Ok, first off, hello. My name's Jairus, and I love computers, but I've been, what's the word, repressed. Ever since I was very young I've wanted to learn to program.
I'm 16 now, and I know only Windows. I want to learn Linux/Unix and C++ (not all at the same time, of course) so that I can get a job working with what I love, computers. My parents always wanted me to be "normal" (i.e. one computer in the house, sweaters instead of software, branding computer people as 'weird'), they just didn't know what it was. But, I'm old enough now that I want to learn this stuff.
I've taken my old hard drive out of my personal computer and put in a new 20GB temporary drive, and I don't even know where to begin on it. This is where I hope you can help me. I have some questions that will get me started, I'm going to buy books, because I want to learn this.
1. Linux/Unix/??? - Which of
these (or others) would be
more useful to someone
interested in becoming a
programmer, and how long
did it take you to become
comfortable with it?
2. C#/C++ - Is one better than
the other? I really don't know
much about it, but I'm willing
to learn. How difficult is it to
understand?, etc.
3. Computer specs - What CPU,
components, cards, etc. work
best with Unix applications?
4. Windows? - Will my Windows
knowledge help me at all in
becoming a programmer?
Thanks.
All your help will most certainly be appreciated. If, when I learn the basics, I find that I pick this up okay, it's definitely going to be in my career plans.
-Jairus