Programming Language

Akatsuki

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First off, I'm sorry if I post this topic in the wrong section.

I want to learn a programming language but I don't know where to start. I want to learn a programming language that will be the most useful. If someone can post a programming language that will be very useful to learn but not so hard that a person beginning to learn programming will not be able to understand it.

So in short, can you post a programming language that a beginner can learn that isn't extremely hard to learn but is still very useful to learn. Or post a programming language that I need to know to learn more advance languages. Like people in web programming should learn HTML first before other languages.

Thank you in advance.4
 

UndeadDragon

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The common programming languages are like C++, C# and JAVA.

I have only learnt (a bit of) C++, so that's the only one I have experience in. I found C++ relatively easy to learn. After the 2nd day I started with object oriented stuff. That is fairly difficult until you get the hang of it. But the basics of C++ are easy to learn.

There are a few tutorials on the internet, like this and this. A useful program would be Microsoft's Visual C++ here.
 

Akatsuki

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I plan to learn how to use it within 3 years and I'm sure that I would get the hang of it by then.

Thanks, Also may I say that you have an awesome avatar.
 

UndeadDragon

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Thankyou ^^
 

rover2341

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I agree, C++ is most useful and will be for years to come. But C# (there is a free version from mircosoft) Is alot easyer to get started with and cuts out alot of things you have to deal with. Its a little less powerful but it Still Very mighty. Anyway i know some c++ but am trying to learn c# and so far i am loveing it.

Over all its a safer programing language that's easier to code in. But Isn't quite as fast.

p.s. The best part is if you plan on learning silver light. you can code in straight c#. You are limited by silver light of course so pretty much nothing in 3d, But its something people can play on a web site they dl as they play. Its sorta a much more powerful flash etc. My brother won a contest for it and got first place , they sent him a x box 360. Ill find the link for it if your intersted

Also XNA is coded right on top of c# so you can make games for you xbox 360 or computer using its librarys and engine, Its a very powerful tool , and great for people who want to make a game and don't got Tons of time to do it, It does a good job of laying out many advanced features and Many good free tutorials made from them
 

Akatsuki

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I'm still not completely sure what Silver Light is exactly but if you send a link about it then I would be glad to look at it.
 
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Silverlight is Microsoft's lame answer to Flash. Maybe you should try resisting the allure of programming "games" and shiny things for Microsoft platforms and instead go for something more traditional. I think C++ is a good language to learn first, but it is also worth learning things like Lisp, C, Perl etc.
 

rover2341

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SilverLight works for all platforms. But he may be right about avoiding it first.

To be it drives my learning. where c++ is more powerful but a little tougher to build visual things in.

But c# is pretty close to c++. Not to say that its not a wise move.

But if you need some motivational. in your learning consider something you can get out to show your friends fairly quickly. But it really depends on what you plan on doing, as what you should learn.
 

Dtere

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For programming software for use on OS's use C++ / C# / Java

For programming OS's i'd suggest using C++ / C#

For programming hardware (such as microcontrollers) use Assembly or C++

Few programs i've used through the years: Eclipse, Codewarrior, BlueJay, Microsoft Visual C++, and the linux software development environment. I much prefer doing any type of coding in linux. It compiles and runs quite a bit faster than any windows type environment. Also there is less compatibility issues. Windows works well for compatibility with any finished programs.

Always start easy. Do some helloworld programs, then try declaring variables and creating mathematical equations using printf and scanf(for C). See if you can get those to work first. Move onto case/switch statements, for, while, if/then statements next. After this is usually where programming gets a little more difficult. Understanding how to link files and use pointers can be a little tricky. This would be the next evolution though. After pointers usually comes structures and user defined stuff.
 

New_U.S.

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hmm. well if you are just going to casually program for now I would suggest C#. You dont have to master the most powerful language like C++. But C# will give you good capabilities and be easy to learn. It also had the XNA framework which is like game programming made easy. all of that if free from microsoft.com. hope this helped at all :thup:
 

WastedSavior

A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
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For programming software for use on OS's use C++ / C# / Java

Sorry to hijack the thread, but i'd like to ask a quick question.
My friend is trying to learn java, but he can't find any resources for it, do you have any suggestions?
 

SFilip

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J

Jakeshuffle

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im the friend WS is referring to, and yes ive tried googleing but it seems no matter what book i use or what tutorial i read i end up going back to square one.

what im looking for is something that actually has you building programs while you learn. not just read read and then make one.

also a lot of the book's codes don't work b/c i either don't have the CD or it i just can't figure it out.

any help is appreciated

ps. can C++ be used in webpages like Java? (runescape for example?)
 

SFilip

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Have you tried the tutorial on the Java website? It should be pretty simple and has all the needed tools listed. Tried making the Hello World for instance?

> can C++ be used in webpages like Java?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: there are several ways, but not one is even similar to embedding Java. You can create and compile an application and then execute it on the server (which BTW most servers don't support because it compromises security). Or you can compile it as a library and find a way to load that library from some scripting language like PHP. Or you can write an apache module. But in most cases it simply doesn't pay off and probably won't be possible without a dedicated server.
 
J

Jakeshuffle

Guest
thank you for the help, i have glanced at those tutorials but i never read through them since i am well learned in the Hello World apps

so in short, you would need a dedicated server for C++ while java doesn't need one?

EDIT: in the long run i would like to make games (obviously i would start easy with something like Asteroids), but my question is this-
is there a good website/tutorial/book (anything really) that teaches you Java while you program games?
 

SFilip

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> so in short, you would need a dedicated server for C++
Not only that, but using C++ is also very inpractical when it comes to websites. You can only get it to run server-side which means the only real advantage it would have over a scripting language like PHP is speed - which probably doesn't matter on a good dedicated server anyway.

> is there a good website/tutorial/book (anything really) that teaches you Java while you program games?
Try GameDev, you can probably find something of use there. If that fails - google.
 
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