How on earth?!

ID:167500
 
Mar 5 2006, 11:20 am
How on earth do people learn how to program so well I mean like i have read the entire blue book and things still make absolutuly NO sence at all.I guess my question is, what do i have to read and how many times do i have to read it? Help would be helpful =)
Mar 5 2006, 2:53 pm
Practice, practice, practice. =) Experience is what I think makes a programmer good.
Mar 5 2006, 3:00 pm
In response to FinalFantasyGamer
What I did was read the blue book, which made absolutly NO sence, then I looked in some libraries and got help from friends that knew how to code. Like he said, practice makes perfect. I started simple, making a small little building game (don't bother looking for it, I never punblished it.) and worked up from there. Now I made a Naruto game.
Mar 5 2006, 3:03 pm
In response to FinalFantasyGamer
Reading material and trying to memorize it doesn't work. First use some of the techniques it teaches you and build your self a small game starting with the most basic necessities.

Then as you read more and learn more, keep adding to the game trying to include things you learned. If you find a way that doesn't work the way you want to, try and find another way. When you think you've givin up hope, come to the forums and tell us what you wanted to be done, you code that you used, so we may point you in the right direction.

After all that tidious work, its time to test the game. When you get a run-time error, it means you did something wrong and you need to fix it.

Be sure that before posting, you search the forums. There just may be a way that you're looking for.

Mar 5 2006, 5:07 pm
In response to Crzylme
Well said.

It's all about trial and error.
Mar 5 2006, 6:06 pm
Think big but work small. I am not saying plan on making a full scale ORPG from the start, you wouldn't know where to start. Try little projects that you think would come in handy for making a bigger project. For example, try to make a small simple game, just to learn the basics. Make a simple attack verb that does what you want, then as time goes by and you learn more revise it and add to it. It is good to dream big, but don't plan big at the start, modify your dreams to fit what you currently know. Also be creative, if you can't figure out how to make something work the way you want it to, be flexible and try something different before you go to the forums, you will learn a lot through the process and you may end up with something that works better than what you originally dreamed of.
Finally, familiarize yourself with such things as: associative lists; if, for, and while; and how return values work et cetera. Take it at your own speed and don't let the want for instantaneous satisfaction take over.
Mar 6 2006, 3:07 am
In response to Drumersl
Well, I just started a simple world, and tested new stuff on it all of the time +P
Mar 6 2006, 9:13 am
I've never read the blue book. I just programmed a lot and loitered around on the forums. After a while you get good at it. But be careful, if you try too hard, you might turn into a Lummox.
Mar 6 2006, 9:24 am
Sit down, outline a simple game that you'd like to create, and then do it.

Creating something will force you to figure things out as you go, which is the best way to learn something in my opinion. It's hard to pick something up just by reading about it.
Mar 6 2006, 10:43 am
In response to SilkWizard
SilkWizard wrote:
It's hard to pick something up just by reading about it.

Too true.
Mar 8 2006, 6:40 pm
In response to KirbyRules
Thanks guys =)
Mar 9 2006, 12:18 am
I would suggest just writing a simple roguelike first. BYOND is designed to handle roguelikes, so it's fairly easy to do.
Mar 9 2006, 1:38 am
In response to Jp
I am a beginner too but i am working on my game. It will be 3 games long and so far i only got the teleporters working lol.
Mar 9 2006, 6:56 am (Edited on Mar 9 2006, 7:29 am)
In response to Speedro
 
mob
    verb
        Increase_DM_Skills()
            if(src.intelligence>=90)
                src<<”You begin your own world.”
                if(prob(73))
                    src<<”You learned something new.”
                else
                    src<<”You just copied and pasted demo’s. <b>Shame on you.</b>”  
            else
                src<<”Learn some more before you try to tackle programming.”


Sorry about the messed up quotation marks, >.> Microsoft word sucks and I'm at school so I'm winging it. I got bored and thought this would be good for a few laughs.