I'm somewhat of a computer geek and I want my knowledge to increase this site helps a lot but I want to learn about programing, is there anybooks for beginners like me that will get me started

Of course there is. It all depends on what kind of programming you would like to do. Programming languages are a dime a dozen. Do you have a preference on what you want to actually make/do? For example to build full blown games, applications etc. you'll want a language like Java, C# or VB.Net. For building web applications you'll want to look at PHP or ASP.Net.

Basically pick a language from the list below (there might be easier ones to learn but these are the most popular (in my eyes) and will have lots of resources available):


Java
C#
VB
PHP
ASP


Now just take the name, add the word "tutorial" to the end of it and type it into Google. You'll get plenty of sites to look at.

I disagree in that you failed to mention c++. It may be "going out of vogue" for programmers, but its still very popular, and I would argue that it has the most resources for it of any language (of course, that's including straight C as well). C++ may not be a RAD language persay, but it is a standard for beginning programmers as it still has the low level and high level abilities that some people want. It is still very desirable for game development as well.

Cheers
-Dan

The essence of programming can be summed up in two concepts:

IF... Then... Else
and
Do... While

Those two comprise 75% of programming. Most code involves testing a value and performing an action based on the value (i.e. If x=y do a else do b) or looping through a series of values and performing some action on each value.

The other 25% is essentially presentation, how the application looks to the user.

Different languages have different syntax for the two main concepts as well as different variations (IF... THEN... ELSE, SELECT CASE or DO... WHILE, FOR... NEXT, etc.) But they all have them in some form.

The responses you gave me helped, but what is web programing and what would I use it for

Web programming is for creating dynamic webpages, there are two types, server side, and client side. Server side requires absolutely no extra features of the client's browser other than being able to interpret and render html data. Client side programming requires the client's browser to be able to interpret a script and edit the webpage accordingly. Client side scripting languages include PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, CGI-bin (ie any language that can be compiled to a cgi binary format, usually c, c++, python, ect) and I'm sure there are more that have slipped my mind at the moment, like ruby.

As far as client side (web) programming goes, I only know of Javascript.

This forum, for instance, uses php to output html to the client's browser (well.. its not really that simple, but the inner workings come later). However I do believe the place where you enter your posts, is in javascript (to some degree, the stuff that adds in bold and links and such).

Personally I think MOST everything that one might want out of web programming can be accomplished server side, and since that guarantees a wider range of clients that can successfully view your page, that's a plus. My recommendation for a server side language would definitely be php (4 or 5, 5 preferably) as it is very well supported in commercial hosts. And as a database solution, MySQL will do you well, and I would venture to say, is the single most supported database among commercial (web) hosts.

PHP + MySQL is a very powerful combination, if you Google for php tutorials, or mysql tutorials, you'll get thousands of useful results, and if you have any sort of experience in programming, you'll pick it up in no time at all.

However if you have absolutely no experience with any sort of programming language, I sincerely suggest that you don't start with web programming. Instead perhaps something like Python (http://www.python.org/) would be a good start to begin to understand programming concepts and then move into web development.

(on a personal note, you might be able to tell I'm a huge advocate of c++, c++ is a wonderful language in my opinion, and has by far the largest amount of learning resources of any programming language. There are tons of compilers available, and learning resources can be found via http://www.google.com.

I listed a couple of free c++ compilers at: https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=11745 the last post.

Hope that helps (I know I rambled, but it was a very broad question)

Cheers
-Dan

You're right - I did forget C++. It is also very popular and for example a lot of game development is still using C++.

Just a couple of points to add to Ademan's excellent answer. When Tim Berners-Lee first conceived the WWW its simply as a way to send graphical info across the text based Internet. The idea was primairly for academics to be able to see images and graphics along with the text. The WWW has evolved way beyond the original concept. As it did new ways became needed to run code within the browser to provide automation and interactivity. So a variety of ways were developed as Ademan noted. Some of those ways are not true programming. Like I would consider HTML a programming language, its simply a formatting tool. Others like Java, Perl etc. do involve execution of actual code modules.

But the purpose of "Web Programming" is simply to create WEB sites that are interactive with the user.

I like the oriely's and sams teach yourself they will teach teach you all languages for hardware ten the A++ certification there is a great website
http://www.learnvisualstudio.com/ it has videos that will show a lot you have to pay for that I believe this will be the best way to start if you are serious also a good way to start is by learning html from http://www.w3schools.com/ I'm in my 4th year of computer science and I will tell you that the only way to learn this stuff is a lot of dedicated time put into actually practicing what you learned 90% of your time shoud be spent in front of the computer typing and fixing your errors

I would only like to add the following: When learning for the first time its best to get a good book (O'Reilly as mentioned) and work through the examples and DO NOT USE A RAD (Rapid Application Development) Tool. If you truly want to learn programming you must learn eveything involved. The ONLY Exception in my mind is Windows programming where the IDE is integral. If you are learning Java then get used to struggling with how to compile and run it on the command line. It's the only way to learn properly about the environment surrounding the application. You need to learn how to compile and then you can step up to learning a tool like Make or Ant to assist in your builds. You have to learn about configuring your classpath and system environment especially how things are different between Wondows and Unix.

Web Programming is a bit of a twist on regular application development. Unless its what interests you most stick with Java, PERL or whatever and learn programming first then take a crack at web programming. Its simplicity is deceiving.

--
I fish therefore I am
I code therefore I can afford to fish!

-- Linux is my Anti Virus --
--

You want to start basic I say Pascal very simple and basic if you want difficult go C++ I say Pascal though

Try this tutorial:

Rebol Programming For The Absolute Beginner (http://musiclessonz.com/rebol_tutorial.html)

Good luck!