Programmers?

Do we have any programmers here? If so, what languages do you prefer?

I'm a solid Visual Basic programmer myself, but am learning others.

 

I have used Visual Basic since I was a young child as my dad is a Programmer for HSBC PLC and we have had access to programming manuals and software.

I have thought about learning C++ but I have not really learnt the language yet. I'm thinking about seeing if I can create a usefull program some time soon but I'm stuck for ideas.

Jimbob

 

thats not fair; i can just about do a web page (HTML) and it looks like you dont consider it programming, im very disheartened . i am at the early stages of C++ too

 

I like how Visual Basic gives a visual side to the programming, doesn't reqcuire as much coding. Thank god.

Jimbob

 

Learning to program in php. That's a very powerful language and not too hard to learn (it just takes time to do so )
Thiousands of open source projects to start working on (have a look at www.hotscripts.com).

 

Visual Basic is good for quickly knocking up an app, and with the increase in computer power you can code most types of apps. However, for any processor intensive kind of app, C or C++ cannot be beaten for speed, along with easy maintenance.

I still prefer C because I can control everything that goes on, but my vote would have to go to C++ due to ease of maintainability.

EDIT: I voted for C and Other (being C++). C++ being a generic language, I think Visual C++ should be changed to just C++ in the poll.

EDIT2: Saying all that, I think each laguage has different applications. Perl is great for text processing. Java is great for multi-platform and web based applications. CSS is great for minimizing the work needed to get a uniform look across a website.

 

can i ask a quick question? i heard the simplest and most useful way to learn was to first learn HTML then C++ then maybe something like Perl. does anyone have an opionion on this? thanks

Meneer - thanks for the link

 

I think instead of leading on from everyone else, maybe you should decide which language you are personally most comftable using.

On a side not, does anyone know if Fortran is still commonly used, my dad created a program in the language about 25 years ago to calculate the multiple absorbtion of atoms while doing a chemistry degree.

Jimbob

 

thanks JB, i know what you mean, and if i'm told i should try a language and i dont get on with it, i will switch to something else.

however, it would still be nice to get an opioion from someone who knows about the subject e.g. which language might not be used in the future; if you learn A first you will pick up B more quickly, rather then the other way around. etc etc

 

I would have to disagree. HTML is just formatting codes enclosed within angle brackets (eg. for bold text - <b>BOLD TEXT</b>). It's not really programming as such.

Once you know programming, most of them are similar apart from different syntax, and in the case of Functional or Object-Oriented methodologies, are different in the way of thinking.

If you want to learn C++, I would get a couple of decent C++ tutorial books and a c++ Reference manual and learn it straight off. Depending on the type of applications you want to write (real-time, applications, multi-threading, device drivers) I can recommend some good books.

Perl is quite cryptic in its appearance and is heavily based on regular expressions (more complex wildcards), and while it has some similar constructs, it is more of a scripting language. I would recommend getting the following books:

1) Mastering Regular Expressions (Jeffrey E. F. Friedl) - O'Reilly
2) Perl Cookbook (Tom Christiansen & Nathan Torkington) - O'Reilly
3) Programming Perl (Larry Wall (the inventor of Perl), Tom Christiansen and Randal L. Schwartz)

A Good quick tutorial book on Perl is SAMS Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours.

I hope this helps and that I haven't confused you!

 

I wouldn't say it's commonly used, but FORTRAN is still used in financial and scientific institutions.

If you want an all purpose language that will stay around for a long time

C++ - application development (including real-time)
Java - portable applications and web based apps that don't rely on speed.
Perl - Generic Text Processing and web based text processing
PHP - A great scripting language for web based functionality

 

They used to teach Fortran as a core course for mechanical engineering students in the 80s. C++ is best. It's not too hard to learn V B.

 

thanks Defenestration, i'll check out the books and get one or two. are the O'Reilly books anything to do with O'Reilly Open Books Project?
i also have a few more links which i plan on using too...
http://www.techbooksforfree.com/ccpp.shtml
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/programming/
and some forums

PS i said HTML half seriously, half jokingly. although it's very simple and you can learn it reasonably quickly. its a good start because it gives you confidence to be able to want to try something more. thanks for the help and nod too

 

O'Reilly Open Books Project - this is the same company, but the book I mention might not be avaliable for free under this scheme.

The sites you mention seem to be quite good. From my experience, no one book has all the answers to your questions, hence me recommending several books for Perl.

The advent of the Internet is a great thing, since there are several good sites related to software development, with lots of information.

Another good one is www.codeproject.com - It's more Windows related, but a lot of the info/ideas can be ported to other systems.

What do you mean HTML is a joke I've programmed a complete Nuclear power station control system, complete with automatic tea maker, entirely in HTML

 

thanks, Defenestration. im going to go to the local bookshops tomorrow, and i havre got a few codeproject links too somewhere.

i like HTML too, it makes me a programmer i just wish i could pick up all languages that quickly.

