College is over and for the first time since I left school ive not enrolled on a course. To keep my brain switched on untill next september I thought id have a crack at some sort of computer lanaguage.... but which one? What the differences? Which is best to learn? Whats the best way to learn? I dont really know what I want to do with a computer language, I suppose build small apps which will assist with the courses im doing. Draw graphs, do sums that sort of stuff. Everything I do with MathCAD and a grahpical calculator really! I cant even program those properly! Any ideas?
vb is esier to learn, C is more powerful, it just depends which IDE you're more comfortable with, personally i can only just program my video
C/C++ is probably the best language for general application development, and best to understand the concepts of programming. C++ is a superset of C, and is mostly backwards compatible but has object orientated features as well. VB may be easier to learn, and using the existing controls available with MS Visual Studio its pretty quick to build simple applications. Larger ones will struggle, and they will probably be better done in a faster and more rounded language like C++. Get a good book on whatever language you choose, and then study it well. The best way to learn is to do the examples and have a go at making programs the more you learn. Reading from a book just doesn't do the trick when programming, it provides a conceptual understanding but doesn't help you remember the syntax of the language well. Its like trying to learn to drive a car with just a book.
Thanks, Ill have a look around at what to offer for the C language. I take it there are free compilers I can use? ANy recommendations?
Yep, on windows download [google]Dev C++[/google]. It comes with the mingw32/gcc compiler which is free. It is also a very capable yet light integrated development environment.
If you are using windows and are new to programming then go for java or c#. You can get the Express Edition of Visual C# free from Microsoft. Its just a download from their website. Then get a nice book. For java you will need to get the Java Runtime and Java Development Kit and also the docs package free from java.sun.com. If you want an easy to use IDE then go for BlueJ and once you have mastered the basics of java then go for netbeans or eclipse. All are free. You will need to buy a book for either language. Join a forum on programming such as Programming Forums. There you will find lots of info and can ask questions with more people that know more about programming than they do here. Have fun
