Is learning basic worth it?

I originally was soley interested in programming, so i picked up "Begining Programing for dummies". I got halfway through the book and got curious to see what was at the end, where this site was mentioned. once i got here i was immediatly interested in computer security, however i dont see any real mention of the "Basic" language. is it worth it to continue learning basic, or should i take what i know from basic, and apply it to another language that could be more worth my time? if so, what language should i learn? I am very interested in hacking, and any help on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated.

I personally found QBasic to be a very good introduction programming language. It was simple enough to wet my toes before trying something else. I didn't do very much of it, though, and I think spending a whole lot of time on it would be a waste, but doing a little bit to understand the basics wouldn't be bad. As for what language to move onto, I'll leave that up to some other guys to recommend. I personally moved onto C and C++. Both are very interesting, very versatile, and very fast. If you decide this is the laguage for you and don't want to shell out the money for the MS Visual C++ compiler, check out this little gem. I used it, and was very pleased with it. Bloodshed Dev C++ Compiler. Good luck!

- Xierox

I agree with xierox,

You can learn Baisc but don't keep on learning it all your life .... just keep learning until you feel that you have a good knowledge about it ... at the same time I recommend reading a lot about algorithms, bucease later you will be depending on them to write your programs .... algorithms once again, is IMPORTANT ....

a quote from a webpage i bookmarked for topics like this

http://www.endpointcomputing.com/art...languages.html

Quote:

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Language choice is a topic filled with opinion. Most programmers have a favorite language, and most programmers have languages they hate. Programming in a given language engenders similar responses to doing plumbing repairs with a given box of tools.

If you have every tool you need right there organized where you expect it, then plumbing is a manageable task with a satisfying result. When the box of tools has nothing but a hammer and a screwdriver it's a whole different story.

So what makes a good language choice? Really the answer is whatever language gives you the best bang for your buck on the problem you are trying to solve. Many companies stick to a strict set, C/C++, Perl, and Java for example. The reasons are usually that "everyone else is doing it, and we need to be able to support our code in the future."

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That said. I think basic is a good learning language for the first few steps in programming. What it was designed for anyway.

You may choose to go on and learn yourself visual basic(if you are not already). But personally I would advice to learn a number.(c variant, scripting language, java or c#) this makes you more versatile as a programmer. Also although this is a lot of work dont shy away from dabbeling in something else for a while.

In the end you are going to end up with one or two languages that you use most but knowing others makes you able to pick new ones up very fast and be a better programmer overall.

For getting started i suggest you try yourself(do some random tutorials modivy some sample code) some perl some python and something else see what you like most or get the hang of fastest and then learn how to work with that. Expand to other stuff later when you feel at home programming your first choice.

All this is only the way I think and feel about this subject. Others may tell you other things and they are yust as right as i am.

Have fun.