[billcustar]

Could someone please give me much needed advice. I'm learning at home and need some guidance. At the minute I feel like I'm all over the place and going nowhere. Could somebody recommend a method of study for me? Or is that too much to ask? A big problem is that I know I need to slow down........Rome wasn't built in a day, yet I seem to think I can learn to program in a day!!!! Give some sound advice, please guys.

[Core]

Well, there is no universal learning recipe, but you can try reading various programming books. I would totally recommend starting with a book called Code Complete - a really nice read. Shows you some interesting aspects of programming and teaches good programming practices as well.

Also, since you already signed up here on Dream.In.Code, there are tutorials available here that can show you the basics as well as teach you some advanced techniques and practices.

I would agree with the idea that it is better to go a bit slower and understand how everything is rather than just going forward thinking that "okay, 'seems' like I got it". However, you should understand, that you always need to go a bit beyond your capabilities - this is the only way to learn new things and improve your programming skills.

[baavgai]

If you want to learn to program, you probably have a goal in mind, like "I want to write a really cool Pokemon RPG" or something. Whatever it is, forget it for now. The more you say to yourself "I should already be done with X" the more frustration you'll generate.

Pick a book, or a web site, and start with the first program. Then move to the next and so on. Don't skip to the more interesting stuff at the end; foundation is everything, take it slow. Don't fall into the trap of thinking, "well, I don't have a use for this" and ignoring it; you'll figure out the use later.

As long as you know more than you did before, you're progressing. If you have a particular track in mind, let us know and folks can point you in a more specific direction.

I like to learn from example. If you understand a particular program and think it would have been better if... fix it. Pushing existing stuff in different directions or enhancing it is a great way to learn.