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[multipage=An Introduction]
An Introduction to Programming

So, I see you've decided to continue, good for you! Remember, programming can be challenging, and sometimes a bit confusing. The key is to keep trying and not become disillusioned. Don't get to worried, I'm not trying to scare you, just let you know what you're getting yourself in to.

Many "experts" would tell you not to learn from this tutorial, to go back to the beginning, learn computer theory, and a bunch of other crap. You can do this if you want to waste your life, or you can do it my way. Many of these alleged "experts" will also tell you not to learn just one language, but to start with one (maybe an easier one), and work your way up and onward from there. They'll say "a programming language is just a tool in your toolkit, you need more than one to be complete". Sure, that's true, but at the same time its a bit close-minded. I'd highly recommend that you learn more than one language, but start with one you want to learn, and become a "pro-programmer" when it comes to that language and then move on to other languages if you feel that's something you're interested in.

If you are sure you want to embark on this journey, move on to the next page, entitled "Choosing your Language".

[multipage=Choosing your Language]
Choosing your First Language

Yes, choosing your first language is a big deal, but first you must choose what you want to specialize in (please note that this assumes you are on the Windows [or Microsoft equivalent] operating system). Here are some categories of things you could go into:
Game Design
Application Design
Web Design
Mobile Application Design
Web-Based Game Design
For you pros out there reading this, you've realized I may have dumbed-down some of these categories, not to call the average reader "dumb" just to make it very clear.

Now, here is a bit more in depth info on these categories:

GAME DESIGN
Game design is a major field, especially in the modern tech culture we live in. The gamer culture (like you would find on a website such as this) is evolving and the game-production industry is a major one.
Your first concept in Game Design is to realize that there are many parts that go into making a game. You need artists, musicians, and developers - possibly more. So you sort of need to decide your role.

If you're looking to make simple, casual games just for fun - basically "indie-games" (individual/homemade games, not made by large groups or companies) then you could get by with a very basic language. Its also good for artists looking to make "art" for games, newcomers to the game-programming scene could use it as well. You'll get a lot done quickly, and its a good learning experience. You may want to try out Blitz Basic (or Blitz 3D). To be completely honest, you can probably get a lot out of blitz, and its a good place to start. You can see their website: You must login or register to view this content..

If you're looking to go advanced, and create good games, in the long run, you're going to want to consider a C language. C++ is by far the industry standard, and you'll find many popular games (including xbox 360 games) programmed in C++. C# (C-Sharp) is another very powerful language, and can accomplish more with less actual programming, but at the same time is often considered "lesser" than C++. Java can also be a great language to learn, and is also popular among game-developers, but many still recommend C++.

Some users recommend starting with Java, it can quickly build games, and the learning curve is quite a bit less than C languages (C++, C#, Objective-C, C). It can be a good choice for some.

USER SUGGESTION: You must login or register to view this content.
There is a program called Game Maker, its easy to use and follows a drag-and-drop format, any newbie can pick it up. Please note, this is not how professionals work, and you are not actually learning or practicing game development through true programming. If you have premium, you can see his thread:
You must login or register to view this content.
**I have not used nor tested "Game Maker", I cannot personally verify the legitimacy of it.

APPLICATION DESIGN
Building computer applications is a very important concept in the modern world. Literally everything you run on your computer is an "application" - even games, although we gave it a different category.

If you think application design is something you'd be interested in, definitely look into C++, it is the "industry standard" for building powerful, fast applications. C# is also extremely popular for building applications, and with "Visual C#" you can learn quickly and produce a nice product in a very short amount of time.

WEB DESIGN
Every website can be considered part of "web-design", as every website had to be designed. Websites power many sources of income, and are extremely useful. Web design is definitely a field that you might want to go into, especially if you're eager to make a cool website.

All websites are more or less based in a language called HTML (or xhtml). Thus making HTML (HyperText Mark-Up Language) the most important language to learn. HTML is coded using "tags" and its easy to get started, its really quite straight forward. Later on you may want to learn CSS (cascading style-sheets), and more advanced languages like Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, and PHP. Flash can be used to create some of the "coolest" websites, but requires ActionScript (similar to JavaScript), it also can be expensive to get started on.

MOBILE APPLICATION DESIGN
Every "app" you have on your phone could be considered part of mobile application design. I'll be honest, I'm to expert when it comes to this, and I've really no experience in Mobile Application Design, so a good place to start would be by googling it. Also, the other thing that makes this tricky, is that many cell phones use different programming languages, so you really have to specialize and know what system you intend on developing on.

