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Sohrab asked:
> Can any of you guys point
> me in the direction of any sites where I can get a beginners grasp of this.
I'd recommend starting with the basics - Greg Perry does a great job
explaining programming concepts to the neophyte, and his more advanced
books are terrific, too. I'd recommend his book "The Absolute Beginner's
Guide to Programming" as a good introduction to common programming
concepts.
Then, it depends on what language(s) you need to learn. I've worked with
COBOL, C, C++, and Visual Basic. My bookshelf reflects this - Amazon and
Bookpool have made a lot of money off me!
I've had good luck with this strategy: Get a beginner's book for whatever
language you're studying, and also get a more "serious" book for the same
language - the sort of book a "real" programmer would use as a reference.
You might even ask some programmers what their favorites are. (Most of
them own these books, but few will admit it!) The combination of the
easy-to-grasp beginner's book and a good solid reference text have allowed
me to quickly acquire the familiarity I've needed to talk to developers,
and have been lifesavers when I found myself working on API and SDK
documentation.
(Incidentally, I did NOT feel qualified to work on programming docs, but
was forced to, despite my lack of programming background. Welcome to the
real world of technical writing. I spent a lot of weekends at the office
during those assignments....)
To choose these books, I spent a lot of time reading customer reviews of
each book on Amazon.com. This is not a flawless technique, but if a LOT of
readers either love or hate a book, that tells you something about it....
Good luck!
-Keith "not a programmer, but I get invited to their parties" Cronin
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