What program language should a beginner use?

[reezin14]

I have heard of python,yabasic,and perl along with several others and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. I'm not interested in web creation I just want to be able to make a computer or network work better

thanxs, Reezin14

[Comatose]

I'm going to start an argument here (there have been posts regarding this already)... but most of the people will say C or C++ (something that gives you C like syntax). I personally, however, would say that you should start with an easy language, to learn the simple things... like loops, subs, functions, and all the like. So, with that said, I'm going to suggest Visual Basic, in just about any form (I suggest vb6, or vb.net).

There's my 2 cents.

[jwenting]

VB is the worst language to start with as you don't learn programming, you learn the tool. Just painting a few forms on a screen isn't programming... And hooking them up by writing a few lines of code in an event handler isn't programming either.

A good language would be Pascal or Java, though Python is also gaining exceptance with teachers for its simplicity.

[Comatose]

Ok With all fairness I hate VB too, but it doesn't make it easy to learn a loop, or an if block?

[jwenting]

any language will enable you to learn a loop or an if statement.
But with VB you first spent a year learning the IDE and all the nice widgets you can put on a window...

Learn the language, not the tool. Except VB prohibits that. For the same reason Delphi (which I love) should not be a first language (and in Delphi you do a lot more handcoding than in VB).

[Comatose]

I Told You I was gonna start an argument.

[reezin14]

I Told You I was gonna start an argument.

Thanxs a million for the suggestions it's been a real help in helping me decide what lang to learn.

[reezin14]

Very insightful as to what should be next for me.The research I did seems to suggest that you're right ------aleast for me anyway

[woodendart]

How does one start to learn I have done my whole website I still dont have a clue what I am doing ( i am sure it shows) I just look at other peoples code and try and figure out what I need of it to do what I want. How do I start to really learn?

[jwenting]

That's the first part of learning actually ;)
Next part (which you seem ready for) is getting a solid theoretical foundation beneath that knowledge you have.
Get yourself to a bookstore and search out some good books. There's some good reviews of books about web design and html here (though not comprehensive and not all books are current, html isn't the primary focus of the site): http://www.javaranch.com/bunkhouse/HTML.jsp

Skip anything that says "teach yourself in XXX", "for dummies", etc. (but not anything by O'Reilly, their books are almost always well worth the investment).

Online tutorials range from the very good to the extremely poor and can actually do more harm than good unless you already know enough to determine which you're dealing with...

You could also consider formal training (online or classroom courses) which can teach you more in a few days than you can in months sifting through books.

[Comatose]

That's the first part of learning actually ;)
Next part (which you seem ready for) is getting a solid theoretical foundation beneath that knowledge you have.

{ Removed }

Skip anything that says "teach yourself in XXX", "for dummies", etc. (but not anything by O'Reilly, their books are almost always well worth the investment).

Now THAT is words of wisdom

[Soral 3.0]

I have heard of python,yabasic,and perl along with several others and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. I'm not interested in web creation I just want to be able to make a computer or network work better

thanxs, Reezin14

I would try either window shell script or linux shell scripting. Both of them aren't web development scripting languages -- they don't make apps -- but if you can use them properly -- it will allow you to make your machine and or network run more efficiently because you can instruct to do your computer to accomplish many tasks that would take you precious time to do manually.
-Soral 3.0

[Sphyenx]

mix it up.. books and tutorials. You can get multiple opinions and you can think more openly on thing's. Im more in to web design then programming.

[moderate_rock48]

To me programming and web design is very attractive. I would love to learn the language and be able to create programs, but I took a year of C++ and a year of Java, I just didnt understand it. I guess I dont have the brains for it :confused:

[harshchandra]

hi :rolleyes: ......these days only most of the ppl will suggest u to use c or C++ as a beginners...me too will advice u the same but if u really wants to start from the scratch then i will suggest u BASIC ...its a beginners all purpose symbolic instruction code

[jwenting]

basic will just teach poor programming practices... It's just too basic (pun intended) ;)

Pascal, Modula 2, Python, are all there and far better suited for the beginner.

