Im sorry if this is in the wrong spot/ or is wrong in any way.
I'm a comnplete newbie to coding, and I want to get started. I am a builder in a MUD that is SMAUG and SWR, and I want to get familiar with coding, so perhaps one day I can code. Can someone give advice on where I should get started, and what should I do?
You will need to learn to program in C, which is the language in which SMAUG is written. If you explore these forums you will find an awful lot of information both specific to SMAUG and general about programming; check the section headers for various useful links. Nick has, for example, several hints on how to get a programming environment set up, in addition to a tutorial on installing Cygwin.
The best advice I can give you, if you have no exposure to programming, is to google for a C tutorial. There are lots of them, some pretty good, some not-so-good. But you will need to understand the fundamental concepts like loops, control flow, functions, and so forth. The tutorials are probably the best way to get a feel for all that. I would recommend against changing the SMAUG code until you understand programming fundamentals; but, you might want to poke around and see what things look like. Let me warn you, though, it will be rather complex. Starting small is probably the best advice I could give.
Again let me stress the amount of information in these forums. It can be hard to sort through it all, but a lot of beginning coders come this way and chances are you will have similar experiences and difficulties as others, and can learn from the discussions.
Welcome to the world of programming; have fun. :-)
Ksilyan, thanks so much for the information.
I must ask though, C is a language used for a wide variety of things is it not? How will I know how to use it for MUDs?
Look at examples, you can use C for almost anything.
However you will find a MUD server code a bit daunting until you learn some of the basics, without knowing them it won't make much sense.
For a simpler example than a full server, try looking at the Tiny MUD server I released on this site:
http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/bbshowpost.php?bbsubject_id=4496
It still needs some C (and C++) knowledge to understand it, but is a lot smaller than something like SMAUG.
Ah alright, thanks for all the help!