EH-Net

Ok, so i've browsed around the site. Most (of not all) say that Linux/programming background is a must.  What language should I use?  What linux distro?  Is python any good? I heard that was pretty easy to pick up   

Welcome to the boards.  Any Linux distro that you are comfortable with should do just fine.  Ubuntu and Fedora are probably the easiest to pick up if you do not have prior NIX experience.   You will also find a good base of community support for these.

Others may disagree with me, but I would start with C and C++.   Languages like Python, Ruby, and Perl are great, but learning C will teach you quite a bit about memory management.  C++ will fill in with OOP.  I would also review a few documents on Assembly as well.   I also wouldn't forget the Windows side of programming.   

Ketchup,

Yep, I have to disagree. I found it easier to learn C after learning a little perl and shell scripting.

While python is out there as a "Hacker Language" (unless I missed them I haven't seen gray hat perl or c yet). C will teach you a lot more.

ok sounds good.  I'm going to put a ubuntu partition on my hard drive.  Any tutorials or anything you guys know off to help with C ?  or is it just better to take a formal class

3pIcenTer,

I used to teach C and C++ and I know python, Java, etc...

What do you want to do? If your goal is to automate some jobs, then python or ruby are the tools for that. Applications are developed in C++ and I wouldn't use this language just for scripting.

Figure out what you want to do, then pick the appropriate language.

There are numerous books out there. Like Ketchup said before, C is the language that can teach you a lower level of programming and memory management. So, my opinion is that a book on C is more beneficial than tutorials etc just because it provides a thorough introduction on Architecture aspects and carries on using those.

To me, the C Programming Language by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie is an ideal reference.

Combine it with plenty of tutorials out there and you're done.

To be completely honest, at this moment I don't know exactly what I want to do.  Everyone says that basic programming skills are a must so I'm deciding were to start.  I think I'm leaning towards learning Python at the moment.

I think python is a great language to start with. It's easy to start understanding the basics of language syntax, programming logic, and not to mention CLEAN looking code  ;D (love those indents!)

Also, a lot of tools and scripts are written in python, so it would be good to learn how to read the code.

 I think learning how to code is more important to a beginner than learning what the system is interpreting. Should you have to know how many bytes an Integer is in the beginning? No, not right away. Should he know what a pointer is or that he must free up / allocate memory in RAM? No, not right away. I think abstracting this type of information can make them focus more on algorithm and basic concepts. Further more, this makes it more "fun" making programming not seem so dry.

By all means, you should in fact KNOW this stuff eventually, but don't freak out if you don't. Don't forget, programming is just a part of the puzzle to become an amazing hacker. Try not to overwhelm yourself if you get tired of programming for a bit. Learn how networks work, and especially Active Directory services. People often forget the lack of security that an administrator may enforce in an AD environment.

Good luck.

Thanks. Alot of people are saying you NEED to know this, this this this this, and this.  Its all a bit overwhelming.  I'm just going to take it one step at a time. Starting with Python.

I would say ethical hacking is getting more specialized into different areas including Application Security , Web Security and Network Security . You need to choose which one you wana go for since I am more towards Network Security so I need to learn something other than those at first .

I am more interested in Network Security.  Should I still start with learning python? Or is there a different approach I should take.

I'd definitely start with learning python & I agree with what secureseven said. What's great about python is like already said, there's tons of tools and scripts written in it (my two current favorites are Kennedy's FastTrack & Social Engineering Toolkit). What you have at your fingertips is the ability to take a look at existing scripts and dive right into it -  taking what you want and then applying it when making your own programs.

It's very useful for task automation & is easier to write exploits in. I'd say pick up on python then come around and do C. Both are musts!

Ok. thanks for the help guys.

c is the basic programming language.
So you should start with c language.

Hello!
I'm currently at College studying a BTEC National Diploma in IT and plan on going to University for Web Development. I've known basic HTML for about 5 years, but haven't furthered my knowledge much. Recently, I started touching up my HTML skills and can now comfortably build a basic website without needing any help from programmes or source codes.
I've been looking at other languages to learn, and noticed a lot mentioned JavaScript is probably the best language to learn after knowing HTML. I started looking at JavaScript and am starting to pick up the basics.
I just thought I'd get some more opinions. With my current knowledge of HTML and wanting to go into Web Development professionally within the next few years, what should I be moving towards? Which languages should I try and pick up? Should I start learning JavaScript? PHP? or any others?

Most important thing is just to get in there and start programming. I started with C a little then moved to python (class I had for my degree) and now I am currently using Perl. With each I have learned more and more about programming.  You will find lots of similarities between them. I am most fluent in Perl but still far from really knowing how to program. (programming is on my backend of knowledge I am learning) Again the most important thing is to throw yourself in there and give it some time. Hardest things if your not creative or have a lot of focus is finding things to do/make with your programming.