[sosco]

you think that VB is a paint programm? you say pascal or java. ok. so how much is pascal used anymore? or what you can do with pascal and you can't do with VB. java? java is good jost for web and phone application. nothing else.

anyway.. it is ok if he will choose VC not vb or C#. why? because VB is so simple to learn.. that when you will try to learn C++ will be to hard to understand the code! so it is better to start learning the hardest thing and then the easy one!

and maby he want to work in linux. with C he will have a good army!

[GriffIT34]

This thread has been very helpful, programming is the next step of what I want learn. I do alot with hardware, and using applications, but I want to understand from start to finish how everything comes together. I've read some books to pick up html and css(again starting from scratch) i could've used more advanced programs but why not learn the basics.

So after reading this I think I'll get some books and hit the C++ on a linux box.

[Numen]

All the advice given thus far is reasonable. My own suggestion would be to also consider at least playing with Prolog or Lisp at some point.

Python is a nice easy scripting language to get into.... Ruby if you're more Web inclined.

If you're partial to Linux then Java... if Windows then C#... if you have access to Visual Studio then VS.NET + C# can make the learning curve a lot more gentle.

If you're interested in admin and/or automation then as suggested above shell scripting under *nix or Monad/PowerScript under Windows might be more fruitful for you.

Best of luck.

[GriffIT34]

How do I go about learning shell scripting?
Anybooks that we know are good??

If I learn shell scripting with linux would it give me more understanding and control over drivers with linux?

Thanks for the suggestions, the more I learn the more fun I'm having
I've recently read (haven't finished yet) books on html and apache web administration, really fancinating stuff

[needs_help]

What is a good language that can easily make applications, has the ability to read mouse clicks on certain places, can make highly detailed pictures, is just as mathematicaly abled as dev-pascal, and can easily make a program using Artificial Inteligence, a new compiler, or a user interface?

[Ancient Dragon]

What is a good language that can easily make applications, has the ability to read mouse clicks on certain places, can make highly detailed pictures, is just as mathematicaly abled as dev-pascal, and can easily make a program using Artificial Inteligence, a new compiler, or a user interface?

:mrgreen: Is that a trick question?

[needs_help]

No, I would really like to know. Dev-Pascal has been giving me problems with that and I would like to find a programming language that can.

[John A]

What is a good language that can easily make applications, has the ability to read mouse clicks on certain places, can make highly detailed pictures, is just as mathematicaly abled as dev-pascal, and can easily make a program using Artificial Inteligence, a new compiler, or a user interface?

I would say that Assembly perfectly fits the bill. :cheesy:

[needs_help]

Ok, how do I get the assembly compiler?

[Ancient Dragon]

Ok, how do I get the assembly compiler?

read assembly thread -- there are some links there. But assembly is probably not what you really want to use because (1) its the lowest-level of all programming languages (2) not portable to any other operating system, and (3)requires about a gazillion times more work than other languages.

My suggestion is to learn C or C++ (or both). See earlier posts in this thread for suggestions. Also follow the links in the Starting C thread in the C/C++ board.

[John A]

Ok, how do I get the assembly compiler?

Heh, I guess you didn't catch the sarcasm hinted at by my smily in my last post... ;)

Anyway, I agree with Ancient Dragon - C or C++ offers a lot of flexibility, although it's definitely harder to write UI and windowing, unless you use .NET. Java is also worth considering, since it's based on C++, but is more safe to use, and it's multiplatform.

Another good console-programming language is Python, which is actually more of a scripting language, but it's still very powerful.

[needs_help]

Thanks, I will get a C compiler and read these posts to learn how to funcion it, but what about Clisp?

[Ancient Dragon]

but what about Clisp?

Nothing wrong with it, its just that nobody outside educational instutions use it.

[~s.o.s~]

Nothing wrong with it, its just that nobody outside educational instutions use it.

Not completely true. Though Lisp has come to a stage where its name is not heard in the mainstream software senario like that of Python or C# or Java, but its still out there, live and kicking.

Quoting Mr. Kent Pitman:

Please don't assume Lisp is only useful for Animation and Graphics, AI, Bioinformatics, B2B and E-Commerce, Data Mining, EDA/Semiconductor applications, Expert Systems, Finance, Intelligent Agents, Knowledge Management, Mechanical CAD, Modeling and Simulation, Natural Language, Optimization, Research, Risk Analysis, Scheduling, Telecom, and Web Authoring just because these are the only things they happened to list.