On Sunday 24 August 2008 14:22, Scarlett Clark wrote:
...
lol
Well I definately like Java hopefully that will not impede me :) I would like to learn some others too, I would really like to contribute to the Linux community so I imagine Java would not fit there.
I don't know why you think that. I use several Java applications on Linux. True, one of them is a Java IDE (IDEA) and another is a Java profiler, but others include XML tools, image processing, a BitTorrent client, Semantic Web tools, a general-purpose (though programmer-oriented) editor and so on. After all, much of "The Web" today runs on Linux and uses Java applications.
C++ and python keep coming up on searches for linux development.
If you do this kind of "native" development, you'll either sacrifice portability to alternate operating systems or buy yourself a lot of extra portability issues that can seriously complicate a non-trivial application. Java side-steps almost all of those complications.
And of course the web development. Looks like I have alot of reading to do!
There are those who would disagree, but Java is an OK choice for lots of general-purpose programming tasks. Really, it all depends on your goals, as best you know them right now. If you just want to be able to cobble together some simple purpose-built tools for your day-to-day computing activities, Python or Ruby (even Perl) might be adequate. If you're looking to get into paid professional programming, then you need to be specific about what sorts of work you want to do. The reality today is that a significant majority of Web applications and Web services are done in Java. If you're going to do Windows applications, you'll probably want to know C++. For the Mac it would be Objective C. And as far as I know, scientific computing still heavily leans toward FORTRAN. And if you are on a professional track (or want to get on such a track), then computing theory is something you should know about and you should be looking at modern languages in the functional realm such as ML, Haskel and / or Scala. And seriously, Lisp is something every serious programmer should have some experience with. And make no mistake, there _are_ jobs for Lisp programmers, just not a whole lot of them. Lastly, there's more to computing than programming languages. There's algorithms, data structures, design patterns, problem-solving techniques, database systems, computational complexity etc. And so on. The computing landscape is large and varied. As a variation on the "pick one..." suggestion, you can't go very far wrong by simply digging in. The last bit of advice I'd give a beginner is never assume that something you're having trouble with is impossible. Likewise, always question the workability and suitability of solutions you devise.
Back to the books... Scarlett
Randall Schulz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org