Expert: Leigh Ishikawa - 3/26/2008

Question
hi leigh i want to be  computer programmer and i was wondering where to start and how hard will it be to acomplish?if you can help thankyou.

Answer
Starting a programming is only up to you.

10 or more years back, it took money to get all the tools.  But in today's world and computing power, this is very easy.

What do you need?
If you have a dual core or better...
1. VMWare server (http://www.vmware.com/products/server/)
2. Linux distrubition.  Why bother installing?  Just go to http://www.vmware.com/appliances/ and pick a free linux distribution!

If your pc is older, then just skip the above.
3. Pick a language.  This is your choice.  Java, and C++ are the two most popular, but you can start with scripting languages as well.  I would recommend perl as there's tons of stuff out there.  Go download it.  Just google and you will find what you need.
4. Get an editor.  www.eclipse.org.

Say you want to try out database programming.  Well, go to vmware site and they have many versions already installed and running for free.

And did I mention all this is absolutely free?

So you want to start with programming with let's say perl.

Use google!
Searching for "perl how to start" sent me to:
"http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/Perl/start.html"

Good place to start.  Or you can go with Java.
https://eclipse-tutorial.dev.java.net/eclipse-tutorial/part1.html

Above is a step by step guide on how to develop with Java using eclipse.  Easy.

But this is just the beginning, you want to use source control, and other means.  And for that, I recommend using CVS as it's very common.  (And yes, you will most likely find a vmware image that has already been premade with CVS.)

Good Luck,

L