WEB-BASED GAME DESIGN
Yes, this is similar to Game Design. Here I'm not talking about connecting games to the internet, but about building games to be played in your web browser (perhaps a better title would have been browser-based game design). You can build games in flash, and load them into a browser using HTML, another extremely popular way to build games for the internet is by using Java. With Java you can create Java Applets that can be run right in a browser.

I'd like to add on one more note here. If you're looking here to become a "cracker" - now better known as a "hacker" - I'd like to say "go f**k yourself". But as this interests many people, here's a little tid-bit: You can use this guide to your advantage to find a tutorial. If you're looking for hacking websites look for "Web-Design" languages/tutorials, and if you're looking to hack games and consoles (like the XBX360 or PS3) you'll want to see the Game Design languages and tutorials.

By the end of this you should have decided what type of programming you are most interested in learning as well as what language you think suits you best.
[multipage=Finding a Tutorial]
Finding a Tutorial

Finding a tutorial can doubtlessly be one of the hardest parts of getting started, no worries, I'll help you out.

The issue with most tutorials is even when they say "noob friendly" or "for the absolute beginner" they can be confusing, to advanced, or to rigorous. Don't get me wrong, programming should have some rigor to it, but it shouldn't be to stressful or confusing. Most "free" tutorials are either filled with useless and annoying ads, are hard to understand, or plain teach the wrong concepts. What we need is a truly "absolute beginner" tutorial, that isn't boring, that gets you programming while explaining the concepts, and is easy to understand.

These tutorials here are not (all) written, composed, narrated, or created by myself, these are tutorials that I learned with, or tutorials that I have reviewed for simplicity and accuracy (yes, I really did go through the entire tutorial just for this thread).

SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIN You're going to have to copy and paste any magenta colored YouTube URLs into your browser's address bar, because unfortunately on some computers automatically take the URL/link BBCode and turn it into a YouTube video embed, this distorts the tutorial and makes it difficult to understand. I'm very sorry if this causes you an inconvenience, just highlight and copy the URL then paste it into your browser.

C++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyVhn0FWWB4 - this is a great video tutorial series, they even have a free help forum, good and easy to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMx_G05cqYI - despite its taught in DevC++ instead of Visual C++ (which is like ten-thousand times better), its still a solid tutorial, although I'd recommend the first one

C# You must login or register to view this content. - this is a really amazing written tutorial, its filled with pictures and starts with the basics, its super easy to understand, this literally was the sole C-Sharp teacher for me

Blitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWRpRgv3lbw - I'm by no means a Blitz expert, but what I do know is credit to this guy, amazing video tutorial


HTML You must login or register to view this content.
You must login or register to view this content. - you should use those two tutorials in conjunction with each other, I know its not super easy, but they go at a similar pace, you can learn with the first one, but the second one will help to supplement anything else, as it has many resources, although you should primarily stick with the first one
You must login or register to view this content. - once you have completed the very first tutorial I suggested you may want to review it using this website, or you can learn more advanced topics

**Please note that the following tutorials DO assume you have programming knowledge of HTML, and possibly other web-design languages, that is because these are "advanced" languages that allow you to add more to your website

CSS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xklu0dUmVU
PHP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwJujkxYLZs
JavaScript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm7qdJX6eCc

Java https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-zzrqQoSE - a fantastic video tutorial on Java

DOWNLOADS:
Visual C# and C++ (Compiler): You must login or register to view this content.
Blitz (must be purchased from their website): You must login or register to view this content.
**Blitz is expensive, and therefore it may cause some to avoid it. I am by no means recommending or endorsing it, but some people *illegally* download blitz by means of file sharing or bit torrenting
DevC++ (compiler): You must login or register to view this content.
Notepad++: You must login or register to view this content.
Eclipse: You must login or register to view this content.
[multipage=Final Thoughts]
Final Thoughts

Now, for some closing thoughts. Its important to keep in mind that programming can be a struggle, although this is designed to demistify it all, and make it easy to get started. You will have to work hard, even with these tutorials in hand.

Remember, if you need any help, just let anyone here on NGU (myself included) know, and we can help you out.

You no longer have no excuse to not learn to program! You no longer have to fear the clouded world of programming, its light! You can do it!
And I mean it, literally everything you need to begin is RIGHT here in this guide.

His tutorial is linked multiple times.
He's good, although I'm not a huge fan of his teaching style, but many people like him, so I threw him in there.

Thanks for the tut i guess really helpful