 

Sorry if I excluded any languages, I went off the top of my head.
I like any books by O'Reilly and Sybex. The "teach yourself in 24 hours.." books are awesome reference tools to have. I have a small library of coding books and standards. 75% off books is great.
I have been coding in VB for a few years now and love how fast and clean I can pump out an application. I would like to learn c++ for writing drivers and .dll files better.

The best site (I think) for finding code snippets and tutorials for any language is: www.planet-source-code.com

Thanks for all the feedback.

Maybe we should start a forum section for programmers to get help with code and stuff

 

that would be brilliant, but as this is a security forum, they may not go for it, i think a networking one should be added too. then, for me, this would be a perfect forum

 

The truth is that each language tends to have certain advantages and disadvantages other different languages and the best language can often depend on a number of factors such as which operating system your making it for, or just the kind of components your program will use.

Visual Basic is a good language for starting off with because it has a visual side to it which can make creating your early programs easier. However, sometimes you can find yourself limited to what you can do with Visual Basic as it is intended to be reasonably simple.

Jimbob

 

I guess I don't really count -- my experience has been strictly with high-level languages like dBase. I was surprised to learn I can still handle that, with a lot of trial and error, even after right-frontal brain injury, but that's probably because I spent so many years with it that a lot became almost rote.

And I've got a smidgeon of experience with Fortran -- way back when I was trying to get professional accreditation (industrial accounting), one of the offered courses was programming which to my surprise turned out to be Fortran. I was also surprised to learn that what was then supposedly the "definitive" version of Fortran, WatFor, was developed right here locally, at the U. of Waterloo.

 

With VB, you can do everything except make an operating system. It is the "easy" way to create fast apps. The more complicated programs, like the ones I write, are not so easy and require just as much skill as any others. The main thing visual basic helps with is the GUI, you still have to know how to code. I do a lot of database programming, so I also use SQL a lot. I also write games so you have to know how to program with DirectX and ActiveX.
I learned a long time ago that there is almost nothing you can't do with VB if you spend enough time and energy

 

If anyone is interested I have some links for some programming forums

Xtreme VB Talk
VBForums
Cboard

Jimbob

 

The only disagreement I would have with everyone concerning VB as a starting language for iceni60 is that it is an OO event driven language. It is simple when you understand event driven programming but for someone starting out, who needs to learn the basics of structured programming, I don't think it's a good place to start.

I would recommend picking up on the free or cheaper BASIC compilers that are available on the web. Here is a link some free compilers:

http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/basic.shtml

Or there is a very good pay product called PowerBASIC:

http://www.powerbasic.com

There are some other pay BASIC's:

Huge list - http://basic.mindteq.com/

Liberty BASIC - http://www.libertybasic.com/

Once you have an understanding of how to program and understand structured programming (functions, if statements, for/while loops, pointers, structures, etc). then you can move up into OO languages like C++, VB, C#, Java...

Unfortunately knowing how to do HTML will not help much in learning to program in either low level or high level languages.

Ok, enough of my soapbox...I'm a C programmer going on 16 years and absolutely love C#...the best way to code Windows programs if you can stand the memory footprint of .NET.

Thanks,

Bill

http://www.buttuglysoftware.com

 

thanks WYBaugh ive got this it's for C++. should i use one from your links for VB? i just wanted to be certain thanks.

ive only just realised this, but is VB the same as BASIC? i did a bit of BASIC about 15 years ago, is BASIC still being used?

 

Hi iceni60,

I've read good things about Bloodshed C++ but have never used it...you'll have to let us know how it is.

If you're familiar and comfortable with BASIC and programming in general then you'll definitely enjoy VB (none of the links I posted are for VB but for BASIC); as Cappw wrote above, it's very easy to create Windows applications through VB.

If you get comfortable with C or C++, C# would definitely be an option. You can purchase the learning edition for both C#.NET and VB.NEt from Amazon for $79.

Keep me posted.

Thanks,

Bill
http://www.buttuglysoftware.com

 

hello Bill. i wouldnt say im "familiar and comfortable with BASIC and programming in general" because i only did a little bit of BASIC when i was younger. i only just got the compiler afew days ago when i was reading about it, it's the only one ive ever had. so, as it looks like you wrote buttuglysoftware software, you may have a long wait until i can give you a worthwhile opionion of it

i've got an evaluation of PingPlotter for another 29 days, i may end up buying it, but i'm going to concentrate on learning a little about networks while i have PP. then i'll take alook at BASIC and VB and at the C's too.

without this thread i dont think i would have thought about the BASIC's i'm very grateful to you all, i'm very lucky thanks for the help