Computer Learning Zone CLZ Access Excel Word Windows

Not only do we live among the stars, the stars live within us.

-Neil deGrasse Tyson
 
Home   Courses   TechHelp   Forums   Help   Contact   Merch   Join   Order   Logon  
 
Back to Visitor Forum    Comments List
Upload Images   @Reply   Bookmark    Link   Email   Next Unseen 
Coding
Tom Bell 

3 years ago
I am 70 yrs. old & would like to continue my education. I've always wanted to learn how to code. I would like to know your opinion on what language I should start out with first & why?

Thank you for your time.
Kevin Robertson  @Reply  
           
3 years ago
I personally started with Visual Basic 6.0 before upgrading to VB.NET. VB, in my opinion, is the easiest to learn.

C# is a little harder, but not too bad. C++ is probably the hardest of the 3 that I have experience with.
Whichever you choose you will need to download Visual Studio. You can download the free Community Edition from Microsoft.
Kevin Yip  @Reply  
     
3 years ago
I would suggest BASIC as a the first language for any beginner, because it has the most "English-like" syntax.  Access and Visual Studio both use a version of BASIC, but they are very complicated software for beginners to use and maintain.  So I would suggest a much simpler tool that uses BASIC, such as Microsoft Small Basic.  If you remember Windows 3 and XP, you may remember the QBasic tool that came with them.  This is the descendant of that:

     https://smallbasic-publicwebsite.azurewebsites.net/

This site has plenty of PDF tutorials for you to study and practice with:     https://smallbasic-publicwebsite.azurewebsites.net/tutorials

You can download the tool, or write code directly online:     https://smallbasic-publicwebsite-code.azurewebsites.net/

The picture below is a sample piece of code I did.  It creates 50 random words, shown in a 5-by-10 layout, with each word composed of random consonants in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th letter, and random vowels in the 2nd and 4th letter.  This is the essence of programming: a deceptively brief piece of code is able to perform tasks that may be very time-consuming to do manually.  This task is an actual homework assignment that I got in my 10th grade computer class in the early 1980s (the dawn of today's computer age).

Nowadays, elementary schools teach coding fairly early.  Here is a kind of coding via "block-building" that kids may learn today:  https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor/?tutorial=getStarted .  If you didn't have computer classes in your early school years, you may take a look.  If it is too child-like for you, you may go straight to "text-based coding."  That's why I suggest you learn the most English-like coding language first.  Most other languages may look like alien language to you at this point.
Kevin Yip  @Reply  
     
3 years ago

This thread is now CLOSED. If you wish to comment, start a NEW discussion in Visitor Forum.
 

Next Unseen

 
New Feature: Comment Live View
 
 

The following is a paid advertisement
Computer Learning Zone is not responsible for any content shown or offers made by these ads.
 

Learn
 
Access - index
Excel - index
Word - index
Windows - index
PowerPoint - index
Photoshop - index
Visual Basic - index
ASP - index
Seminars
More...
Customers
 
Login
My Account
My Courses
Lost Password
Memberships
Student Databases
Change Email
Info
 
Latest News
New Releases
User Forums
Topic Glossary
Tips & Tricks
Search The Site
Code Vault
Collapse Menus
Help
 
Customer Support
Web Site Tour
FAQs
TechHelp
Consulting Services
About
 
Background
Testimonials
Jobs
Affiliate Program
Richard Rost
Free Lessons
Mailing List
PCResale.NET
Order
 
Video Tutorials
Handbooks
Memberships
Learning Connection
Idiot's Guide to Excel
Volume Discounts
Payment Info
Shipping
Terms of Sale
Contact
 
Contact Info
Support Policy
Mailing Address
Phone Number
Fax Number
Course Survey
Email Richard
[email protected]
Blog RSS Feed    YouTube Channel

LinkedIn
Copyright 2026 by Computer Learning Zone, Amicron, and Richard Rost. All Rights Reserved. Current Time: 5/7/2026 11:43:54 AM. PLT: 0s