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Thread: Programming Question?

  1. #1
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    Programming Question?

    Im just starting out and i was wondering if Phython was a good place to start for a Newbie? Anyone got some suggestions? I hope im in the right forum..

    Excuse me Python...oops

  2. #2
    Senior Member tampabay420's Avatar
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    I wouldn't start with Python (personally). I started with BASIC (MS-QBasic)...

    But I would suggest learning on Something like C,Perl,Java,etc...

    I don't know if python is a C derivative?

    (Of course- all of this is my opinion)
    yeah, I\'m gonna need that by friday...

  3. #3
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    Python is a very good language, but I'd personally suggest Pascal

    Pascal makes things clear with its verbose syntax and fussy compiler - meaning that those less experienced can more easily write working programs using it.

    A C compiler could (almost) compile an arbritary bunch of symbols into a program (not that it'd work or anything)

    Oh and by the way, Python is not a C derivative, nor is its syntax remotely like C's

  4. #4
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    I don't know Python personnally, however I've read documentation on it I don't believe it would make a good starting point to learn programming. If for no other reason than it has multiple conflicting standards, and it's best to learn on something that has it's rules and syntax set in stone.
    -Shkuey
    Living life one line of error free code at a time.

  5. #5
    Senior Member roswell1329's Avatar
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    It depends on what you are planning to do. C/C++ is still probably the language of choice for most programmers coding large applications. If you're a system administrator, Perl has become pretty much the standard for scripts, and smaller server applications (it's primarily a combination of 2 other languages, sed and awk, with a bunch of add-ons) For web pages, PHP (very Perl-like) or ASP (basically Visual Basic, from what I understand about ASP) would be your best bet. For advanced Artificial Intelligence scripting, Scheme or LISP will be your forte (incidentally, don't go trying those two without some background experience first). If you're an engineer you'll probably still appreciate the scientific and mathematical support of Fortran (again, experience, yadda-yadda-yadda). Want some lightning fast code? Check out assembly (forget it, unless you like reading Sanskrit for "fun"). Many beginners like to choose some flavor of BASIC (Visual Basic, Dark Basic, GW-BASIC, MS-DOS BASIC, QBASIC), but most BASIC languages are exactly that...basic. Not much to offer. If you like to be on "the bleeding edge" of coding languages, Pike and Ruby represent the new batch. There are so many more to chose from, and each has their own specialty. And then, there's Python.

    Python has wedged itself into a few unique niches. There are those who use it like Perl for Unix scripting, and it has made it's mark there. As I recall, RedHat uses Python for all their install scripts. Python has also gained some popularity as a CGI language for web scripts. I'm beginning to see more and more URLs ending with the recognizable ".py" extension. Python has even been chosen by the creators of EVE: The Second Genesis to code much of the AI for the in-game characters (with some modifications). If the final product of EVE is anywhere close to what they were going for, EVE will be one of the most rich, vibrant MMPORG games to have ever been conceived. Quite a compliment for Python.

    I'll admit that I'm a Perl man, myself, but Python definitely looks up to the challenge of some very robust applications. As a learning language, Python is as good as any, and Python even has some advantages. It's structure is very rigid, so it forces you to adopt some good habits right off. Perl is much more lax in it's syntactical structure, and as a result the code from 2 gurus to do the same thing is likely to be completely different. The code from 2 Python gurus to do the same thing is likely to look more similar. That's always an advantage when you're learning. Python is also natively object-oriented, meaning you HAVE to use objects. O-O programming is an ideal that many would like to migrate toward and Python offers that ability. The support for Python is also growing quite rapidly. You're likely to find tons of help when you need it (and you'll need it). Python does have the drawback of many depricated commands. That can be somewhat frustrating to a beginner, but I believe that this is a fairly minor setback. So, I guess I'm saying that Python is a good choice for an all-rounder programming language. If you're looking for some specific area to address with your programming, see the top paragraph again.
    /* You are not expected to understand this. */

  6. #6
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    No no no

    I suggest you start with Perl. Get "Learning Perl" from O'reilly, then when you are finished with that book get "Programming Perl" also from O'reilly and it's creator.

