Trying to learn SQL, Python, and VB.

The best way to learn how to program is to just dive in and start writing code. To begin, it does not matter if the code sucks. The point is that you understand what the code is doing and why the code is doing it. Later on you can learn how to better manage your code and write maintainable code. Writing maintainable code is 100x better than writing fast code!

The reason why I don't like starting with VB is that it's heavily GUI based and uses many, many wizards to create what you want. It's great for beginners, but ultimately teaches you nothing about why it works. As far as programming goes, I'd strongly recommend you pick one language and become very good at it before moving to other languages. Once you learn one language very well and try learning another language, it becomes much easier because all programming languages can be boiled down to four elements:

1. Conditionals (if, else if, else, try, except, finally)
2. Loops (while, do-while, for)
3. Statements (a = b + c
4. Syntax (How to organize and write everything above into a logical program)

The first three are the easiest to learn the theory behind it. The last is the hardest to master and is often what separates an average programmer from an excellent programmer. This is why learning the first language is so hard because you have to do all four things at once. After you've learned the first language, you can concentrate on #4 for all other languages.

For learning Python, I recommend you use Python 2.7. This is because the module MySQLdb, a python module supported by Oracle, only works with 2.6 or 2.7.

As far as using MySQL db, it is extremely simple!

Code:

import mysql

dbconn = _mysql.connect(host="localhost", port="3306", username="root", password="", defaultschema="")

#Then you can start using queries very quick:

myBreakfast = dbconn.query("SELECT spam, eggs, sausage FROM breakfast WHERE price < 5")

print(myBreakfast)

Best way to learn is to jump in and make mistakes and learn as you go.