Java , c++ or anything else ?

[gameman]

If you want the basic feel of programing try batch files.
(this is no joke!)

Its simple and many programing do not have the same commands.

 

[The Canon]

Nobody seems to be advocating for Java, so I will. It's a good (object-oriented) language that finds a very happy medium between simplicity and power. I think it's a great language to start off with.

 

[duyen]

I go for Javascript, it is useful for making applets lol.....
Though I never tried C++

Uh... JavaScript is not a programming language.

It's a scripting language.

I've never even heard a .exe JavaScript compiler before.

 

[TheDamien]

Uh... JavaScript is not a programming language.

It's a scripting language.

I've never even heard a .exe JavaScript compiler before.

Scripting languages are programming languages. It doesn't matter whether people write native code compilers for a scripting language or not, it's still a programming language.

 

[Bronxernijn]

I say learn C++

Best way to learn is to use a linux distribution like OpenSUSE, use an editor like KWrite for editing and gcc+ for compiling (linux is such a blessing)

 

[duyen]

Scripting languages are programming languages. It doesn't matter whether people write native code compilers for a scripting language or not, it's still a programming language.

ok, well let me ask you this, for making a... let's say game that runs on your own computer, would you use VBScript, a scripting language, or VB, a programming language.

 

[TheDamien]

ok, well let me ask you this, for making a... let's say game that runs on your own computer, would you use VBScript, a scripting language, or VB, a programming language.

This question isn't relevant. Scripting languages are, by definition, programming languages. It doesn't matter which language you would use for some task, it doesn't mean that the others are not programming languages.

 

[Blackveiled]

I thought this was a question..not a debate.

Also, it all depends what you want to do. C++ is the best direction to go because of it's diversity.

 

[Demonfaze]

Have you considered Python? That was my first real programming language. It has simple enough (as in, very high-level) syntax to see fast results, but it is also powerful enough to make complex games, using the Pygame engine in particular.

 

[Samael88]

I learned some c++ in school, and I am now deepening my knowledge about it.

If you have warcraft3, then if you understand the basics about the GUI triggers and variables there you won't have as much trouble learning programming as if not knowing anything.

Else I suggest going with the tutorial that SFilip posted is really good. It is good when learning c++ for the first time, and recapping forgotten knowledge about it also. I used it to recap my knowledge of c++

Here is another pretty good tutorial: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

 

[Darthfett]

For a beginner, I would not recommend a language that is complex as far as its syntax goes.

I haven't tried Java, but from what I've read, it seems to be a more complicated language, because it is almost entirely based on objects and classes. (Object oriented programming).

I didn't like Visual Basic, just because it was so simple, and the GUI-making part of the programming was tedious and limited to me.

For a beginner, I'd recommend Python, since it is a powerful language, and yet easy enough for a beginner to jump right into.

• Don't have to compile anything to test a script
• Easy to read/learn syntax
• Powerful enough to let you do many things, without requiring you to learn another language
• Teaches good formatting habits

Here's a sticky on the language, if you want to learn more:
http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=112034

The reason I don't recommend C or C++ is because the syntax is complicated, and requires a lot of tutorials before you fully understand the language.

For example, here is the Hello World program in C:

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
    printf("Hello World");
}

And here is the Hello World program in Python:

print "Hello World"

With python, you don't have to learn a ton of new syntax before you can get started in the language. All you have to do is look up what you're trying to do, and chances are, someone's already done it.

 

[Bronxernijn]

The reason I don't recommend C or C++ is because the syntax is complicated, and requires a lot of tutorials before you fully understand the language.

For example, here is the Hello World program in C:

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
    printf("Hello World");
}

And here is the Hello World program in Python:

print "Hello World"

With python, you don't have to learn a ton of new syntax before you can get started in the language. All you have to do is look up what you're trying to do, and chances are, someone's already done it.

That is actually a bad example.

First of all, the declaration of the standard input/output header happens only once. It is also quite easy to understand. The declaration of main is also very good for a learning programmer, because functions are very important. This way you learn to deal with it immediately.

And second, I would like to state that less syntax does not have to be an advantage. To me, it even seems a disadvantage. Because of the syntax, your code becomes more readable. Whether a statement is a constructor, a function call or a memberfunction is very clear in the C++ syntax.

And lastly, debugging seems easier to me in C++. If you accidently remove the whitespace between print and "Hello World" , I can' t imagine what will happen, although it is just a whitespace. In C++ you can add and remove whitespaces as you wish, to make your code more readable.


Then I give you another tip: Do not start off with visual programming! It is better to get to know the structure of a program first. Don' t worry, it takes some time before you start to work with self-made libraries and makefiles. But once you get there, you understand what the visual programming editor actually does for you. Although unnecessary, you learn a lot of it.

By the way Java and C++ are both excellent languages to learn programming. If you want to keep it to a more basic level, I suggest you use visual basic.

 

[Darthfett]

That is actually a bad example.

1. First of all, the declaration of the standard input/output header happens only once. It is also quite easy to understand. The declaration of main is also very good for a learning programmer, because functions are very important. This way you learn to deal with it immediately.

2. And second, I would like to state that less syntax does not have to be an advantage. To me, it even seems a disadvantage. Because of the syntax, your code becomes more readable. Whether a statement is a constructor, a function call or a memberfunction is very clear in the C++ syntax.

3. And lastly, debugging seems easier to me in C++. If you accidently remove the whitespace between print and "Hello World" , I can' t imagine what will happen, although it is just a whitespace. In C++ you can add and remove whitespaces as you wish, to make your code more readable.

1. Not so easy for a person who's never seen a programming language before. It confused me when I first saw it, and I had already learned much of JASS.

I also prefer the idea where you learn what you want to learn, when you need it. When you're going to make a simple statement like printing a test statement, you shouldn't have to go through the hassle of learning what a function is, what the syntax is, why you have to import the library, etc.

2. Some of the time it is. When you're always going to have a main function, there's shouldn't be a need to define it. In python, you simply start typing, and you're automatically in the main function (unless you start defining a function, which allows you to put the function wherever you want in your code).

Python makes things extremely clear as well, the whitespace formatting shows you what blocks end where, clearly.

3. If you remove the space between print and "hello world", it works just fine in python.

by White space formatting, I mean like this:

if condition then:
    dostuff()
    if condition2 then:
        domorestuff()

It teaches you to indent things that are inside blocks, whereas you can be really lazy in other languages and just do something like this:
Perl:

if (Condition) {dostuff();if (Condition) {domorestuff();}}

It's much harder to read something like that.

However, when you have to debug something to see if it works, you can't simply open up a terminal and test it, you have to compile it first, which gets a bit annoying when you're doing something as simple as testing.

 

[JerseyFoo]

Go with JavaScript. It's useful, and gives instant feedback.

• Open notepad
• Copy/paste below in the code tag
• Save as blah.html
• Open with browser
• Play with as necessary using resources at http://www.w3schools.com

<html><head></head><body>

<script type="text/javascript">
    // JavaScript goes here
    var x = 2 * 2;
    alert(x);
    document.write('This be a text');
</script>

</body></html>

Not a programming language, but as a 'complete beginner' that's all the same to you anyway.

I recommend Firebug ( for Firefox ) & JSlint to find errors.

 

[UndeadDragon]

Javascript is definately user friendly and easy to learn, but it can't do programming like some of these languages can, like C++ and Python. Javascript can only be used on the web aswell.

 

[duyen]

Making apps with JavaScript is a pain.

 

[JerseyFoo]

Keyword: beginner

Javascript is definately user friendly and easy to learn, but it can't do programming like some of these languages can, like C++ and Python. Javascript can only be used on the web aswell.

You don't need the web.

 

[duyen]

Go with JavaScript. It's useful, and gives instant feedback.

• Open notepad
• Copy/paste below in the code tag
• Save as blah.html
• Open with browser
• Play with as necessary using resources at http://www.w3schools.com

<html><head></head><body>

<script type="text/javascript">
    // JavaScript goes here
    var x = 2 * 2;
    alert(x);
    document.write('This be a text');
</script>

</body></html>

Not a programming language, but as a 'complete beginner' that's all the same to you anyway.

I recommend Firebug ( for Firefox ) & JSlint to find errors.

Hooray for making things more complicated then needed?

Just save as blah.js and have this as code:

    var x = 2 * 2;
    alert(x);
    document.write('This be a text');

 

[SFilip]

> Just save as blah.js
And then what?

 

[Cheesy]

Don't you need something like Adobe Dreamweaver to open JS files?