I have been browsing around the forums for a little while now and I have realized that some people seem to say, 'Well I don't know this language, let's find a way to do it in another language.', and I think to myself, 'Why? This is a PERFECT opportunity to learn that language because you have a need and a use for it, and that is the best way to learn one!'. So here I will create a short post on how I usually start learning another language.
Tip 1 - Find a use for the language. If you never figure out something that you think, 'Hey that language would be amazing for this project!', you're never going to be motivated to use the language in question. For example; 'I really want to program something to access my schools database from my desktop to see my grades whenever I type in "./grades", that would be so easy and neat!'. In that case you could use a variety of different languages, Python or PHP as well as a few others, but if you already know PHP could try your hand at doing it in Python.
Tip 2 - Syntax. In many, many programming languages syntax can be very similiar. Take C, Java, C++, and C# for example. Their syntax is very similar when you look at them. They all have primitive types that you have to declare before a variable, therefore naming it to that type. This makes it very easy for a Java programmer to look at C++ code as long as they know a little bit of the C++. So try and take your knowledge from other languages and port it over to the language you are trying to learn.
Tip 3 - Use Google! Google is your friend when you are learning a new language. A simple search of 'Ruby Tutorials' brings up a plethora of good tutorials on the web. Personally, I like YouTube videos because I am a 'hearing' kind of thinker. You know what I mean if you're a social engineer. Don't you try anything on me brother. Anyways, you may like other ways so think of how you like to learn. If you're a reader check out Amazon or our eBook section here at EZ. If you're a visual or hearing thinker look into YouTube or some other media site.
Tip 4 - Know your limit and don't give up. I know that when I started learning Java, my first real programming language, I was so so intimidated by it. int? long? byte? WHAT? When you start thinking like that it's normally a good time to take a break for a bit. Go for a hike or walk the dog. Do a bit of studying if you're in school. Most of these things (minus the studying
) will help clear your head up a bit for your next attempt to dive into the next tutorial/book/video.
Tip 5 - Have fun! Learning a new programming/scripting language should be fun, not a drag. If you find you forcing yourself to open up the IDE or notepad or gedit (As pointed out by vezzy, notepad and gedit are not good editors at all. Agreed.) it is normally a good time to look at Tip 4. To add a little variety to the boring old varA = 10, varB = 20, use different variable names but make sure they still make sense! The reason I say this is because if you have a really large program with many variables, having random names is going to really confuse you.
There are five tips that I use whenever I start learning a new language, I hope they help you as they do me. Now get out there and learn a new language! Have fun! Prosper!
-cMp
