Application of Programming

Hello everyone,

I am attempting to teach myself programming and am at a bit of a loss as to who to apply any of what I am learning. I read through books and they teach the theory of the code, but I fail to grasp its actual application. I would like to code professionally but I have no concept of what it actually entails.

I am a "hands on" type of learner and come to you all looking for some guidance as to how to develop into a diverse and skilled programmer. Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.

>>7
I think what >>5 meant is that if you learn C++ and Java at face value, you are really not programming but just sticking pegs into slots without any understanding of what youre doing. To be competent in C or C++ requires a deeper understanding of what programming is...the theory. I think Java is safe enough you can work on reasonably large projects before complexity will sneak up and bite you. If you are satisfied with just doing web programming, you dont need to know theory. If you want to do C/C++, then you are going to spend many years studying before you make anything significant.