that is easy to learn, and that I know I will use a lot. I'm going to do surgery on my leg in the fall, so then I will have more time to learn the more "low level" languages. I agree that starting with C would be best, but that takes more time, and i currently have a lot of exams coming up, so I wouldn't be able to focus that much on it, and learning C requires a lot of work.

C is very easy to learn. In fact, I would argue that due to its extremely concrete nature it's actually easier to learn that more abstract languages such as Python or languages that have much more extensive language grammar such as C++

C seems complicated because it generally requires a fair bit of boilerplate to be performed before the real guts of the program logic can be fleshed out. Programming is the very embodiment of "the devil is in the details", C just puts those details in front of the programmer.

C is my go-to language for problem solving. If you want something done right, write in C!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S1fISh-pag

 

[Lag]

Well, for learning any language you need a project, and I have a hard time figuring out what to program using C 😛

 

[Pinhedd]

Well, for learning any language you need a project, and I have a hard time figuring out what to program using C 😛

I recommend small things. Trying to tackle a large project in C as a learning tool is... unwise.

I can provide you with the problems that I use for a programming challenge that I run at my alma mater every year. I have solutions for many of them all written in C

 

[HEXiT]

yes mate start at the beginning. there is no missing steps and jump aheads with programming. i learned that the hardway.
start with the classic "hello world" and move on from there.

 

[Lag]

Well, for learning any language you need a project, and I have a hard time figuring out what to program using C 😛

I recommend small things. Trying to tackle a large project in C as a learning tool is... unwise.

I can provide you with the problems that I use for a programming challenge that I run at my alma mater every year. I have solutions for many of them all written in C

Yes, I would greatly appreciate that

 

[jjb8675309]

Absolutely not, I didn't start until I was about 25.

 

[Lag]

Absolutely not, I didn't start until I was about 25.

I am now programming in C, just a little bit though. Following tutorials and the like to start with, I also have a programming book that I will take a closer look at after I finish my exam.

 

[jjb8675309]

Why C? Good for learning purposes I suppose but if I was starting fresh I'd learn a web language.

 

[Lag]

Why C? Good for learning purposes I suppose but if I was starting fresh I'd learn a web language.

Because Pinhedd recommended it. Its hard I know, but its great to learn what is really going on underneath the hood. Especially things like memory management is very important that C teaches you.

 

[jjb8675309]

Yeah it is good for that. Once you learn one OOP language you can easily pick up others.

Without C we wouldn't have had the high level madness that we have now.

Python and Java would be good too and don't count out .Net

 

[Kewlx25]

Programmers don't "program", they think. Writing code is the easy part, having an aptitude for breaking down problems into steps is more important.

I didn't start programming until my 20s, but I understood and read up on how computers worked for the 10+ years prior to actually writing code.

 

[galerecon]

If you really want to learn the basics, then C#, Java, and Python are not the place to start. These semantics of these languages (and accompanying standard libraries) are designed specifically to hide the basics behind layers of abstraction. If you wish to learn programming from the ground up (which is the right way to learn it), you should start with a BASIC dialect (VB.NET is fine) as well as C (not C++ or C#).

I recommend C because it's the language that I use to teach proper programming techniques. C is extremely powerful and it puts a lot of power in the hands of the programmer while simultaneously forcing them to learn how to use that power correctly. What I like most about it though, and the reason that I use it as a teaching tool, is that it forces the programmer to do almost everything on their own.

This^. Don't start with C++, C#, Java, or other OOP languages. I highly suggest starting out with C. I just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. C was the very first language I learned and it definitely helped picking up other languages. Once you get a bit more experience, there are some things that are annoying and that might frustrate you in C, but it definitely teaches you more how a programming language works, the logic, and the inner workings of the system (compiler for example). If you get yourself familiar with C, learning another language is going to be a breeze. Another reason I recommend to learn C first is because you might have to hard code a few things in C, then when you're learning Java, C++, or even C#, you'll quickly find out that there are a lot of libraries you can use so you wouldn't have to write all that extra code. But it's a positive thing because then you'll be aware of how those particular libraries are implemented.

Why C? Good for learning purposes I suppose but if I was starting fresh I'd learn a web language.

Unless you're a graphic designer or something similar, never start with a web language, especially if you're trying to learn programming. Web languages (HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, etc..) are very different than OOP languages like C, C++, Java, C#, etc. and are somewhat easier to learn and get a grasp of. If you learn HTML/CSS first, it won't help you pick up C whatsoever. It would be like learning Spanish when you speak English. The syntax is the same, but the meaning and structure of the language is a lot different. On the other hand, if you learn OOP language before a web language like those I mentioned above, you will already have the programmer's mindset and it'll be easier for you to get a grasp of the structure of the language much faster.

I hope I gave you some positive insight. Good luck!

 

[BiggerBluer]

If you let age define what you can do then you have larger issues at hand. Go for it! Good luck! (btw im 20 also weird! haha)

 

[Lag]

If you let age define what you can do then you have larger issues at hand. Go for it! Good luck! (btw im 20 also weird! haha)

I definitely don't feel like I'm twenty though 😀 I have dry eyes in addition to insomnia. People frequently compare me to a 70 year old with memory problems 😀 I hope I can keep with it though, because dry eyes really puts a damper on works performance, especially in front of a computer. Dry eyes is also why I'm considering not applying to a university next. Will see if improves somewhat over this next year. Doubt it though, considering I've had it for the last two years.