If you were going to learn a programming language..

daryll

daryll

daryll

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Joined
9 Sep 2003
Posts
472
..which would it be?

I havent dabbled with programming since I was a teenager and wondered what would be worth learning now if you were going to start?
 
It has become a great deal more specialised than you last programmed ^^

When I was a kid (6+) I used to program BBC Basic, moved up to the Archimedes at about the age of 11 and started dabbling in c++ around 17 (though never really got anywhere). Cue uni + Java for 3 years, C++ for another year, then 2-3 java/c++ private projects, but - nothing matches the ease and simplicity with which we used to code.

Many people have recommended I look at Processing (although it would be a bit noddy for me now), but should be good for beginners.
 
DOS :P

TBH when you a learn programming language the skills are transferable i would choose a technology or framework. It depends on what i wanted to do. If you want to be a pro dev for enterpise c# / .net or Java. For messing the web and messing about at home PHP / cakePHP or RoR. Although i'm not a big fan of rails. I'm a C# dev doing CMS and CRM integration atm.
 
For desktop applications i started with vb.net (and have since started using#, same thing)

im not a hardened programmer or anything but what i will say is the .net framework is brilliant to work with and i personally would say jump right in with C#. because from a beginner's point of view its sensible and logical. its not "easy" as such but lots of things that may be really convoluted in other languages are made easy in .net!
 
I'd love to learn a proper CNC system for automated industrial machinery, just can't afford the equipment at the moment. Not so much of a language I know, but it's down to the pure logic of XORs, XANDs etc.

Other than that, wouldn't mind learning PHP a bit better.
 
C# is a good general-purpose language to learn for both application and web (ASP.NET) development, as well as being a good marketable skill should you wish to take it further.
 
Actionscript 3 - The freelance rates for Actionscripters especially ones that know 3 is astronomical.
 
C#/Java - One you learn one it's not that hard to learn the other, aditionally you will find that programing in PHP using OO features is very similar to C#/Java.

EG: A simple class with a constructor in C#/Java:
Code: 
public class Test
{
    public Test()
    {
        // This is the constructor method.
    }
    // rest of the class members goes here.
}

in PHP:
Code: 
class Test
{
    function __construct()
    {
        // This is the constructor method.
    }
    // rest of the class members goes here.
}
 
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Thanks for the replies guys, I think ill take a look at c# .net

Ekim said:
Actionscript 3 - The freelance rates for Actionscripters especially ones that know 3 is astronomical.
Click to expand...

That sounds good, I already know some AS3 :) In fact it was AS3 that got me thinking about this in the first place, I like working with it a lot..it thinks the same way I do ;)
 
allllec said:
For desktop applications i started with vb.net (and have since started using#, same thing)

im not a hardened programmer or anything but what i will say is the .net framework is brilliant to work with and i personally would say jump right in with C#. because from a beginner's point of view its sensible and logical. its not "easy" as such but lots of things that may be really convoluted in other languages are made easy in .net!
Click to expand...

Being in the same situation I would second everything said here :)

Except I prefer VB.NET ;)
 
Edsger W. Dijkstra:
It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.
Click to expand...

:p

C# is a decent choice, and learning AS3 properly is probably another good choice. As was mentioned above though, it doesn't much matter what you learn as long as a lot of the skills you learn are transferable between most languages. Common Lisp or Scheme would be a good option if you're interested in learning for the sake of it (they're probably not especially useful in the real world depending on your field ;)).
 
I don't mean to hijack the thread but can someone explain .NET to me? I have programming experiance in Java & PHP and have used C a few times, I have never really ventured to the MS side of programming. If I understand correctly .NET is like the Java VM and whereby programs are converted to some sort of bytecode then execured by the .NET runtime. I'm just a little confused with VB.NET and C#, C++ J++ etc.
 
I started with PHP because I came from a Web background, but now my focus in Uni is on Java. It's massively complex but it's platform independent and I can see once I've got to grips with it, other languages will be a doddle (I hope :P)
 
I'd agree with most people above and say C#/Java. The free version of Visual Studio swings it in C#'s favour in my opinion, it's just so easy to debug code.
 
RobH said:
I don't mean to hijack the thread but can someone explain .NET to me? I have programming experiance in Java & PHP and have used C a few times, I have never really ventured to the MS side of programming. If I understand correctly .NET is like the Java VM and whereby programs are converted to some sort of bytecode then execured by the .NET runtime. I'm just a little confused with VB.NET and C#, C++ J++ etc.
Click to expand...
Yeah, at a very high level .NET is a runtime (VM) and framework of libraries, and the various high level languages just compile into bytecode.

Here's the obligatory wikipedia page.
 
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