Which Programming Language to Learn?

Post Reply New Topic

Gedit? Nano? come-on... you can't call yourself a linux programmer unless you can use vi

Just kidding, I wouldn't inflict Vi on anyone

Thanks for posting this I've been wondering where my son can learn this. Do any of you play around/ make things with scratch? and would that help someone young (10) to learn programming?

I was progamming in Basic before I was 10. It is one of my lifelong obsessions. I started by copying the code for games from a book (pre-internet) and then I would start messing with the code I just copied and the game would just do wierd and neat things.

One of my favorite things was to code a game or something from scratch. I still would rather code from scratch then use something that generates code for me.

I also started with BASIC, and use it to crunch numbers and generate stats. Right now, I have QBasic 4.5 with the built-in compiler. It can be downloaded from several websites.

I just started a short course on PIC programming, as well.

Start with basic... Not vb... Move on to c, cpp, java (java sucks), perl, sql, php and somewhere along there get intob the various shell progaramming scripting

I'd probably start with ruby or python rather than BASIC, these days, but BASIC would work. It isn't the cleanest language, but for the really basic stuff it's not bad.

I started out on BASIC, copying code from a book like xowe did. The book I copied programs from is online in its entirety these days (I can dig up a link if anyone wants it).

There's a really cool online introduction to ruby called "why's poignant guide to ruby", which I think is worth looking at. It has, in the words of its author, "an exorbitant amount of cartoon foxes".

I have heard good things about Ruby, although I havn't tried it.

For client programming languages, take Python all the way as a start. It's awesome and powerful. Forget Pascal or VB. Pascal was a good language back in time, but now it's pretty much dead.
VB is a limited language. It also teaches you bad habits of programming, such as showing you all the code instead of making you work your own style of programming. It's restrictive too because it only works within Microsoft-based machines. You probably want a language that is workable and functioning in all systems, regardless of the OS.
C and C++ can be very confusing for newbies. I suggest you get comfortable first with Python. Besides, if you learn well, you can make it as much powerful as C and C++ since Python is already object-based.

As for web programming, start with HTML. You'll love building your own webpages. Then go for PHP.
PHP is NOT like every language. Most of the languages will need you to compile it so it can work. PHP is a scripting language that only works server-side. That means you can't use it on a normal computer unless you build a web server.

You can use PHP inside HTML with no problems.

I disagree about seeing all of the code being a bad thing, and having your own style is not as important as writing clean, effective, efficient code that conforms to proven naming and logic conventions so other people can read and modify it as necessary. There's a reason we I.T. Systems Analysts do things the way we do. And PHP is cool. PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor. Recursion, lol. I've even used HTML with PHP that dynamically compiled Flash. It was really cool and versatile.

PHP is massivly useful. It can be run as a script or as a web page, or a combination of both - Sharing the common code between them. Its got librarys for everything I have ever needed (GD is one of my favorites). You can get "Wamp" - its an Apache web server, PHP, and MySQL that will all install easily and run under windows.

As for VB... I dislike things that generate code the "Microsoft" way, I would much rather set it up and code it by hand, my way. I've written some stuff in VB, I always feel like I'm fighting with the interface because I don't follow the "Microsoft (tm) logic"

i haven't written any code in literally decades, but i well remember the aesthetic thrill of APL.

You're aware that Pascal was conceived with the idea of encouraging good programming practice? That's every bit as relevant today and what's learned through Pascal is applicable elsewhere.
Also that OO Pascals have been around for some time - Delphi, for example, and Borland's Pascals before that? Before you were born, in fact.
http://www.freepascal.org/ (this is also cross-platform, as are many others)
Far from dead.

What I'm trying to say is I'd prefer learning Python and Ruby compared to Pascal. I've made quite a few programs in Pascal but when I got my hands on a Python compiler, I found the last to be more readable and understanding. I always hated to put semi-colons at the end of each line which, in my point of view, find unecessary. Also in Python I don't always have to declare variables in the beginning of the program, unlike Pascal, which I find comfortable.

I would agree with Pascal. It is a good language to learn the ropes especially since it does not rely on symbols as much as C like languages

One of the many things I like about Pascal is that without deliberately writing code to circumvent it, it's practically impossible to make erroneous type assignments: the language is built to discourage it and the compiler prevents it, yet mechanisms are still provided (in modern Pascals, anyway) to allow pulling typecasting tricks - but in a structured manner.
Hence, types and variables etc. are all defined up-front; nothing is assumed - or allowed to be assumed.
All of this forces a greater understanding of what's being manipulated and a better, more precise awareness of program operation.
Other language compilers make a 'best guess' at what the programmer intended which to my way of thinking is risky at best and just plain wrong at worst - I'd rather rely on a compiler generating binaries from precisely what I wrote than trust the whims of its implementation.

Funny; I find the same with Python's method of indentation-as-block-definition: it's bizarre. A single semi-colon in Pascal flows as naturally as punctuation, and in Pascal I indent however I choose because it's visually useful (and pretty!) but in Python I'm forced to indent how it expects.

So I guess all languages will have their little syntactical quirks, but I'll always recommend one which was designed with the purpose of teaching good practices.
That will help keep the programmer in control and tame some of the excesses found in other languages.