Is this a noob friendly forum?

[module]

I am somewhat... actually a lot, new/beginner to programming, and I've been reading "teach yourself" books for c#, c++, vb, game programming, XNA studio. I am computer savvy, but not so much programming savvy... Yet. I messed around in vb6 about 4-5 years ago with aol and ccoms, but it was little crap and I really had no idea what I was really even doing, except copying code someone told me to copy and pasting it here and there to make buttons scroll text in chat rooms and IM, (lag bots). I have long since left aol and don't care too much for it but I am really interested in learning languages. I've been looking for places to ask a lot of noob questions, (minus the flaming) but I can't seem to find anything anywhere. A point in the right direction would be awesome.

[NeedSomeAnswers]

Welcome to the forums

Yes I believe that it is noob friendly.

As long as you ask questions and show what you are trying to do (post your code) instead of asking people to do your work for you (its more prevalent than you might think) then you will get plenty of help.

There are some very knowledgeable members, and lots of FAQ's and examples here.

It would probably be best to choose a language to start with and do some reading, then post any questions you may have in the relevant forum area.

[wossname]

The technical forums are noob friendly, certainly. Chitchat has been known to chew up and spit out the occasional newcomer, but only ones without a sense of humour.

If anyone gives you any crap, just report them to Mary or Brenda and they'll get dealt with.

[baja_yu]

Right, if you have trouble with anyone visit www.zombo.com and follow the instructions there.

[honeybee]

... just report them to Mary or Brenda and they'll get dealt with.

Mary and Brenda have joined VBF?? Good gosh!! I didn't know that!

@module, welcome to the family!

.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Stay away from Chit-chat. You won't get anything useful here, as we are all pathological liars. Seriously, every single thing we say is false.

On the other hand, the other forums are quite friendly for learners, though the quality of the question does have some impact on the quality of the answer.

[TheBigB]

we are all pathological liars

LIES

[Shaggy Hiker]

LIES

As if he'd ever believe YOU.....

[baja_yu]

Same thing here. You have BigB, Shaggy and me. One always lies, one always tells the truth, and I stab people.

[Max Peck]

I am somewhat... actually a lot, new/beginner to programming, and I've been reading "teach yourself" books for c#, c++, vb, game programming, XNA studio. I am computer savvy, but not so much programming savvy... Yet. I messed around in vb6 about 4-5 years ago with aol and ccoms, but it was little crap and I really had no idea what I was really even doing, except copying code someone told me to copy and pasting it here and there to make buttons scroll text in chat rooms and IM, (lag bots). I have long since left aol and don't care too much for it but I am really interested in learning languages. I've been looking for places to ask a lot of noob questions, (minus the flaming) but I can't seem to find anything anywhere. A point in the right direction would be awesome.

Yup, this can be a friendly place all right but don't you dare EVER say anything negative about VB (in any flavor) or you will be drawn and quartered. There are segments of the industry that look askance at the use of VB and consider developers using it to be somehow less qualified or less capable - and this ain't one of those places. We don't mind discussion of other languages (I'm primarily C# now myself but still use VB in my mainline job) but the quickest way to get dead is what I said above.

-Max

[Hack]

If anybody flames you for any reason I encourage you to report that to any of the moderators. It will be dealt with.

Mary and Brenda have joined VBF?? Good gosh!! I didn't know that!

Boy, you have been gone for a long time. They have been here for a while, although rumor has it that Brenda is pregnant again and might be leaving for a bit.

[zaza]

Brenda!

[module]

Awesome. Thanks for the welcome. I only posted here on chitchat because I didn't really see anywhere else to post without it being mostly off topic.

@NeedSomeAnswers: Thanks for the info. I browsed a good bit last night looking through different forums before I posted anything just to see if there were any harsh flamings. I came here to learn and get help when I'm stuck somewhere, not to get flamed for trying to learn. Glad to see its ran professionally. I started reading into a visual basic game programming book, then reverted back to read a strictly visual basic book because some of the things in the game programming were a little over my head. Now that I am reading the vb 2010, it talks about c# being one of the better game programming languages. Any suggestions on that?

@WossName: Thanks for the heads up

@baja yu: lol, I ran across your name quite a few times last night, and the "zombo.com" comment. I already checked it out Thanks!

@honeybee: Thank you!

@Shaggy Hiker & TheBigB: Haha. Guess I'll fit right in soon.

