What Should I Learn First?

[Elliot B.]

I wanna be a programmer eventually, so I might as well start now. So, what's the easiest?

[danbalsh]

I'd say C++ is the best thing to learn first, damm hard, but it's good... or Visual Basic if you wanna take it slow :)

[tomwarren Veteran]

  danbalsh said:

I'd say C++ is the best thing to learn first, damm hard, but it's good... or Visual Basic if you wanna take it slow :)

I would have to agree with that. Visual Basic if u wanna learn the basic stuff so it doesn't seem to hard. If your in touch with computing etc then go straight to C++ if you want something more harder to start on.

[hobsgrg]

Speaking as a final year student in a computer science degree i'd say c# would be the best language to start learning on, as its simple and doesn't have many keywords yet it's also extremely powerful, its definately easier to pick up than c++. Here at university they started us programming on Delphi which is also very easy to pick up, but c# is just as easy and a much better programming language IMHO. I've used these languages; miranda, poplog, assembler, delphi, java, c, c++, c# and c# is easily my favourite.

[Kieran]

I would have to agree with hobsgrg. C# is such a powerful programming language. A lot of people knock it but they are only doing this because it is new and programmed by Microsoft. These people havnt dug deeply into it and seen how easy yet powerful it is. It seems as if Microsoft has taken all the best parts of other languages and placed them nicely together in this package, then taken some polish and made it shine and sparkle. Its just so nice you just cant help but love it. Give this language a week and you wont be looking elsewhere for a while!

Edited December 12, 2002 by Kieran

[xpablo]

when I went to college we had to learn C first and then Assembler, then a bit of C++ and then Visual Basic.

I say learn C, and learn programming logic & debugging and how to compile etc... first.

[kyo116]

C and basic are a good basis. then u can work ur way up.

[xWeston]

I wouldnt even get started with VB

start with C or C++, after that you could try java, but i think C or C++ is a better base because you get used to real memory management and everything else at first, and then learn the "easy way"

I learned a little bit of VB using VB3 about 8 years ago or so

then in high school/college i learned them in this order

(html, php), C++, C, ASM, Java

[protomor]

html :) then maybe java then VB then C

[m4ch1n3g0d]

I have really gotten into learning Python. It seems very interesting, and is good to learn from, i decided to learn that first and then go on to c++ and so fourth.

[mackol]

my opinion is C

gives u a good understanding of programming structure and memory management

then C++

infact while doing C doing some ASM, it will help ya understand memory management

but personally, i wouldnt do programming if u r starting off, anymore.. software is just a commodity and u aint gonna earn as much from it anymore.. if u absolutely love it, then go for it. otherwise go for medicine .. thats where the real future jobs lie.. just my 2 cents :cry:

[twist]

assembler.. i mean html.

[sphere]

why not start at machine level in 0's and 1's?

that's where i started, it's so easy to pick up!

[Kieran]

  sphere said:

why not start at machine level in 0's and 1's?

that's where i started, it's so easy to pick up!

Hope thats a joke! Trust me, staring at pages and pages of 0 and 1s isnt that interesting! Then it comes to debugging your code.. well good luck with that one! As I said before I would go for C#, but maybe C would be better as it teaches you everything you need to know correctly and there is so much material on C now as its been around for so long! If C# had been around a bit longer and there was more documentation on it I would say start with that, but C would probabily be the best choice!

[Mincer]

Just for a change, I'm going to buck the trends everyone else is following and say Pascal. I'll also give reasons...

Pascal is a simple language with a c like structure. This means that there are fewer traps to fall into as a novice programmer, and when the time comes that you want to move to a c language, you have a good knowledge of programming control structures and logic, but without any preconceptions of language specific practices.

From personal experience, I can say that learning a simpler language to start with, then moving to another language, lets you learn the principals of programming, to which you can then apply to the next language, and the next, and the next... If you start with c, I would like to bet that you get into bad habits and that you do not learn best programming practice. Something that I feel is essential if you ever wish to progress beyond a bedroom programmer.

