So new to programming it's not even funny

[DaddyW123]

Hello everyone,

With the growth of tablets making their way into the corporate environment, I feel it is important for me to stay up on the times and expand my knowledge to a new area.

About me. I'm a 30 year old Network Administrator for a large Nationwide Manufacturing company. My programming experience is simply fairly complicated batch scripts when I need to make my life easier in the long run, and YEARS ago in high school I took a class that had a small section in Basic to program motors and sensors (the objective was to sort marbles). Lastly I have very basic understanding of HTML code.

I want to get into writing my own apps for droid - hopefully get a jump on the whole tablet market. I don't have any ideas currently for public use, though I do have a couple ideas of things I'd like to write for myself. I'm sure once I got into it, the ideas would come, plus I think it would just be fun.

Anyway, given my background, do you guys think I'm fooling myself? What languanges would I need to learn? Can I learn them on my own or should I really be looking into finding classes? If I can do it on my own, are there any books out there that you guys would recommend?

Any guidence would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[FrankR]

If you gave us a little more on your goals for this, we might be able to offer more.

But, in the absence of that, I'd say - go for it. I'm a professional programmer who studied it in school, but many, many people self teach themselves enough to do this. You're off to a good start by picking this tool, which allows someone to do great things with minimal lines of code.
This is a fantastic development tool.

Maybe go find a Visual Basic book, read it, and then jump into these Android waters with this tool.

 

[DaddyW123]

So I had a huge write up on what I wanted to do then realized that I shouldn't post the details because one of them, if it worked, could sell very well.

The first one I wouldn't sell. It's more for me. A members and dues database for my fraternity's alumni association so I could update it no matter where I was - and give other members read access to it.

The second one however is also a remote database application, but geared towards organizations such as fraternities or sports teams. That one would be a purchased app.

 

[tremara1]

basic help

I am not sure a first time programmer should have the expectation that any app development is able to be used from day one developing your dream saleable app.
I am nearly 60 and have been working with VB6 for quite a few years, and when I started with b4ppc then b4a I found it almost natural porting from vb6. Because I am not a pro programmer and do this part time as an interest it still takes quite a bit of time to get an app working. Even then there is usually many tries to iron out the problems and get it working.
If you need to get started with basic my starting point many years ago was VB6 for Dummies (dont laugh it worked). Until I read this I did not get the basics such as variables, controls, forms, code blocks etc. and after this it all seemed quite easy to follow. I then did some formal training to build on my self training I also used the many communities for sharing code and tips including this great community we are in. I am not the fastest learner in the world so you might get a pleasant surprise how easy it is (I hope so).
It is great fun and very satisfying to get an app running. I really hope you can get your app up there asap....just dont have unrealistic expectations and enjoy it.

 

[DaddyW123]

Actually I was looking into the dummies books. Since I figured I'm in the very beginning stages of this, those dummies books would be a perfect start. I Found Visual Basic .NET for Dummies and Visual Basic .NET Database Programming for Dummies.

Do I want to be looking at VB.NET or just regular VB? There are also several different versions. I know you suggested VB6 but there is also VB 2005 and VB 2008. It looks like 2008 has the latest publish date. Is this the newest version? Should I focus on that?

 

[tremara1]

vb's

vb6 was before vb.net a lot of the syntax is similar but vb.net (2008 and 2005 also) are a lot more complex, the code from vb6 is a lot closer to b4ppc or b4a than vb.net. I have used both, the only reason I stayed with vb6 was I started there. The other thing you can try is the b4ppc as you can program for the desktop as well as pocket pc, this would give you a grounding in syntax. There are plenty of examples in the forum so you can see the way the code is put together. You can still use one of the dummies books as they give the absolute basics as mentioned before. As getting hold of VB6 may be a bit of a challenge as it was superseded quite a while ago B4ppc is probably the best option as it is not as complex as vb.net to start with and it is not a big move to b4a.
Good Luck....

 

[klaus]

You could also have a look at the The Essential Basic4PPC book.
It explains B4PPC, but as B4A is similar, it is a look worth.

Best regards.

 

[DaddyW123]

What about java? I have a friend that did his own android app and he said I needed to learn java. Just wanted your take on that.
Thanks

 

[TomK]

DaddyW123,

If you don't mind that I impart some of my (somewhat limited) wisdom upon you, I will start by saying that ANYONE with the right motivation can do this. Especially the way Erel has fleshed out what is absolutely a laborious process (Eclipse, Java and it's learning curve can be brutal for seasoned application developers nevermind first-timers, understanding the Android lifecycle the list goes on).

I strongly advise that first and foremost, you get yourself a solid understand of Object Oriented Programming practices. Understand why it is so important...everything you do in the world now depends on that as a key principle. Understanding the relationships and how classes play into the mix can make the difference between you scratching your head for 6 months and bringing a rudimentary application to fruition.

If your intent (no pun intended) is to focus a lot of time in the Android development market, then by all means get a Beginning Android for Dummies series book... also a Beginners Java book (where they explain the basic principles of OOP beforehand).

You just coming here was probably the best move you could have made as, the path to the Eclipse, JDK, Java, etc experience can be overwhelming and Basic4Android makes very fast work of an otherwise tedious experience.


Good luck!


Tom

 

[jndaniels1]

Hi Daddyw123,

Read the tutorials, examples and play with the sample code. Thats what I did and got my app working in about 7 weeks. I have no Visual Basic or Java experience either. I found it to be a lot easier than i first expected and the samples made a big difference.

Like what TomK said; Stay motivated!

i bet you'll have your success story before you know it.

Good Luck!
Best Regards
.JND.

 

[gjoisa]

You just start with small applications . Lot more examples are available in forum . for any problems just search in google or other search engines for coding help .
I never studied programming in schools or colleges . I just studied it through the help of google , help files , forum ,examples my self . Basic 4 Android is great and affordable tool and any one can program with this , if he has strong will .