I will be getting a Linux box soon, and I'd like to know what the first programming language I learn should be. C/C++, Perl, PHP, etc. I would welcome all suggestions.
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I will be getting a Linux box soon, and I'd like to know what the first programming language I learn should be. C/C++, Perl, PHP, etc. I would welcome all suggestions.
Geez this gets asked all the freakin' time - try searching the site?
Start with a shell, then go from there - best advice if you're starting UN*X anyway, I think.
Python, http://www.python.org has some good tutorials. You could try starting with python. It's really up to you.
They are all pretty much the same once you learn a few of them. Just pick one and learn it well and the rest is child's play...
Neb
C++.
Why wait with learning a language until you get Linux? You can find free compilers for most languages on the 'net for Windows, so you can already start now. Also, if you are new to Linux, I suggest waiting quite some time and familiarizing yourself with Linux before you start getting indepth into programming... many of my friends have tried to take on too much at once and couldn't handle it (they saw me do it, but I had more motivation and computer experience than them, so I was prepared for the work involved).
AJ
Probably should have elaborated a little more. Nowadays, most languages are very similar in syntax and style to c++. If you learn that pretty well, the other ones will come easier (perl and java come to mind at the moment) because they are very similar in style and substance (object oriented). Which leads my to what I was trying to say the first go around (and said it rather poorly), once you pick up a few languages and learn them really well, you will start to see the commonalities among them all and they will all pretty much look the same. So learn c++, learn it well, learn about object oriented programming, templates, and operator overloading, and the rest of the languages will seem easier to pickup.
Neb
c is problaby the easiest either that or terminal scripts...
but like one of the other posters said once you learn the basics the rest is fairly easy
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Originally posted here by psycl0n3
I will be getting a Linux box soon, and I'd like to know what the first programming language I learn should be. C/C++, Perl, PHP, etc. I would welcome all suggestions.
Well it depends on what you want to do. If you are wanting a web language, go PHP. PERL is nice too for web applications and is easy enough to learn. C and C++ are both excellent languages.
Now what I would suggest... Find a tutorial on begining programming, pick a simple languge just to learn style and problem solving. Good style and proper planning will save hours of debugging.
1st two chapters of C++ tutorial
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=229334
Another C++ tutorial -- contains actual e-book
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=229786
Qbasic Tutorial -- I might use Qbasic with a intro programming guide
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=220101
I didn't see an intro programming style/logic tutorial (maybe I need to write one) but there should be plenty to be found via google.
Good luck programming, and remember to document document document.
First, master your shell.
Second, learn C.
Third, learn ASM.
(My UNIX path...)
Learn Fortran and Cobol first.. kidding. Actually, the route a lot of schools take is:
1) Basic
2) Pascal
3) C/C++
4) Asm
Assuming you're working in a Unix Environment, take C over C++. If you were in a windows environment, I'd recomment C++ over C. Basic is used only for a week, don't stick with it. Pascal is a good learning language, teaches the fundamentals to programming. C/Cpp are the developing languages that you'll actually use to write your own programs. Asm is when you want to become "super elite programmer".. you get a membership card and you learn a secret handshake when you reach this level.
I agree with sargx about taking C over C++ especially since it seems you're learning a language to incorperate with linux. Once you learn C... every other language after that is very similar just with different commands/keywords.
Hope this helps
To quote Reality:
I agree with this totally. There are many new languages coming out, and they are becoming more and more specialized for specific tasks. PERL is a great language if you're manipulating a lot of plain-text data (it has great regular expression support). It's also achieved a strong following for cgi programming. Python is an intriguing language with built-in object-oriented abilities. I haven't used it, but it is used by many companies for some fairly robust scripting (RedHat uses Python for a lot of their setup scripts), as well as database manipulation and cgi. Ruby is fairly new, and very similar to Python/JavaScript. C/C++ is a great language all-around. It's incredibly fast, well established and supported, and highly portable. A bit clunky for quick scripts, but it is well equipped for deep-level system resource manipulation (memory, etc). I love PHP for websites. It has added functionality never before available for web developers.Quote:
Well it depends on what you want to do. If you are wanting a web language, go PHP. PERL is nice too for web applications and is easy enough to learn. C and C++ are both excellent languages.
And this is only a few of the more popular languages out there. There are many, many more to choose from. I'd recommend deciding what kind of programming you'll be doing most of, and start with the language best suited for that. If you don't know, C/C++ would give you the strong foundation for any other languages you may want to pick up in the future. Good luck!