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1.1.1 What is programming?

This is a very philosophical question really. However, lets stick to the practical side and leave the Zen bit to those who go for that kind of stuff.

Programming basically is the art of identifying a problem and putting the solution into symbols a computer can understand. A good programmer has a highly developed ability to see how a given problem can be split into smaller problems for which he has several solutions, and he also knows which particular solution he should pick to make the result as effective in terms of memory and speed as possible.

A programmer, as the previous passage suggests, actually tells the computer how to solve a problem. A computer can not come up with a solution to a problem itself. However, it's a lot quicker than you are, so problems that you can solve but would take you several lifetimes or simply just 'too long' are handled quickly by the computer.

What you need to learn is that special way of thinking that allows you to do this 'subdividing' thing where you see the steps needed to get from the beginning state to the solved state. You also need to learn the methods that make up these steps. Naturally this tutorial won't teach you 'how to program', it will only teach you the language used to put down the program in.

Who'll teach you programming then, in case you don't already know how to? Well... primarily other wizards in the game, and then yourself. Hard work in other words, there's never any shortcuts unfortunately, no matter what you need to learn. However, since this is a very amusing game let's hope you'll have great fun while acquiring the skills.