I hope that provides something to think about.

Matt. :)

[Oogle]

Learning easy stuff like VB, C#, and Java is like doing math with a calculator. If you don't care for the complexity and just need the answer, then it's perfect to use. If you care about the complexity, then use C/C++.

  Quote

"What does 2+2 give you when you punch it into your calculators?  Milhouse?" - Crabapple

"<looks down>... Low battery??" - Milhouse

[DarkLordSouron]

just try learning c++

its almost the same as c but better and then try learning java or others i'M learning it to its much beteer

[DerekThornton]

I would say start with something very simple, like a scripting language like HTML. HTML isn't exactly programming, but it will teach you some valuable syntactical rules to follow by when you begin higher level languages, because from HTML you can dive into JavaScript, which gives you more programming experience along the lines of C and other similar languages. From JavaScript I would most highly recommend jumping over to C or C++. The Transition from Web Programming to Applications Programming is extreme, but JS and C++ have a lot in common as far as generic rules.

[uniacid]

Yes Yes, one of the easiest languages to learn is VB :p its fun to use so if you wanna take it easy learn VB 1st, right now I'm in Comp Programming 2 Honors where I learned C++, C++ is complex but powerful, right now my class was learning C# for the web, its fun to do, also very easy :) C# is gonna be big ;), its like c++ but even easier.

[neowin_hipster]

Honestly you'll have a really easy time learning VB. If you wanna learn oop, java forces you too. Absolutely everything is encapsulated. I recommend learning c++. Its by far the most powerfull and if you understand that language, which will take much time to master, you will be able to learn any language very quickly.

[Dan.Varga]

id go with C++ or C#

[azcodemonkey]

I agree with Goalie. C++ is a general purpose language and extremely powerful. It has elements of object oriented programming but it doesn't prevent you from doing purely procedural programming. Once you learn the basics of C++, every other language will be much easier to understand.

[JHAres]

  Mincer said:

Just for a change, I'm going to buck the trends everyone else is following and say Pascal. I'll also give reasons...

Pascal is a simple language with a c like structure. This means that there are fewer traps to fall into as a novice programmer, and when the time comes that you want to move to a c language, you have a good knowledge of programming control structures and logic, but without any preconceptions of language specific practices.

From personal experience, I can say that learning a simpler language to start with, then moving to another language, lets you learn the principals of programming, to which you can then apply to the next language, and the next, and the next... If you start with c, I would like to bet that you get into bad habits and that you do not learn best programming practice. Something that I feel is essential if you ever wish to progress beyond a bedroom programmer.

I hope that provides something to think about.

Matt. :)

Fully agree with you...

Pascal is a good language for learn the basic principles of thinking in programming, logic, structuration, recursiveness, and basic algorithms for problem resolution.... and later advance to more complex or newer languages... like those working in visual environments working with event programming...

I'm in IT since 23 years ago... doing programming, analysis and engineering in propietary and open architectures... I know what I'm talking about... ;)

[Oogle]

  Quote

I agree with Goalie. C++ is a general purpose language and extremely powerful. It has elements of object oriented programming but it doesn't prevent you from doing purely procedural programming

Yep. That's why C++ is a "multiparadigm language", not just an object oriented language. It doesn't restrict you a particular style of programming.

http://www.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq.htm...iented-language

[Mincer]

  JHAres said:

Fully agree with you...

Pascal is a good language for learn the basic principles of thinking in programming, logic, structuration, recursiveness, and basic algorithms for problem resolution.... and later advance to more complex or newer languages... like those working in visual environments working with event programming...

I'm in IT since 23 years ago... doing programming, analysis and engineering in propietary and open architectures... I know what I'm talking about... ;)

I'm glad someone agrees with me. It's a shame that so many seem to be of the opinion that c++ is a good starter language. I would liken learning programming in c++ to learning to drive in a Formula 1 car. Perhaps you might get to grips with it, but you'll never master it.

[kjordan2001]

C or basic since most modern languages build off them and they're much simpler.