What language is best to start programming in?

by 16 replies
18
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!
#programming #language #programming #start
  • 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.
  • 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#?
  • Have you looked at C++? Or plain C?

    Re's
    Rob Whisonant
    • [1] reply
    • 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
      • [1] reply
  • C++.

    For Web I would look into Python/Django.

    Don't touch PHP.
    • [1] reply
    • Curious as to why you would say don't touch PHP.

      Re's
      Rob Whisonant
  • 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.
    • [1] reply
    • 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.
      • [1] reply
  • Hi all,
    well discussion about programming. i wana ask that can we use any programming languages at facebook application?
  • 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
  • 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.
  • learn that jquery stuff. They just got bought out for billions
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed