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What language is best to start programming in?

by Jobs for 14
16 replies
I'm not completely new to programming, but I've been finding it difficult to choose 1 program to stick with. Here's what I'm looking for:

Something relatively easy.

Something I can make GUIs in.

Something I can program hardware in (PIC/ Picaxe).

Something I can make simulations in.

Something versatile that I can use in a wide variety of things.

Please, no C#, Alice, Scratch, or Greenfoot.

I understand that this is a broad range, so multiple answers are ok.

Thanks!
#language #programming #start
  • Profile picture of the author bendiggs
    So you want simple and PIC at the same time? I'm not sure such a thing exists However, if you could tell me why no C# I could help you out more as it seems that C# should meet all of your requirements pretty well.

    But a blind shot here, try Java? I expect that the issues you face with C# will exist with Java too, but it is worth a shot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken T.
    In the long run, it really depends on personal flavor, really.

    There's developers that shy away from everything Microsoft based and vice versa. Personally, I find VB.NET the easiest "modern" langauge to start with, because it has a very low threshold for beginners and still offers many ways to develop a powerful tool.

    For instance, you can litterly drag and drop controls (textboxes, labels, option boxes, buttons, etc...) on a form, to build a GUI. A lot of other developing platforms require for you to do all that by code, which can be VERY frustrating for a beginner.

    Once your comfortable with the Visual Studio environment and having some coding experience under the belt, you could switch to other languages available in .NET, such as C#.
    And like the poster before me said, why not C#?
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
    Have you looked at C++? Or plain C?

    Re's
    Rob Whisonant
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    • Profile picture of the author GeorgettaSterling
      Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant View Post

      Have you looked at C++? Or plain C?

      Re's
      Rob Whisonant
      Ooooh, that's what I was going to say too. If you want a mature, popular, well-supported and fully-featured language that you can do just about anything with, and lots of gui and object oriented structure, then C++ is the ticket. There are also a million gui toolkits for it (if you don't mind bloating your code). Unfortunately, I find programming in C to be unpleasant and unforgiving, compared to the more "structured" languages like Pascal or even Basic.

      If you want to put together a gui event-based little proggie as fast as possible, then VB is probably the best for that. It isn't very efficient, but it is VERY fast to code IMHO. It wins for the "easy to program" category.

      My disclaimer - I have programmed in Fortran, Pascal, Basic (remember Apple Basic and QBasic?), APL, LISP, C, C++, VB and even dabbled with FORTH, 6502 and 8086 assembler. I have never touched C#. I program mainly for scientific/engineering purposes, not consumer stuff.

      Best Regards, Georgetta
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      • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
        Originally Posted by GeorgettaSterling View Post

        My disclaimer - I have programmed in Fortran, Pascal, Basic (remember Apple Basic and QBasic?), APL, LISP, C, C++, VB and even dabbled with FORTH, 6502 and 8086 assembler. I have never touched C#. I program mainly for scientific/engineering purposes, not consumer stuff.
        Best Regards, Georgetta
        You forgot two! Cobol and Turtle.

        And was that QBasic on tape, floppy or (e)prom?

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        Rob Whisonant
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        • Profile picture of the author GeorgettaSterling
          Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant View Post

          You forgot two! Cobol and Turtle.

          And was that QBasic on tape, floppy or (e)prom?

          Re's
          Rob Whisonant
          Rob - you are making me feel OLD. And of course, I am not - I am young, vibrant...why, I was programming Apple Basic when I was 2 years old - yeah, that's it...which is why I am only 27 now...

          I am embarrassed to admit that I never programmed in Cobol or Turtle (although I DO remember the talk about Turtle - it was for kids). QBasic was on FLOPPY, thanks very much. I never had or used a tape-based system...far too young for that. Although I remember playing with the TRS80 in RadioShack when it was only available with tape. And the Commodore PET. Again, I was an amazing child prodigy. Born in, ummm, the 80's. Yes. The 80's. That's right...

          Oh - I guess if you include mainframe systems with reel-to-reel, I have worked with tape based systems. I even had to learn how to make punch cards. The university was so into "retro" computing.

          As far as web languages - some computer geeks I know swear that server-side Java is the industrial-strength solution for all things, and they eschew PHP entirely.

          I just did a quick app in Excel today - it has VB-for-applications built in, as well as the macro language. You can create a user interface with that too, along with lots of calc and database-driven stuff. It was definitely easy - depending on your needs, Jobs for 14, it might serve you too?

          Best Regards, Georgetta
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  • Profile picture of the author Emilian
    C++.

    For Web I would look into Python/Django.

    Don't touch PHP.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
      Originally Posted by Emilian View Post

      Don't touch PHP.
      Curious as to why you would say don't touch PHP.

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      Rob Whisonant
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  • Profile picture of the author Emilian
    Because (string)"false" == (int)0 is true in PHP

    Horrible character set support, irregular naming conventions, no namespaces, poorly written libraries, even worse type system, where is the unicode support, integer problems.

    Oh yes, and memory leaks.
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    • Profile picture of the author ryanstreet
      I must horribly disagree with the PHP statement. It was designed with ease and flexibility in mind. That is why it is so versatile. And it is so easy to learn. Not to mention is is Free, (open source). Not to mention is the most popular and most successful web programming language on the net. Not to mention it has the widest spread among websites, user forums, online help, etc.

      Do I need to keep going?

      Sorry to go a little off topic in this thread, but I wanted to put my two cents in.

      Python people are just jealous. joke.
      Signature
      Ryan Street
      PHP Developer Specializing in WordPress and Magento
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      • Profile picture of the author Emilian
        Originally Posted by ryanstreet View Post

        I must horribly disagree with the PHP statement. It was designed with ease and flexibility in mind. That is why it is so versatile. And it is so easy to learn. Not to mention is is Free, (open source). Not to mention is the most popular and most successful web programming language on the net. Not to mention it has the widest spread among websites, user forums, online help, etc.

        Do I need to keep going?

        Sorry to go a little off topic in this thread, but I wanted to put my two cents in.

        Python people are just jealous. joke.
        Sure, PHP has a wide install base and is easy to use.

        But as far as the language itself goes, it has major setbacks. Hopefully, PHP6 solves these problems..although I doubt it as the PHP authors have a tendency to add features and change config settings on a whim.
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        • Profile picture of the author ryanstreet
          Hehe, Touche Emilian

          Originally Posted by Emilian View Post

          Sure, PHP has a wide install base and is easy to use.

          But as far as the language itself goes, it has major setbacks. Hopefully, PHP6 solves these problems..although I doubt it as the PHP authors have a tendency to add features and change config settings on a whim.
          Signature
          Ryan Street
          PHP Developer Specializing in WordPress and Magento
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  • Profile picture of the author robertfalco
    Hi all,
    well discussion about programming. i wana ask that can we use any programming languages at facebook application?
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  • Profile picture of the author yaz8888
    I started with Visual Basic and I have since learned a few other languages
    i think its a good place to start because of the GUI interface and its similarity to other Microsoft programs
    Signature

    Latest alternatives to Leather Gym Gloves

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  • Profile picture of the author bendiggs
    So I haven't seen any response to my questions I will just throw out, use Visual Studio.NET. Everything in Visual Studio.NET compiles down to a single language, and the tool really helps guide you in development and GUI setup. Yes C# is a part of it, and despite your reservations, it is a very good language.
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  • Profile picture of the author callmestrip
    learn that jquery stuff. They just got bought out for billions
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