Best Computer Language To Learn?

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone may be able to give me some suggestions on this. But after (finally) completing my degree this year. I have enrolled on an advanced MS degree in Computing Software analysis and development.

It does (so they say), teach from the ground up but I was told at a very rapid speed when the course starts in October. So due to this I was hoping to maybe spend these few months to try and learn the basics of one computer language.

But the problem is, as i dont want to do a jack of all trades approach and try and learn a little bit of all the langages out there. I wanted to try and concentrate on learning just one specific language. But I am not sure which would be the best one to do this with. And am obviosuly worried I waste my time trying to learn some defunct language that has been surpassed or not usefull for the purpose I need it for.

As a reference guide I had a look over what a few of my most used shareware apps language were written in. Expecting to see some sort of pattern. But it seems every application was seemingly written in a different language.

I did use Visual Basic last year. But was told this was really for begginers and nobody uses this no more.

So i wanst sure what the best language to read up on was. And what would put me in good stead for my course.

I was considering getting some basic books from amazon on learning C++. But i was wondering if anyone knows if there are any more useful to know than this.

And if C++ is the best way forward. Does anyone know of any good books for people to start to learn it from scratch.

Thanks for your help
Anth

 

Hi Anthony1uk... it sounds like you are beginning thou :

Okay, C++ has complicated parts and maybe you dont need that when starting out.
Same for Java. C and Java were designed for professional development via experienced programmers concerned with efficiency.
Saying that I've known people jump straight in. You must decide concidering your abilities.
How about Python as a recommendation for a first language? Others may recommend others.
As a recommendation I would look at interactive learning, online tutorials, friends.

 

Hello,
Extra-low-level - good old assember, then VHDL.
Low-level languages - C definitely, then Java, Perl.
Higher languages - Matlab.
Mrk

 

Don't they have a recommended language for the school you are going to? For us, we just finished transitioning off of C++ to Java.

 

The modules just say Object Oriented Programming.

I dont know the language they use for this. And everyone who handles the course is away for the summer until September.

 

Hell,
For OOP, definitely C++ or Java.
Mrk

 

I believe learning a little about Visual Basic would give you a good start in how to write code (i.e. organizing, writing sub-routines, and gives you a good experience learning about creating forms, modules, etc.).

I recommend learning C++, or Visual C++. This is a very powerful and still relavent language for application development.

 

Java all the way

 

I believe that your choice should be among C, C++, and JAVA. My recommendation would be C++. You can find a good book for it at amazon.com by reading the buyer's reviews.

C is not an object oriented programming language. But it is very fundamental, and many *nix operating systems were developed with it.

Both C++ and JAVA are object oriented programming languages. It is hard to say which is better, as it all depends on the purpose of using it.

 

I found Java more intuitive when utilizing OOD than C++. I don't think I properly understood OOD until I started learning Java.

 

You might be right, but I am not sure. I learned C++ first, and got the idea of OOP. Then when I learn JAVA, I did not feel any difficulty. I just feel that C++ itself is more compact, which may be good for beginners to concentrate on the idea of OOP instead of the features of the language itself.

 

First let me congratulate you on your graduation. Yes, I understand how
confused you must be feeling at this moment. I'd recommend you to go for
good old C. This is because it has the elements of Assembly and high level
languages. Assembly is not that famous because its difficult to master and
writing big programs becomes more difficult. But there are some things for
which Assembly knowledge is must. If you REALLY wanna know about
computers then you can try Assembly.

As you said you have to study OOP, C++ is the right choice after finishing
with C. These are two languages which will take a long time to be rendered
obsolete.

For books you can try Dennis Ritchie for C. Does that name sound familiar?
If you wanna learn C++ then go for Robert Lafore. If you can decode Bjarne
Stroustrup then there is nothing like it.

 

I did some programming, when I was younger, but mainly under DOS, using Foxpro.
Personally, I like a language with alot of commands and functions to make programming easier and where data processing and text processing can be combined.
I didn't like to be a programmer, too much details and I prefer to think in big lines.

 

Pascal -- it develops the mind & instills discipline.

