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Do you think the programmers who work at your office are magical wizards who hold special powers that manipulate your computer? Believe it or not, anyone can learn how to write programs, and it doesn’t take a higher math and science education to start.
Beginning Programming for Dummies shows you how computer programming works without all the technical details or hard programming language. It explores the common parts of every computer programming language and how to write for multiple platforms like Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. This easily accessible guide provides you with the tools you need to:
- Create programs and divide them into subprograms
- Develop variables and use constants
- Manipulate strings and convert them into numbers
- Use an array as storage space
- Reuse and rewrite code
- Isolate data
- Create a user interface
- Write programs for the Internet
- Utilize JavaScript and Java Applets
In addition to these essential building blocks, this guide features a companion CD-ROM containing Liberty BASIC compiler and code in several languages. It also provides valuable programming resources and lets you in on cool careers for programmers. With Beginning Programming of Dummies, you can take charge of your computer and begin programming today! more info
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
A Good INTRODUCTION – Which Is The Point Of This Book
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Here’s the deal with this book: it’s for beginners, hence the title. A lot of reviewers knocked it down a bit because it did not use a “real-world” language like C++ or Java. There is a reason for that…those languages are much more cryptic and tougher to learn, you can get caught-up in just learning the syntax (among many other things) instead of basic programming logic and concepts. A beginners guide should not bog one down with frustration.
The language that is used in this book is LibertyBASIC, which is similar to QBASIC, RealBASIC and other versions and just as easy to learn. I feel that it’s necessary to mention here that the BASIC language is the most widely known programming language in the world. Microsoft (where I happen to work) created it’s early software in BASIC and is currently still using it’s own flavor of the language (Visual BASIC) in-house. Take a look at any college computer science or programming curiculum and you will notice that almost every one of them starts off by teaching BASIC (usually Visual Basic, which is even easier in my opinion). The reason, there again, is because it’s simple to grasp and to learn important concepts early-on.
It is true that LibertyBASIC specifically is not used widely in the “real world”, but again that is NOT the point of this book. Instead, time is spent on concepts relevant to programming and why they are important. Boolean expressions, arrays, looping statements such as IF/THEN/ELSE and WHILE/WEND and subroutines (among other topics essential to programming basics) are all touched upon here. The point, again, is an INTRODUCTION. LibertyBASIC allows you to quickly get up and running with simple programs and to practice these central concepts without getting confused and frustrated.
The book also touches on other programming languages that exist such as Perl, Python, Ruby, C++, Java and others. It spends a good deal of time giving a background and primer on what these languages try to accomplish and their popular uses. I think this book is ideal for people who are interested in programming but don’t know where to start and for those who MIGHT be interested but aren’t sure and need an overview of what they will be getting themselves into.
From here, dive into other programming books with more centralized topics or higher-level languages. If this book really piques your curiosity and you decide to get into programming full-time, my personal recommendation is to enroll in a local community college and take C++, C# or Java courses. I think the learning is faster and it helps to have instructor interaction in case something goes awry in your learning.
I hope this helps, and good luck!!!!
Get the newest edition!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Unfortunately I have a copy of this book published in 1999.
There are many errors. I’m no programmer but I know you can’t name the same variable 2 different ways [mynum% vs number%] and expect the program to work. Those typos -and the : instead of ; typos – I can fix. Some of the others my newbie self can’t figure out.
I was enjoying working my way through the book until I got to Chapter 12 where the errors were just too much to cope with!
I’m guessing if you have a newer edition you’ll be fine, don’t buy the older editions unless you like to solve mysteries.
Good general overview but…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A while back I bought this as an intro to programming text. Even with my limited background, I found it a bit too basic and a bit too forced with some of the silly stuff. Having said that, it does provide the basic concepts which are essential – although I do have a few issues with the clarity of the writing.
Excellent for Beginner
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the book that I first learned computer programming off of. I always wanted to know how people made games so I asked my mom, who works with computers. She said people wrote software. I said I wanted to learn how to write software and she took me to the book store and “Beginning Programming For Dummies” is what we bought. This book laid down an excellent foundation for the skills I developed in the future. Some people didn’t like it, some did. Every book is going to have some errors in it somewhere; humans aren’t perfect. The things I like about this book is that it stresses clean structure of code, something VERY important when it comes to programming. It also stresses more on concepts rather than technical details with the programming language, which is more important. Even though this book uses Liberty Basic, all of the concepts taught are useful with all other programming languages, even C, C++, and assembly. You can’t go wrong with this book.
