So for someone who wants to get their foot in the door and learn a lot about computer science where do I start?

Get rid of Windows or MacOS and install Linux.

@Lovely - So first of all you'll have to understand there is no easy quick way. You might take 3 years, 5 years, hell knows even 10 years to get solid knowledge about computer science generally speaking. Ask yourself, what fields of interests do you have in mind, what are your goals, why are those your goals.

There's too many idiots in IT, especially management level. Don't ever become that person, please.

@jirehstudios May I ask why? I have seen a lot of people state this so just curious.

@YoungWebRebelz Yeah I have thought of that and I realized I have been wasting too much time so wanting to start sooner rather than later. As for what field that interest me I would say more of network security but the one thing I have yet to figure out is the why.

Also decided to major in computer science and I will be starting this fall but I don't want to wait till school starts to better myself.

If you've never written any code at all, I would recommend checking out some online courses (CodeCademy, Code School etc) :) That way, you'll get to learn the basics of some of the most popular programming languages :)

@hobolicker which language do you recommend learning first?

After Basic etc as a kid I did some C++, VB, PHP, JS etc in school. But all the training was centered around learning the programming language - not how to think about solving the problem at hand. First time I really found that was the book "Python : programming in context" by Miller. It teaches you how to think like a computer scientist while also how to implement the solutions in Python. Which happens to be an excellent language to start with imho.

@Elkstorm I will check that out thanks! So Python would be no problem for first time? And I will do more research when I get home but is that good for app programming or no?

@Lovely - I think Python would be a good choice as your first language, considering its simplicity :) But if you wanna write for mobile apps, it's either Java for Android or Swift/C++ for iOS :)

@Lovely Python is fine for a first language. Pros
- not so much syntax to worry about
- no memory management.
- no compilation
- powerful. They have a "batteries included" philosophy. I've written some webcrawlers, webcomic downloaders etc in Python and network stuff that can be a hassle otherwise takes only a line or two.
- used by many big companies so it actually helps you CV as opposed to playing around with simplified "learn to program" solutions.

Cons: uses spaces for indentation which is unusual. Others can say more.

You could by all means write webapps with Python as backend, but if you want to write native ios/Android apps you'd be better off learning Java and Swift. Myself I favour Python for backend logic and Javascript/HTML5 for powerful frontends.

There is also the alternative to download some kids programming apps like scratch etc. Even programming oriented Lego games etc can be helpful for dipping your toes for the first time.

The key to success is having fun!

@Hobolicker @Elkstorm Okay! Thank you both! Python it is! I will try if I can do C++ on the side but I know it's tougher so we will see.

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