I've heard that it's very important to design a program before you startprogramming. Are there any good programs for designing, or is it best to usepen and paper?
Pen and paper are always a good start, but using umlis the standard. A great free uml tool is at http://www.gentleware.com
pencil and paper is best. you shouldn't plan down to the last detail though,just the basic way your program will work. What classes will use what methods,etc.