An unfortunately flawed introduction.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
As a programmer, when I first read this book through I thought that it wasn’t the best written of the Dummies books, but it was a reasonable introduction that gave a good overview of some of the basics. However, having seen people with no experience of programming at all try to work their way through this book, I’ve also noticed that the author has sometimes failed to really explain himself in the clear and thorough way that the Dummies books are so good at, and has lost sight of who the book should be aimed at – people with NO experience of programming at all.
My biggest gripe of all is with the use of variable names, on two counts. Firstly, he’ll sometimes use variable names that simply won’t make any sense – names that have absolutely nothing to do with what the variable is actually being used for within the code. While this doesn’t cause a problem with programming, and certainly won’t confuse an experienced programmer within such simple coding, it can completely throw people who haven’t used a programming language before – it adds unnecessary confusion to code that’s mainly intended for complete beginners.
It’s also a bad introduction to naming conventions for anyone who’ll write code for others to use, as people SHOULD try to make their choices of variable names make sense. It’s a bad idea even if nobody else EVER reads it, because if you decide to come back to your code after a year, who knows if you’ll still remember what “boing” was supposed to be?
The second issue I have is that he’ll repeat the confusion for newcomers by sometimes naming things too similarly. Experienced programmers, again, won’t have a problem with this; but for the newcomers who’re trying to become familiar with the language, it can confuse them – this is made more likely by the fact that many will already be struggling to come to terms with the code they’re working through. Having a variable called test$ and a routine called [test] may seem fine to experienced programmers, but when test$ is actually the value of a radio button, there are much plainer and easier names that the variable could have been given to help avoid confusion for the novice programmer. It could simply have been thought through better, and more consideration should have been given with regard to who this book was intended for.
When compared to some of the other Dummies texts, most of which people could work through from top to bottom without needing much or any assistance, this one falls short of the mark. Beyond just the confusion created by bad choices of names for variables and functions, some of the explanations are unclear – or leave some elements completely unexplained – leaving the unfamiliar programmer out of their depth, with no experience to call on to deduce what the commands or code may actually be doing.
In the end, I simply wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn programming from scratch on their own. With some help, it provides a place for programmers to build, but too often the people I’ve seen work through this have ended up FEELING like Dummies as they became baffled and lost off by the book’s sometimes careless style.
Good Beginners book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book gives good comparisons between various related BASIC programming languages and with C++. This helps show the similarities in functioning between languages, as well as explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each. It also explains the different methods and structures of programming (O-O programming, subprogram divisions, etc.). Good self-training book all-round, and a far better book than another similar book for complete beginners (Programming for the Absolute Beginner – ISBN 1598633740). After having studied and rated this “Dummies” book, I realised too late that I should have given this book a higher rating than the aforementioned one I read first.
Outstanding
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Excellent service, the book is as described. My student has been using it with great success.
Excellent book, but beware of errors
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a 53-year-old male with no previous experience of programming, and I found the book (the second edition based on the Liberty Basic language) to be worth every cent. It is a fantastic, clear, user-friendly, no-nonsense and humorous introduction to the subject and has really opened my eyes to the world of programming. The Liberty Basic language to which Wang introduces you is tops and really makes sense, compared to some other languages. Beware of a lot of errors, though. I suspect that the book was written or published with undue haste, and as a result some of the examples have not been tested and contain errors. But this can be forgiven, having regard to the overall quality. Since then I have gone on to studying Liberty Basic in more detail. I can heartily recommend both book and language.
it works
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So I finally decided to try out the “For Dummies” books and must say it’s a decent enough first step. I’ve always had an interest in learning some programming…mostly for fun but also because it seems that a basic understanding of computer programming is becoming more and more necessary…instead of taking a course I decided to learn a little on my own to see how it goes… The book is very easy to follow and explains things pretty well. I am definitely happy with the purchase and will continue studying programming. Would highly suggest for anybody with the desire to pick up a new hobby. Just purchased Robot Building for dummies…we’ll see how that one goes.
