Ideas for first program

[R_I_P1337]

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone can give me any ideas I can do for my first program in Python. I decided that I learn best when I actually do things, so I'm going to write a program, but I don't no what to do. Can anyone give me ideas for one, please?

[nathandelane]

Here are some ideas.

• Web crawler - program a program that makes HTTP GET requests and crawls the web
• Text file analysis program - program a program that searches text files in a directory for a certain text or pattern, and that can tell you how many of each letter, word, etc. is in a specific file (like the grep command on Linux, you can google that if you don't know what it is)
• Small language parser - program a simple language (could simply use op-codes like $ means println) and parser for the language, then test it using your own little scripts

These are a few projects that I myself have done and have found useful in learning how to program. They are pretty simple and small projects. If you need help, I can be your guide at no cost to you.

[R_I_P1337]

Thanks again

[sync350]

nathandelane, What language would be best for the Web crawler program? I've been using perl, but trying to ease my way back into C++. I'm thinking that perl would be easier to make that with, but could it be done in C++?

[mutants_r_us_guild]

Here's a fun project:

Build a bot for an online website... and I dont mean like Runescape.. that's been done before. I was gonna make a bot for a site called pokemoncrater a while back.. but the site closed before I could. Making a bot for an online pokemon game, or something else like that wouldn't be too hard (depending on the language) and would be a great start.

[nathandelane]

nathandelane, What language would be best for the Web crawler program? I've been using perl, but trying to ease my way back into C++. I'm thinking that perl would be easier to make that with, but could it be done in C++?

I've programmed web crawlers in Ruby, C#, VBScript, and Java. The best language in my opinion would be one the implements a Http Request class of some kind, unless you can program your own from the Socket level classes. .NET implements this very well in System.Net.HttpWebRequest. Java, Ruby, and VBScript do something similar. Perl probably does this in some way, but I don't know Perl very well. Basically look for a Net namespace, package or library. In that look for an Http object or a WebRequest object, or something similar. Besides that you have to parse HTML somehow. Regular expressions work well but are relatively slow. In C# I use a framework named HtmlAgilityPack, which parses it for you and allows you to look for specific XML-based tags by using XPath.

I hope that helps you know where I'm coming from.

You could also easily program a web crawler in web-languages, like JavaScript, PHP, and ASP or ASP.Net (which is either VB.NET or C#.NET based depending on your personal preference).

[nathandelane]

Here's a fun project:

Build a bot for an online website... and I dont mean like Runescape.. that's been done before...

No matter if something has been done before or not, if it benefits you in learning how to do something, then redo it. You might make it better somehow even.

[beagle]

You could make a port scanner.

[lolbolt]

BUMP.
I want to hear some more excellent ideas.

[XP105]

First program should always be 'hello world'