What programming language should I learn?

I reckon Visual Basic is the easiest to write user friendly apps quickly for a beginner. It sucks after a while and you will get bored, but once you've got it down, then move on to something else like Java, Python, C#. Java is probably the most useful and current, although I've never used it I've seen what it can do. Not many people use Python, but its awesome for quick apps and scripting things. C# is my third favorite out of the suggestions.
 
I've been playing with Python for the past week. It's quite refreshing after using Basic, Pascal, Fortran, C, C++ and then Java.

I quite like the idea of an interpreted language.

Python seems to borrow a lot of syntax from other languages, but adds some quirks of its own.

Having to indent correctly is quite irritating and the error messages can be quite cryptic.

I think Java is best overall, but maybe Python is better for the absolute beginner, so long
as you have the right text. There are some that seem designed to confuse and frustrate.
 
Zubizap said:
I can whole-heartedly recommend "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python", 2nd edition, available for free as a download-able PDF from http://inventwithpython.com/
It is a book that is written in such a way that it teaches you, from the beginning, how to program by actually giving you examples of games written in python.

What is great about this book is that it keeps your attention by only teaching you stuff, about how to program and about python, as you need it.
This book uses Python 3.1, and is in my (very) humble opinion an excellent way to get "into" programming by getting you interested in how to program something that actually does something.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it supports version 3.1? It seems to be in transition, with some 3 compatible code and some old.
I would wait for them to update it properly.
 
Definitely assembly. If you can punch the code in using Debug in a terminal window using hex then you should be OK.
 
GingerBeer said:
I've been playing with Python for the past week. It's quite refreshing after using Basic, Pascal, Fortran, C, C++ and then Java.

I quite like the idea of an interpreted language.

Python seems to borrow a lot of syntax from other languages, but adds some quirks of its own.

Having to indent correctly is quite irritating and the error messages can be quite cryptic.

I think Java is best overall, but maybe Python is better for the absolute beginner, so long
as you have the right text. There are some that seem designed to confuse and frustrate.
Click to expand...

If you like interpreted, give LUA a spin as well. Here's the differences between LUA and Python: http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaVersusPython
 
I feel ancient reading this thread.. I learnt Pascal in school.. was a whiz in it but never followed up on my programming skills i learnt... how i wish i learnt Java, VB and C..

I just feel it's to late to try and learn these languages...

AGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
 
wallsend said:
I feel ancient reading this thread.. I learnt Pascal in school.. was a whiz in it but never followed up on my programming skills i learnt... how i wish i learnt Java, VB and C..

I just feel it's to late to try and learn these languages...

AGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Click to expand...

Its really not too late. I studied with guys who had done pascal at school, and they cranked through VB and all the other languages, while I, with no experience initially, really really struggled.
 
markface said:
Its really not too late. I studied with guys who had done pascal at school, and they cranked through VB and all the other languages, while I, with no experience initially, really really struggled.
Click to expand...

Ya but it's difficult now, I am working full-time and currently studying through UNISA for a bcom marketing management degree... so Time is a issue + i will have no support guide whilst trying to learn the languages... i mean no tutoring etc..
 
wallsend said:
Ya but it's difficult now, I am working full-time and currently studying through UNISA for a bcom marketing management degree... so Time is a issue + i will have no support guide whilst trying to learn the languages... i mean no tutoring etc..
Click to expand...

Jeez, fair enough. Bad enough working full time, let alone studying a degree at the same time!
 
markface said:
Bad enough working full time, let alone studying a degree at the same time!
Click to expand...

Yes markface, I totally agree with you. As Jeez saying thats not possible now a days. If we keep mind on that than we are not capable to give the mind on that. Only one time we should handle only one thing.
 
I've done in order from where I started: Basic (Not VB), Visual Basic, Pascal, Delphi, .NET (C#/VB.NET and managed C++), C/C++ (standard library mostly and calling Windows DLL's directly), Java, Assembly (x86), PHP, SQL (not really a language but we had to go so in depth that I put it on the list anyway).
While studying we did a whole bunch more in programming languages but since I didn't actually use them apart from 1 practical it's not really worth mentioning.

Out of all of those I would recommend: Pascal and Java, pascal is a bit old school but that is where I really learnt to program (I started in Basic in primary school and I didn't know what was happening until I started using Pascal, it is so much better).

As for assembly: I don't really get whole deal with assembly, it's very easy. The only real problem is a lack of control structures and readability is a bit tedious but overall it's so simple that it isn't particularly difficult to learn. I wouldn't teach someone how to use it until they've used an OO language because it just serves to teach bad programming habits that stick. I've seen it before where people code in Java but they bring their old programming habits from Cobol, Assembly and such languages with them.
 
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C# and Java should give you a good grounding. VB.Net is quite similar to C#, since it depends on the same libraries, and might look less daunting, but the difference is quite minor.

Once you've got the basic concepts of programming down, moving between languages isn't all that hard. You just need to figure out some of the nuances, but the basics are generally the same.
 
I started out learning on VB.net, then moved on with C++ then to C#, PHP, Python, Pearl and lately objective C. I would recommend that you start by learning a C based language, since a lot of other languages are C based. First get to grips with the logic and once you feel comfortable with it, try some other languages till you find one that you like. Learning another language is a lot easier once you have a background of programming.
I would also recommend you get a great IDE,
I recommend NetBeans, has support for Java, C/C++, PHP, Ruby, and you can install more plugins that allow more languages like Python etc.
 
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