Simple programming
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I actually didn’t know anything about programming when I bought this book. I started reading it and I liked it because it explains things in very simple terms, but then I came across with another book called Beginning Programming written by Adrian and Kathie Kingsley-Hughes and I started comparing them and I started to see why this book by Wallace Wang doesn’t deserve five stars. First the book is written using a programming language that while is simple enough to learn it doesn’t have too many applications in the real world plus liberty basic cost $30. Even though the book brought a CD with an old version of liberty basic I was not able to run it in my computer. So if I wanted to really learn this language I needed to buy the newer version of Liberty Basic. The book by Kingsley-Hughes is quite simple too and it explains most terms using languages that are more useful in the real world like JavaScript and C++. The Dummies series have other books that are better than this one and they teach real world languages.
Wanna learn programming? Buy this book, NOW!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just finished a course in object-oriented programming (Java) as part of a master’s program in information systems management. Yeah, I aced it, but not without a lot of help from professional programmers. Trouble was, I couldn’t understand Java because I had no programming experience; even the textbook, Head First Java, assumes prior programming experience. HFJ read like the proverbial Greek. (Trust, I will let my school know they need to revamp this part of the program.)
Now, I’m doing a course related to software frameworks, so this program isn’t gonna get any easier.
So I went out and bought Beginning Programming for Dummies, and it hasn’t disappointed. It clearly breaks down the languages BASIC, Revolution and C++, and presents the fundamentals of logic and programming in an uncomplicated way. This book is one giant ephiphany. “Oh, that’s was a string is! Wow, is that was .NET is designed to do? Holy moly, loops are really that simple?” Before reading this, I had no idea that programs in differing langugages could be stored on Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files and linked together into a larger program using Visual Basic. I’d heard of DLLs, but had no idea what they were.
I work for an IT integration firm in an administrative position, and now I feel like what this company does has been somewhat demystified.
I usually don’t comment on books on this site, but if you want to get a good overview what computer programming is all about before you delve into the programming language of your choice, do yourself a favor and buy this book.
Not impressed
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The book has a couple of strong points. First, it is truely designed with the beginner in mind. It’s easy to read. Far from technical. QBASIC software is built into Windows, so it’s accesible to anybody with a PC. And it gives the reader a look at other programming languages which he/she would hopefully want to move on to after completion of this book.
Lots of weak points: The mistakes in the authors programming examples were abundant. He spent much of the book teaching QBASIC (a language few people will ever productively use except for recreational purposes). My opinion,beginners wanting to learn programming for recreation would be better off learning HTML (which is covered moderately in the book) which has some productive value. Finally, the author is trying too hard to be funny. Granted his bio states he wants to be a stand-up comedian, but it didn’t work for me while reading an intro-technical computer book.
Great Starting Point for wanna-be programmers
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
As a Computer Science student with NO PREVIOUS knowledge of any programming language, this book has been extremely useful to grasp the basic concepts of programming.
Recommended purchase.
Lame Political slant, syntax errors but decent otherwise
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I quickly tired of the authors extreme left political statements. Programming and technology should be free from politics but WANG uses almost every opportunity in his code examples to make some comment against politicans, conservatives, lawyers, wealthy people etc. Perhaps this is why there are so many syntax errors in the sample code. Keep your feelings and agenda to yourself.
Another thing that kind of got on my nerves is everytime a new concept is introduced, we scrap the previous code example and start over. I like books where we keep building on the same program, adding new buttons / menus and stuff. This way we dont start over every other page and we learn how different code and objects work together.
When I tried to use Libery Basic under XP and it didnt work, I downloaded the latest version from Liberty’s website. While poking around in LB v4 I saw that they have some 6+ extensive tutorials included with the demo version. I almost feel like i could have gone through these LB tutorials and learned just as much and save the $25 I spent on this book.
This book is decent and I dont regret buying it but I can only give it 2 stars.
disappointing, beware
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have purchased maybe half a dozen “Dummies” books and have been very happy with them. This one I am not happy with. Beware, the book says that the included CD is compatible with the XP operating system, but it is not. I contacted the company about it and they suggested I download Liberty Basic from their website, for an extra $30. No thanks. That’s one of the reasons I bought the book – for a working CD. They ought to either adjust the disk so it is compatible, or not claim that it is.
Not bad at all
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A good overall explanation of programming in general. Becoming proficient in any of the languages taught, I think, will require additional reading. However, the basic concepts and building blocks of programming are well laid out for the reader. A great starter for someone with no experience in programming.