@Max Peck: I have nothing against any languages Interested in them all, but more so the ones I've already mentioned. If you don't mind my asking, what is your mainline job? And off the wall a bit, How similar are VB and C#, if they are at all?

@Hack: Thanks for the info!

[baja_yu]

"Stella! Stella!!"

[techgnome]

"but don't you dare EVER say anything negative about VB (in any flavor) or you will be drawn and quartered. " - pfft! Not true... it's only when it's unfounded and irrational... and usually depending how the comment is made, you'll simply be regarded as a nut... we have a couple of those roaming about... I won't mention names because I'm sure they know who they are (well, one or two may not know they are in this category) and a few people in this thread probably know who I am talking about - don't bother asking, I won't confirm nor deny anybody I put in this list.

-tg

[Max Peck]

@Max Peck: I have nothing against any languages Interested in them all, but more so the ones I've already mentioned. If you don't mind my asking, what is your mainline job? And off the wall a bit, How similar are VB and C#, if they are at all?

My main job right now (that I've been at for about 12 years) is the care and feeding of the core computational logic for a large time and attendance system. The system is written in a mixture of VB6 (the Windows client front-end stuff) VB.Net (my rules engine) and C# (the web client stuff).

VB.Net and C# are pretty similar in that they both talk to the same framework. If you can use one you can use the other fairly easily. In recent years, however, I've become more fond of the C# syntax. I wrote C for about 20 years prior to the job I'm in. Got kind of used to the VB syntax for awhile - really liked it. Still do like it (I.E. I really don't mind working with both the VB6 and VB.Net stuff). The younger "hot-shots" in the shop don't want to be bothered with it. To me it's coding ... I don't really care that much.

I also have in development a product that I plan to offer to small business in the next 6 months to a year (have been working on it for about a year). This product I've developed entirely in C#. I find, after returning to the C style syntax, that I can think more clearly in C# when doing object-oriented type code.

-Max

[module]

My main job right now (that I've been at for about 12 years) is the care and feeding of the core computational logic for a large time and attendance system. The system is written in a mixture of VB6 (the Windows client front-end stuff) VB.Net (my rules engine) and C# (the web client stuff).

VB.Net and C# are pretty similar in that they both talk to the same framework. If you can use one you can use the other fairly easily. In recent years, however, I've become more fond of the C# syntax. I wrote C for about 20 years prior to the job I'm in. Got kind of used to the VB syntax for awhile - really liked it. Still do like it (I.E. I really don't mind working with both the VB6 and VB.Net stuff). The younger "hot-shots" in the shop don't want to be bothered with it. To me it's coding ... I don't really care that much.

I also have in development a product that I plan to offer to small business in the next 6 months to a year (have been working on it for about a year). This product I've developed entirely in C#. I find, after returning to the C style syntax, that I can think more clearly in C# when doing object-oriented type code.

-Max

Glad to hear someone say that they are slightly similar. So now I don't feel that learning VB first will hurt when I go to start learning C#. That's pretty cool about your job. And Good Luck with your small business project!

[honeybee]

If anybody flames you for any reason I encourage you to report that to any of the moderators. It will be dealt with.Boy, you have been gone for a long time. They have been here for a while, although rumor has it that Brenda is pregnant again and might be leaving for a bit.

Oh, so I need to wait... AGAIN!!

.

[kregg]

"but don't you dare EVER say anything negative about VB (in any flavor) or you will be drawn and quartered. " - pfft! Not true... it's only when it's unfounded and irrational... and usually depending how the comment is made, you'll simply be regarded as a nut... we have a couple of those roaming about... I won't mention names because I'm sure they know who they are (well, one or two may not know they are in this category) and a few people in this thread probably know who I am talking about - don't bother asking, I won't confirm nor deny anybody I put in this list.

-tg

I'm not going to lie, if I'm not on that nut-job list, I'll be severely disappointed.

Brad!

[NeedSomeAnswers]

it talks about c# being one of the better game programming languages. Any suggestions on that?

Microsoft XNA only support C# at the moment so if you want to make games for the Xbox then you may want to start of learning that. Other than that just choose which you enjoy the most !

[wossname]

don't you dare EVER say anything negative about VB (in any flavor) or you will be drawn and quartered.

If you don't like VB then you must be some kind of free-thinker. We don't like free thinkers around here.

