Which language?

Morthoseth · 4 Mar 2008 at 22:52

Good day everyone, a few random questions to ask you all, back when i was in college two or so years ago, i was doing a computer programming course, where i learned just past the basics of VB / Java - and of course the fundamentals of programming, variables, arrays and so on.

The problem is, since then only that very basic knowledge remains, none of the syntax for either language etc, and i really want to get into the business path of computer programming if at all possible, and am asking for your advice on which language you think i should pursue, or even start from scratch?

So far i'm thinking perhaps web development would be a better route to follow, although ideally application programming is where i would like to end up eventually.

My brother is a very talented graphics designer, and could help me as far as website layouts and such are concerned - so as a starting point, this is why i mentioned web development, it would be a tremendous help to his business if he could sell pre-coded web pages / templates, and a huge boost to my experience by doing so.

Would you advise i start with the likes of PHP?

I will probably stick to either the cheapest, or freeware compilers for the time being - as i do not want to commit one hundred percent, i simply want a poke in the right direction.

Which language will be the biggest stepping stone into both;

a) Learning further languages
b) Employment

I already have a job currently, and learning either of these languages will be a project of a few hours a night.

Thanks for reading, i look forward to your advice.

Morthoseth · 4 Mar 2008 at 23:34

As stupid as it will sound, with the limited knowledge i have now i have always thought application programming would be more interesting, although thinking about it a little further - disregarding the power of each possible language, web design probably has more use.

The only comparrison i have is Visual Basic to the likes of HTML though, which is a pretty pathetic comparrisson to satrt with!

I have a question for you regarding PHP then while you are around, i've been reading a book i've had lying around, and one of the excercises is to create two variables, then using comparisson operatives i have to output whether the statement is true or not? If that makes sense... I've read the page a few times and still cant grasp it.

<?php
$integera = 5;
$integerb = 3;

print integera == integerb;
?>

Perhaps its a simple fix, i've tried using inverted comma's everywhere, tried creating a third variable to assign the answer to and print that, but it outputs a blank page.

So far i'm confused, all the past things i have programmed (i.e. VB) i have assigned the variable type as well as the value, obviously 5 and 3 are integers, and when i created the third variable it would be a boolean.

Please help, so i can continue! haha

Morthoseth · 4 Mar 2008 at 23:44

Its just a simple excercise in the book, i need to compare the two integers, and == can be replaced with <= or => or whatver, it just needs to say if 5 is equal to 3, which it isnt - so i want it to print false (i.e. a boolean value)

I have included the $ signs on the actual code, i just forgot when repeating it here, sorry

Morthoseth · 5 Mar 2008 at 00:09

Perfect, thank you very much - i understand that now... it makes sense at least!

Wont be the last you hear of me i'm sure, but so far so good, i can continue

How long would you say it takes to learn PHP to an acceptable level, if i was to spend a few hours a night on it? And what are the best ways to practice?

Morthoseth · 5 Mar 2008 at 09:36

Any books you could reccommend for someone in my position on PHP? I'll go into the book shop in town for lunch today and see if they have any of the reccommended ones in stock.

A decent book with perhaps things to work through would be very handy indeed, i find it hard to read internet tutorials / ebooks and program at the same time, i could always print them out... but hey!

Thanks for the advice so far, i'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge on the subject

Morthoseth · 5 Mar 2008 at 20:21

Thanks again for the advice so far, i've ordered that book TomWilko

I want to ask a simple question now, as i figure its better than making a new thread! I'm learning about if statements in php, and a question about coding ethics or practice

Example 1:

$num = 37;
if ($num < 18) {
print "too young, you are $num, you need to be 18-35";
} elseif ($num > 35) {
print "too old, you are $num, you need to be 18-35";
} else {
print "within age range, you are $num";
}

This code is probably the long winded version, yet does exactly what i want it to, what, aesthetically is the difference between that and

Example 2:
$num = 37;
if ($num < 18 && $num > 35) {
print blabla
else
print blabla2

And so on, i assume example 2 is better practice, but is there really a difference, and is it important?