Great for program structure -Very Helpful
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have to agree with the prior reviewers exhaustion at the pedestrian political commentary included in the text. But unlike that prior reviewer, I will extol the value to be had here in this book. I approached as a tool to understand the basics of how the various parts of a program are constructed. The book focuses on Qbasic with passing references to C++ (my ultimate goal is to use C++) and Java. Since I plan to progress rapidly to this other language I did not run afoul of the errors reported by the other reviewers because I did not input them.
I feel that I have more than adequately met my goal of learning about the “nuts and bolts” of a computer program. There is adequate depth about functions, subroutines, variables and arrays to start you on your way. There are also many tips and danger areas highlighted for the budding programmer.
I don’t feel that this book is lacking with regard to the structure of programming, and I will not rate this lower because of the coding errors others have reported, but I can not give this a higher ranking because of the inane attempts at humor. Mr. Wang, a comedian you are not, keep to your day job.
Great book for beginners
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was just starting programming and I picked up this book. With a little humor and alot of help, this book is great. I do prefer “A BASIC Programming Primer” over this book for BASIC programming, but this is a great book for beginners. Teaches you Liberty BASIC, a little Java, little JavaScript, and a little HTML. Basically, these are just intros to Java/JavaScript/HTML. But Wallace Wang covers BASIC very well.
Terriffic Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Well written, to the point, useful information made accessibe: a book that delivers what it promises. In spite of what one reviewer says above, the author goes out of his way to recommend that you use descriptive names for variables. My copy of the 2nd edition has this repeated on a “cheat sheet”, printed on cardstock _just inside the cover_. At the top of page 2, under Tips for writing programs:” “-Use descriptive variable names”. This book is a good introduction and overview to programming and I highly recommend Liberty Basic.
Programming For Dummies
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Like Most of
The Dummies books, the author is long on nonsense and short on helpful information. I am certainly glad I was able to buy the book used at a very modest price.
The book I received was used and was in very nice condition.
Excellent Teacher
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is very good to have the basics of programming in your mind.. After this book, I was able to read other programming books without trouble. However always remember practice makes the teacher not just a simple book…
Marginal at best
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The book does a very good job of explaining the basics in the beginning. I was able to get past his syntax errors by seeing enough code prior. However, The entire book appears to be put together half heartedly, so overall it seems to come up short.
Rview opinion
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a good product but it most -if posible- to show grafic refernce for better comprehention
Useful, but not necessary
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I had a hard time figuring out how to rate this book. It does what it promises you it will do, but I think there are better way to break into programming than with this.
This book claims it will teach you programming concepts in an easy way, and it does. But it also supports this mentality that C/C++ is too complicated for a begginner, which I disagree with.
Many programmers started by learning C++, including myself (“C++ Primer Plus” is a good book for beginners). C++ is a harder language to learn and it would probably be easier and faster to learn if you learned something like LibertyBASIC first, but you won’t waste your time learning a beginner’s language which you’ll probably never use again. Plus a LibertyBASIC compiler costs $30 but you can get a C++ compiler for free (Dev-C++, google it).
There’s also other easy languages like Python (try “Learning Python” by Mark Lutz and David Ascher) which are geared for beginners but are widely used in the professional world, and are also free.
If you want to learn programming concepts with an easy language and don’t wanna have to pay, try Python, and if you want to get started quickly and jump right into professional programming (which isn’t as hard as you think), learn C++. I’ll give this book a 3 because it does what it promises, but I think there are better places to start programming.
Too many mistakes
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I typically like the dummies books for introductions into subjects. For basic concepts, this book does very well. However, the programming language examples are in a couple different forms of BASIC, C++ and a mac compiler.
I don’t know if it’s the book itself or the accompanying cd, but NONE of the C++ programs work properly. I’ve been forced to try and learn how to correct some of the most basic mistakes off of the internet, but it has really hampered my ability to learn this programming language, especially as the programs get more complex.
This is the 4th and most recent addition. I would assume that enough sales to quantify four iterations would qualify this book for a technical editor, not just someone with a firm grasp of English.
Wiley Publishing, please stop making computer study aids edited by people that don’t understand the technical terms and programs. I’ve wasted hours just trying to figure out what’s wrong instead of actually LEARNING.