Hi. I am desperate to get into programming as my college has dropped the programming aspect of my computing course. I have tried Ruby and Python, but I immensely dislike both. I have tried Java, C and C++, but they are both impossibly difficult. I use OS X, so Csharp and VB are out of the question. Can anybody suggest a language to learn?
Good first programming language to learn?
Matthew, Matthew, Matthew...the essentials of programming logic do not change from language to language. If you dislike it SO much then you better bow out now. Trust me, you don't want to turn around 20 years after graduation and realize you wasted your life pursuing something you don't like.
If you love the Mac and like media applications, then consider looking into Photoshop or Aperture courses...do something you love and the money will follow!
Reply:Kids programming language is a powerful language that will help you learn the basic concepts.
Reply:stick with java, its alot simpler if you want UI apps. VB is easiest, but you cant.
what are you struggling with?
download netbeans, its a major IDE for java, and is free.
Reply:SAY SRY NO CLUE
Reply:If you want to play around on OS X, you can try out AppleScript. It has english-like syntax, is very well-documented, and has a shallow learning curve. To give you a taste, here is a program that I wrote that acts as a DJ using iTunes:
tell application "iTunes"
activate
set mainWindow to item 1 of browser windows
set _playlist to the view of mainWindow
set theSongs to the name of every track of _playlist
repeat
set songTitle to item (random number from 1 to (count theSongs)) of theSongs
tell _playlist
set song to item 1 of ¬
(every track whose name contains the songTitle)
end tell
set totalPlayTime to (round (duration of song) * 1.0 rounding up)
set timeInMins to (round ((duration of song) / 60.0) rounding down)
set timeInSecs to (round (duration of song) - (60 * timeInMins))
say "Now playing the song " %26amp; (name of song) %26amp; ¬
" by " %26amp; (artist of song) %26amp; " it will take about " %26amp; (round timeInMins) %26amp; " minutes and " %26amp; (round timeInSecs) %26amp; " seconds"
play song
delay totalPlayTime
pause
say "That was the song " %26amp; (name of song) %26amp; ¬
" by " %26amp; (artist of song)
end repeat
end tell
I agree with the poster that said that the underlying concepts of most programming languages are the same. You can learn Java, C, C++, etc. and they will be mostly the same.
Some languages have different "paradigms," that is they have different ways of going about the problems presented by programming. They could be: functional, like Haskell; imperative, like C, Fortran; object-oriented like smalltalk, or Java; logic like prolog; and many others that I havn't mentioned. Learning languages from different paradigms will undoubtedly make you a better programmer because you'll see different ways to go about solving a problem. It will also help to take a class on general data structures.
Reply:Visual Basic.net
so easy and powerful
Reply:PASCAL.
I dont really like programming, but trust me PASCAL is the easiest it gets.
Even a couple of profesors in my high school said that although no one uses Pascal anymore, if you just want to learn a language then Pascal is the best, and trust me, I have tried.
Once you have learnt PASCAL, C++ gets much easier.
Reply:hmm. well my best advice would be to learn Python, even though you dislike it! then immediately move on to C++. it just looks kind of complicated, but it's easier once you have learned programming fundamentals.
also you may want to try actionscript, if you have Flash, or you could try some javascript in HTML documents. there are plenty of tutorials on www.w3schools.com
Reply:What do you want to do? What's your objective? When I started I hated languages such as Cobol and Fortran (Still do). I learned C and loved it (Still do). Perl, Ruby and Python are fun and powerful if you want to get thing done in a hurry on your Mac. Also Objective C which is available as a free download for your Mac, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first language.
Ask your question again and let us know what you want to do and we can make better suggestions.
Reply:It totally depends on what you're interested in doing with it when you're done. I would suggest, though, that if you're university doesn't offer what you want to learn, CHANGE UNIVERSITIES!
Reply:Why do you find C 'impossibly difficult'?
(worse - since you want to be a programmer - why do you find Java, C and C++ "both" impossibly difficult?)
C is a very good language to learn for a number of reasons...
It is the precursor to C++, and shares many similarities with C# and Java.
The disciplines involved in learning a language (rather than learning a particular set of libraries, extensions or environments which will change quickly) is a transferrable skill. And C is a venerable respected and very well docuneted language.
"The C Programming Language" (aka Kernigan and Ritchie) is a seminal work and will stand you in very good stead whatever language you learn later.
I hate to have to say this, because I don'tlike the language at all, but Pascal is another language that people often learn first.
I don't like its syntax and structure, but many people do!
Reply:C++ is certainly not a beginners language.
I would recommend you start out with pascal.
It is very simple and easy to master, and the knowledge you pick up are easily transferable to a language such as C, or if you want to do fancy windows based programs, Delphi is another good one, and that is also based on the pascal language.
Try getting a copy of borland pascal, it should be easy to be able to get a downland, if you search on borland.com, or do a generic search on any search engine.
Good luck, I hope this is of use to you.
Reply:Hi Matthew -
Java, c and c++ are tough languages to start out with but the aspects of programming are the same in whatever language you choose to specialize in. I really agree w/ Shaffner - if you don't like the very basis of programatically thinking/logic, basically the essentials, then maybe another avenue would be better. I've been programming for 20+ years and throw me a new language and I can do the syntax - but the fundamental basis is the same for all languages. With all the IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) out there syntax is secondary (yes, always a holdup for implementing because of nuances in different languages) - your architecture and structure are foremost and those are not dependant on language.
What is the 'computing course' covering if they are dropping the 'programming aspect' of it? Is it a logic/structure type course? If you're not crazy about the basics, there are TONS of other computer related fields out there. Best of luck!
Edit: Emma's post - ***** - K%26amp;R is a superior foundation for any language - that's how I really got going (started out w/ FORTRAN).
Reply:I started with C++, but I had a pretty good teacher helping me with it. However i've heard that Python is extremely simple and easy to use, though i don't have any experience with it myself.
Reply:Basic is easy but is virtually worthless. Java, C and C++ are pretty standard, so I'd learn those. The 'Learn an easy language first' approach is a bad, myopic choice.
Reply:I'd say PHP, but it is similar in many aspects to Python and C / Java. All the languages you listed are supposed to be starter languages, and chances are, if you dislike those (which are many) , programming might not be for you :(
Reply:Lua, then Forth
My dad writes programs in both languages for PB's (programmable bricks) ie LEGO NXT or original Mindstorms
If you get the NXT, the you can increase its speed by simply using a LUA program and getting rid of all the add-ons, but if you dont know exactly what you're doing, then i dont recommend this.
anotther example of original LUA use is World of Warcraft scripting
:)
Reply:Your OS X is actually a Linux. Start writing simple shell scripts that will automate your frequent tasks (like starting several programs at logon)
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