[Shaggy Hiker]

True!

Jailed thinkers have produced the best literature.

[honeybee]

Not always, though those who have produced have generally been good to read. Take Henri Charrière, or more recently Jeffery Archer. I read one of the volumes Archer had written when he was jailed, and I found it quite interesting. On the other hand I read his Paths of Glory and regretted the decision to have bought the book.

.

[NeedSomeAnswers]

In the UK it a criminal offence to buy a Jeffrey Archer book !!!

[honeybee]

And the punishment?

.

[wossname]

...Being forced to read it. I think it's a little harsh myself, perhaps 400 hours of community service would be more lenient.

[Max Peck]

Not always, though those who have produced have generally been good to read. Take Henri Charrière, or more recently Jeffery Archer. I read one of the volumes Archer had written when he was jailed, and I found it quite interesting. On the other hand I read his Paths of Glory and regretted the decision to have bought the book.

.

Henri Charrière ... Ahh yes, Papillion. I have that one right here on my shelf. Good read. The movie was good but the book was (as usual) better.

Uh ... to stay on topic: Any newbie around here needs to read "Papillon".

-Max

[NeedSomeAnswers]

Henri Charrière ... Ahh yes, Papillion. I have that one right here on my shelf. Good read. The movie was good but the book was (as usual) better.

Yes the Film was OK, but I agree the book is miles better and well worth anybody reading it !

[abhijit]

Yeah. All the noobs have to be friendly. They got no choice in the matter.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah. All the noobs have to be friendly. They got no choice in the matter.

I disagree. Take a look at the very anchor for the reputations list. That guy was a noob, and I think we recently discussed whether he was EVER civil, let alone friendly.

[wossname]

I disagree. Take a look at the very anchor for the reputations list. That guy was a noob, and I think we recently discussed whether he was EVER civil, let alone friendly.

There was a time when I was one of the most unpleasant people on VBF. I could be terse, sarcastic AND condescending all at the same time. It was a mantle I wore with pride, but now the joy has all but gone from it.

I've mellowed im my twilight years perhaps.




BTW condescending means "patronising", FYI. You idiots.

[Shaggy Hiker]

There was a time when I was one of the most unpleasant people on VBF. I could be terse, sarcastic AND condescending all at the same time. It was a mantle I wore with pride, but now the joy has all but gone from it.

I've mellowed im my twilight years perhaps.

That is a change I do not look forward to observing. I hope you manage to hide it for some time, yet.

[honeybee]

Henri Charrière ... Ahh yes, Papillion. I have that one right here on my shelf. Good read. The movie was good but the book was (as usual) better.

Uh ... to stay on topic: Any newbie around here needs to read "Papillon".

-Max

Books usually tend to be way better than the movies, with the notable exception of Slumdog Millionnaire (sp?). I was so fascinated by the movie version I went and bought the book (from Crossword by paying its official price!). Ten pages into the book I could hardly believe I had actually spent money to buy that crap. It was only a sense of recovering at least part of my money that kept me going through the book. It took me a month or so to finish (I finish a decent book in about three days).

And Max, you are committing a grave error by trying to stay on track. Chit Chat is not for sticking to the original topic. There are enough other forums for that.

.

[abhijit]

There was a time when I was one of the most unpleasant people on VBF. I could be terse, sarcastic AND condescending all at the same time. It was a mantle I wore with pride, but now the joy has all but gone from it.

I've mellowed im my twilight years perhaps.




BTW condescending means "patronising", FYI. You idiots.

Really? I never noticed.

[Justa Lol]

its very noob friendly, i can prove it! i'm still here

[Max Peck]

And Max, you are committing a grave error by trying to stay on track. Chit Chat is not for sticking to the original topic. There are enough other forums for that.

Oops! Sorry 'bout that!

-Max

[Hack]

There was a time when I was one of the most unpleasant people on VBF. I could be terse, sarcastic AND condescending all at the same time.

This must have been before my time...I've always known you to be kind, encouraging, generous and above all polite to a fault.

In fact...nevermind...I was thinking of someone else.

[baja_yu]

This is a very boob friendly forum in dead.

[Shaggy Hiker]

This is a very boob friendly forum in dead.

In dead? Our zombies are into boobs rather than brains?

[baja_yu]

Right. That's the title of a script I'm working on for a new blockbuster. Boob Zombie Saga: A distant mammary