Beginners question about programming.
 

Hi all. It's about time I tried my hand at a bit of programming. I'm using windows 7 starter and don't know whether to use the virtual sdk machine or MADDE or even something else I don't know about. I have only used a few commands in xterm but I am able to follow tutorials, so a developing environment with a good tutorial would be best.

Which would you experienced devs recommend as a starting point for a beginner on W7. I have a brother in law in Australia who is a linux programmer so I can bug him for code advice if I have to. I just need a nudge in the right direction.

Thanks

Re: Beginners question about programming.
 

indeed it is, it's a great time to start learning to programming ;) May I point out the maemo.org Coding Competition Beginners are very welcome :)

I also develop on Windows 7 so that won't hold you back from getting started :) The best place to start, imo, is with the Qt SDK - it has everything you need to design, develop, compile and run the applications you develop. You can check out more about it and download it as a package from here http://qt.nokia.com/products/qt-sdk. It come with examples and tutorials and there are a lot more on the internet. Qt programming used to be all about C++ but more recently QML has become more promient. A Qt Quick application is a bit of both. QML is a scripting language and let's you do some fancy and powerful things with a shorter learning curve than with a traditional programming language such as C++. So I'd recommend learning more about getting started with the QML examples and try playing about with the code yourself. in my opinion it's the easiest way to get familiar with Qt development and quickest way to have something running on your phone.

We also have a Development forum on maemo.org - http://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=13 where you can ask for advice, no question too stupid so don't be shy (I've asked a few daft ones myself in the past). There are also Nokia developer forums.

QML and C++ are not the only languages you can program for the Qt environment, other options are available such as Python. But if you are genuinely new to programming then QML may be the simplest way to get started.

Re: Beginners question about programming.
 

Hi! Windows 7 started? What are tech specs of your pc/laptop/netbook?

If you have dual core CPU and at least 2gb of RAM (which i doubt, windows 7 starter is for rather low-end computers) i would recommend you virtual machine with linux on it (I use VirtualBox with old Ubuntu 10.04 installed, it has good old Gnome 2 gui and Maemo 5 SDK can be installed on it flawlessly).

If your computer has worse performance, I would recommend using Ubuntu live from USB or, maybe better solution for you if you have > 10 gb free disk space on your HDD, WUBI.

You might as well use Windows, but if you plan to write software for N900/N9, I would go for linux anyway (unless you plan to do only really simple or Qt stuff, then you can just install Qt Creator.

As for coding, in my days, one should typically begin with basic C++ knowledge, http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ may be good for beginner (there is pdf version available for download, you may want to download and print it to give your computer a break, Qt Creator is heavy anyway), but maybe you would prefer Python - it may be easier, because you can install Python in Widows 7, code and test there, then just transfer script (what you write in Python is not really a standalone executable program, it's script which is run using Python parser and libraries) to N9/N900/N950 and it should still work.

Summary: use Ubuntu on virtual machine or with WUBI if you are not afraid of Linux, but if you are ("only used a few commands in xterm" - that suggests you are not familiar with Linux), you may just install Qt Creator for Windows and practice C++ there or install Python for Windows and practice there.

Re: Beginners question about programming.
 

I am interested and want to start too. :) I got to exchange messages with kojacker in one of the threads here and he got me interested. I will take the advice and will start learning QML. I am on Ubuntu 12.04 currently and have been using Ubuntu for about 2 years (I can do basic Terminal usage and some manipulations in Conky config files). I have some propensity in using MS Excel and I feel that it somehow equipped me with the foundation of having that logic for looking at codes (same way when I look at Excel formulas). Not sure if I'm making sense to everyone, but definitely I will do my best. :)

Re: Beginners question about programming.
 

I want to ask here about the time it would take for me to grasp some basic programming in Qt/QML and develop basic apps maybe??

I have had a course on Basic Level Programming in C language in my Engineering Course (Civil Engg)

I think I had lessons up till Pointers.

Suggestions/help??>

Re: Beginners question about programming.
 

I have no coding knowledge at all and managed to get three applications out there all Qt or QML. So I see no reason why not.

There all still WIP, plus I got a lot of help from people in the forum.

Start with setting up scratchbox with maemo targets and looking at Debian/Maemo packaging.

wiki.maemo.org is the place to look for all information.

I use a Virtualbox and Debian Squeeze for my scratchbox enviro.