 

How about Delphi? Rapid Development like VB, but power of C.

 

It matters not what languages are recommended in this thread.

Find out what languages you will be using in your courses, then buy the BEST introductory books for each language.

 

My main language is Java, but you can also take a look at C# that is very similar and easy to learn and use...

You can also take a look at these:
Comparison of programming languages
Programming Language Comparison

 

Yes, but dont forget that VB wont teach you how to program Object Oriented.

At Uni we started with C to learn how to program algorithms and other programming basics and then moved onto C++ to learn OO programming.

I would try and pick learning material that teaches you general programming techniques that are transferable across languages, eg one that teaches you functions, loops, conditional statements, types etc.

I know someone at work who learnt VB and the material was more a course in learning how to use Visual Studio to write an app (it concentrated on the API s) rather than learning about core programming techniques and this was a beginners book.

 

i've never really learned to program all i've ever needed is simple scripting, but there's been afew times when i've begun learning, and read up on what i should start with.

one thing i've heard is you don't need to learn something difficult like C/C++/C# anymore because computers are now powerful enough to run scripting languages like Python, which are alot easier. is that true?

from all the reading i've done about programming i could probably have learned about 5 different languages by now lol. but, if i were to sit down and learn one language it would be Python because it's used alot with Ubuntu. if i used Windows it would be Ruby

here are some links i have bookmarked which you might like?? it's mainly Python and Ruby stuff though
http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/?Chapter=00
http://www.techbooksforfree.com/
http://e-books.amagrammer.net/
http://e-books.amagrammer.net/Python/
http://wiki.python.org/moin/Intro_to_programming_with_Python_and_Tkinter
http://www.ruby-doc.org/docs/UsersGuide/rg/
http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/tut.html
http://www.python.org/

this is a PDF explaining how computers work
http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/pgubook/ProgrammingGroundUp-1-0-booksize.pdf
this is a PDF comparing languages - it's abit old now!
http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/~prechelt/Biblio/jccpprtTR.pdf

 

As you know, scripts are interpreted line by line as they run so they will always be slower than compiled languages. I think computers are fast enough for general tasks that scripting would be fast enough. It depends on how complex the task is and if the host program exposes enough of its functions to the scripting language to get the job done.

Another idea is macro automation as a possible alternative or addition to learning a scripting language.
Programs like Macro Express are very easy to learn and can provide plenty of power to accomplish a variety of tasks.
Why reinvent the wheel when you can simply use macro automation to control already made high quality programs and get the job done?
You have the advantage that the program being controlled does not even have to expose its functions to scripting languages. And you can create custom mega-applications utilizing the best that each individual program has to offer, but used together to make something better than the sum of its parts. If you have neither the time nor inclination to learn a programming language, this may be something to consider. It can create powerful solutions. Wish they had something like this in Linux.

 

thanks, Devinco. i think i'll sit down and learn one of the C's, but only if it will give me a better understanding of programming and benefit in other languages too.

i know if i learn python properly first i won't really need/want to learn something more difficult afterward. i really like scripting, but i'll see what happens - i just got a new computer so maybe that will inspire me to try and put it to use with some compiling

 

A good way to start is to choose either, or both, of the following books:

1. C Programming A Modern Approach by K.N. King is oft mentioned as the best TEXTBOOK on C. See author's web site at http://knking.com/books/c/.
As a textbook, it is more expensivethan the mass market stuff, but yo may be able to buy it thru your school's bookstore, directly from te publisher, or see http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/compare/isbn/0393969452.

2. There are books such as Eric Roberts' The Art and SCience of C, An Introduction to Computer Science. See http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0201543222,00.html.
Again, as a textbook, it is more expensive than the mass market stuff. See http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/compare/isbn/0201543222.

 

If you want to learn C#, here are a couple of links I used to get me through a C# class I had last semester at my university.

101 Visual Basic and C# Code Samples


This link provides downloadable programming books (some free) and code/program samples for different languages.
http://www.deitel.com/books/downloads.html

 

thanks, Howard. i'll have a look at the links