[OT] Question: which programming language?
Hi all. I would like opinions from those on the list about which programming language a noob like myself with no prior skills or experience should focus on. My goal is to enroll in a few introductory classes at my old University (UW-Madison). I want to learn C++ and one other, such as PERL, Assembly, Java, etc.... but am unsure as to what other language to use. I have hopes of creating my own programs, and more over learning how to create GUI's for existing Linux programs (e.g. giving certain video and audio console base programs a face that is both intuitive and well rounded). Any Suggestions will be greatly appreciated. TIA, Curtis
I suggest PERL. "It is the duct tape of programming languages" I once read, that sums it up nicely. Easy to learn and it is implemented from many different UNIX programs (i.e. grep, awk, etc.) so it also helps you learn UNIX (or vice-versa =). With Tk it has a nice GUI you can use too, if you want gui's. I have programmed in Ada'95, PERL, C, Java, and I am now starting to do stuff in VB (yuck!). I have used Ada the most (had to for my old job). I don't care for Java too much, it was very sluggish for applications, and the only use I found it to have was applets (which aren't much use in themselves =) ...but that's just me. Perl is nice for quick small stuff, or you can combine it with Tk to make GUI's. But you can make GUI's with C++ and QT also, which is probably better since C++ is compiled first, instead on on-the-fly like perl. Perl is my favorite because it is very flexible, and easy to write a program in a hurry (without 'strict' mode on, its a very lenient language to program in, IMHO). -jeric : -----Original Message----- : From: Curtis Rey [mailto:crrey@charter.net] : Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 10:46 PM : To: lx-talk@mamalala.de; suse-linux-e@suse.com : Subject: [SLE] [OT] Question: which programming language? : : : Hi all. I would like opinions from those on the list about which : programming language a noob like myself with no prior skills or : experience should focus on. My goal is to enroll in a few introductory : classes at my old University (UW-Madison). : I want to learn C++ and one other, such as PERL, Assembly, Java, etc.... : but am unsure as to what other language to use. : I have hopes of creating my own programs, and more over learning how to : create GUI's for existing Linux programs (e.g. giving certain video and : audio console base programs a face that is both intuitive and : well rounded). : : Any Suggestions will be greatly appreciated. : : TIA, Curtis : : : : -- : To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com : For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com : : Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com : :
Curtis Rey wrote:
Hi all. I would like opinions from those on the list about which programming language a noob like myself with no prior skills or experience should focus on. I want to learn C++ and one other, such as PERL, Assembly, Java, etc.... but am unsure as to what other language to use. I have hopes of creating my own programs, and more over learning how to create GUI's for existing Linux programs (e.g. giving certain video and audio console base programs a face that is both intuitive and well rounded).
I'd suggest Java and Perl. They have a similar syntax, based on C. Java is moralistic and helps you learn how to structure programs properly. It also has a well documented class library that lets you build GUIs quite quickly. Perl is sloppy and forgiving and lets you write quick and dirty programs. You're more likely to find a java course than a perl one. C++ is very big in comparison. Even when you've mastered the java-like bits, you still have pointers, templates, the standard library, the standard template library and patterns for compiling code to learn. And that isn't enough to write concurrent programs or anything with a GUI. You need system calls or a class library like Qt for that. It's not really a beginners language, but once you've learned java, you'll find that much of it translates easily into C++. JDl -- Non enim propter gloriam, diuicias aut honores pugnamus set propter libertatem solummodo quam Nemo bonus nisi simul cum vita amittit.
On 18 Jul 2002 at 18:49, John Lamb wrote:
Curtis Rey wrote: I'd suggest Java and Perl. They have a similar syntax, based on C. Java is moralistic and helps you learn how to structure programs properly. It also
[snip...] It's my experience that people can write sloppy, unstructured spaghetti code in any language! If you want to learn C++ I suggest you look at the Association of C and C++ Users site ( http://www.accu.org ) who cover both C++ and Java. If you are going to learn C++ then you might like to consider Python as a scripting language, since it has a similar mind set to that of C++. alan -- http://www.ibgames.net/alan Registered Linux user #6822 http://counter.li.org Winding Down - Weekly Tech Newsletter - subscribe at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/mailing.html
participants (4)
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Curtis Rey -
Jeric -
John Lamb