    Perl is easier to learn then C/C++, has a lot of free support on the web and will actually be usefull to you on both *nix and Windows Platform.

    Basic, Fortan and Pascal are worthless and only teached in schools... Don't got there!


    It's my 2 cents take it or leave it.
    Binary_01

    A Journey of a thousand miles is started by taking the first step.

  7. #7
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    i don't think perl or Python are good places to start, they are not flexible enough. fortran and pascal?? <sarcasim>why not learn ada while you're at it.</sarcasim> learn something practical!!

    c++ is the perfect language to get started off with. after you understand the structure and syntax of that, moving onto other languages is so much easier. don't even bother with perl or python until you need that kind of functionality.
    U suk at teh intuhnet1!!1!1one

  8. #8
    To be honest I have never programmed in python, but I have experience in c/c++
    FORTRAN,asm,java,... no matter which programming language you start as
    A newbie you will soon find that there are many things that these languages share
    most commands are so alike that when you want to shift from one language to another,
    you can use your knowledge of other languages you have learned before.
    I recommend learning c first but do not try to learn it in one go because you will
    Forget it soon or you will end up saying that c is so hard to learn (not true).
    But why do I recommend c?
    By learning c you can easily shift to c++ which is more powerful than c .java script
    Is really similar to c++ and there are many other languages that have this similarity.


    c/c++:
    http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/cpp.htm
    http://www.stickysauce.com/scriptdirectory/c/
    http://www.gustavo.net/programming/c.shtml
    http://www.planet-source-code.com/
    http://www.cpp-home.com/
    http://www.cprogramming.com/
    http://www.hotscripts.com/
    http://www.stud.arch.ethz.ch/~vasummer/doc/c.html
    http://www.programmersheaven.com/
    http://www.codeproject.com/
    http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/C++Programming-HOWTO.html
    http://www.cppreference.com/
    http://www.gustavo.net/programming/c.shtml
    http://www.cuj.com/
    http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/jwo/teaching/c_prog/
    http://www.norfolk.navy.mil/oasys/c/files.html
    http://www.ca-osi.com/
    http://www.cplusplus.com/
    http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/C++Programming-HOWTO.html
    http://www.hotscripts.com/C_and_C++/
    http://www.tcfb.com/freetechbooks/bookcpp.html

  9. #9
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    Talking

    rookrookrook,

    Don't listen to them, they are evil! it's a conspiracy! ;-)

    I did Both C and Perl, and C is not that hard once you get to understand pointers and their place in your program.

    Perl will just let you program small scripts to manipulates text very easily. Under *nix everything is text so that's why Perl is so powerfull.

    Try writting this in C

    while (<>) {

    if (/antionline\.com/) {
    print "Hey it's Antionline\n";

    }
    }

    I can assure you it will take you a lot more lines in C to accomplish the above.

    Don't get me wrong tho, C is GREAT! but Perl is better if you want to work with small tasks and manipulate files. It's also a great intro to other language and your code is cross platform.


    Anyways bottom line it's your decision, look at both and pic the one you think makes the most sense to you and what you wish to accomplish with the language.

    Good luck!

    P.S. Don't get me wrong guys, I don't want to start a flame war! ;-)
    Binary_01

    A Journey of a thousand miles is started by taking the first step.

  10. #10
    Senior Member roswell1329's Avatar
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    Re: No no no

    Originally posted here by Binary_01
    Basic, Fortan and Pascal are worthless and only teached in schools... Don't got there!


    It's my 2 cents take it or leave it.
    Actually, Binary_01, people are doing some crazy things with BASIC these days. A number of Windows apps are now written in Visual Basic. There is even an entire community of game programmers working in a few different BASIC implementations (namely DarkBasic and BlitzBasic) who are creating some killer stuff. Of course, these implementations aren't your Dad's GW-BASIC, but their roots are there. GOTO and GOSUB are alive and kicking! BASIC is a great learning language, and with the implementations nowadays you can accomplish some great things.

    Oh, and don't shove Pascal aside as a dead language either. Pascal has been reborn into the Delphi environment available from Borland.
    /* You are not expected to understand this. */

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