Programming Startup Help

[Ric]

--- Paul Ladouceur <tipaul at look.ca> wrote:
> I would like to have advice for:
> 
> Tutorials
> Documentation
> Development environment (ex. Anjuta)
> 
> Whatever can help me having a foot in...
> 
> Is it a good way to start from an IDE or using a simple text editor?

>From personal experience, I suggest leaving the IDE alone at the
beginning.
Just learning to use one effectively it can suck up a lot of time...
and then you 
find out that it cannot handle xyz language that you need. :( ( 
If you are part of a large project and everybody is using it, then,
well, you have to do it.
>From the get-go, I'd say use nedit. It is an excellant text editor and
does not require all the finger/memory twisting/breaking keyboard codes
of vim, x/emacs and the clones but it will nicely handle all of the
major and many of the minor programming languages with or without
syntax highlighting.  There are also macros available with it to do a
lot of the same functions one finds in an "IDE".   That allows you to
concentrate on learning and coding <language>, not the editor/ide.  
To my knowledge, there is no "How to use Nedit" book; it is not needed.
 It is simple to use and they have a built in "Help" that covers
everything down to programming macros, if you need it.
After coding for a bit, you will have a better idea of what _you_ need
to be effective and can then try  g/vim, x/emacs, glade, idle, eclipse,
anjuta, etc... 
( unless you know how to use one of those now.  In which case, BAM, use
your favorite. )


> NB: I need C - GTK programming help...

The documentation for the GCC; presuming that the GNU Compiler
Collection will be your compiler(s), you need to learn all you can
about it's proper usage, why it does what it does(errors), what is
available to use, etc.
Ditto that for GTK+(or QT, Windoz,...).
LDP HOW2s (for glibc, etc.);
http://btob.barnesandnoble.com/ or Amazon.com (Search c and GTK) but,
FGS, stay away from any book that has "in 24 hrs" or 'time' in the
title.  Some are ok but most are just not worth the time, IMO, even if
it says "Teach Yourself c in 10 Minutes"(Yes, SAMS has published such a
book...).
Of course you'll need regex, bash, etc. knowledge too. So man pages are
your friends.

That may sound a bit like RTFM and, well, it is.  I do not know of any
other way.  If you cannot find/understand something you have
researched, you can certainly ask a good question but, in general, you
need to ask the "Professor" that you paid to teach you.  S/he has a
professional & financial obligation to answer you;  folks on mailing
lists do not and although they might, it is a gift to you if they do.


> Thanks,
> Ti-Paul.

And, I'd say the most important thing is to find a project that really
interests you and one where you can contribute something/anything so
that you will stick with it until such time as you can contribute more.
 Getting discouraged or sidetracked is a big impediment to learning.

Progress is made in very small steps...

HTH


=====
Have A Great Day!

Ric
***
Mondale knew this was gonna be a bad day when he called 
Dial-a-Prayer and the taped message answered him by name.
 -- Bob Hope, 1903-2003

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