What programming language should you learn first?
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JavaScript is a great language to know, but a terrible place to start learning.
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Perl!
If you're coming from the perspective of most people that hang around this place I would say take a look at C. Learning C will not only help you gain a deeper understanding of all things *nix, but it will also give you an easier transition to other languages because of the similarities in structure and syntax.
If you're a beginning beginner, I'd look at Python. (maybe Ruby)
Nice article, I enjoyed the comic.
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I always recommend Python for learning.
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@scottalanmiller said in What programming language should you learn first?:
JavaScript is a great language to know, but a terrible place to start learning.
That's the point. JavaScript isn't bad, but the lack of strong types (e.g. an unsigned int is an unsigned int and an instance of A is in fact an instance of A. This leads to bad writing style right from the beginning.
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I learned Java (not Java Script) first and then VB.net.
That's about the extent of what I know
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@Jason said in What programming language should you learn first?:
I learned Java (not Java Script) first and then VB.net.
That's about the extent of what I know
Java is not related to JavaScript in any possible way, except for the very basic C-style syntax maybe. Same for VB.NET, which is a real programming language in the .NET ecosystem.
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@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@Jason said in What programming language should you learn first?:
I learned Java (not Java Script) first and then VB.net.
That's about the extent of what I know
Java is not related to JavaScript in any possible way, except for the very basic C-style syntax maybe. Same for VB.NET, which is a real programming language in the .NET ecosystem.
No one said it was...
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@scottalanmiller said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
JavaScript? Seriously?
I think you should first learn a programming language, not a scripting language. Something strong-typed, preferably.
Scripting languages are one of the two types of programming languages. There is nothing "more" programming language than a scripting language.
I still like to think of scripting languages as languages that get interpreted, while programming languages need some kind of compiler / JIT and do not rely on an interpreter.
IMHO, there is a difference.
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@Jason said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@Jason said in What programming language should you learn first?:
I learned Java (not Java Script) first and then VB.net.
That's about the extent of what I know
Java is not related to JavaScript in any possible way, except for the very basic C-style syntax maybe. Same for VB.NET, which is a real programming language in the .NET ecosystem.
No one said it was...
Just tried to make it clear for others who may read this later.
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@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@scottalanmiller said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
JavaScript? Seriously?
I think you should first learn a programming language, not a scripting language. Something strong-typed, preferably.
Scripting languages are one of the two types of programming languages. There is nothing "more" programming language than a scripting language.
I still like to think of scripting languages as languages that get interpreted, while programming languages need some kind of compiler / JIT and do not rely on an interpreter.
IMHO, there is a difference.
Scripting = interpreted
Compiled = compiledBoth are equally programming languages. Programming language has zero connotation with compilation. It's like how lager and ale are both beer, one is not more beer than the other. They are two equal types of beer. These are two equal programming types. JavaScript and C are both 100% programming languages, one is not more than the other.
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@scottalanmiller said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@scottalanmiller said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
JavaScript? Seriously?
I think you should first learn a programming language, not a scripting language. Something strong-typed, preferably.
Scripting languages are one of the two types of programming languages. There is nothing "more" programming language than a scripting language.
I still like to think of scripting languages as languages that get interpreted, while programming languages need some kind of compiler / JIT and do not rely on an interpreter.
IMHO, there is a difference.
Scripting = interpreted
Compiled = compiledBoth are equally programming languages. Programming language has zero connotation with compilation. It's like how lager and ale are both beer, one is not more beer than the other. They are two equal types of beer. These are two equal programming types. JavaScript and C are both 100% programming languages, one is not more than the other.
Good enough, if you like to think of scripting languages as a subtype of programming languages (which they are). But a scripting language isn't a replacement for a compiled language, they both target different use cases.
Back to topic. The question was: Is JavaScript a good way to learn a programming language. At least I think it isn't good for learning programming. Mixed the terms above.
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I've heard from multiple friends who code that C (C11) is a great foundational language for anyone interested in pursuing programming or even just for developing better logic skills.
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@Shuey said in What programming language should you learn first?:
I've heard from multiple friends who code that C (C11) is a great foundational language for anyone interested in pursuing programming or even just for developing better logic skills.
C is great for learning, but can also be tricky for beginners. A more high-level OO-language like C# or Java could also be worth a look (@scottalanmiller will probably disagree on C# and I'm not a fan of Java at all for a lot of reasons).
What makes C a bit hard is that you need to get into pointers and arrays pretty early for simple things like "strings" - C just does not know such a thing. Also, the missing memory protection can be tricky: You can easily read and write data outside the boundaries of a previously defined array, for example.
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Ha I learned QBasic as a kid, and had a VisualBasic class in 9th grade. But I haven't done hardly anything outside of scripting in BASH.
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Some of the projects I would like to take on, require some programming... However, I just can't seem to figure the logic of it. Maybe partly due to the 'Attention issues' and being quick to get frustrated on it. I can 'map it out' but I can't convert that map to any sort of code.
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@stacksofplates said in What programming language should you learn first?:
Ha I learned QBasic as a kid, and had a VisualBasic class in 9th grade. But I haven't done hardly anything outside of scripting in BASH.
BASIC on Atari 400/800/800XL/ST for me. Turtle (Ha!) and Turbo Pascal at school. And Cobol on a HP 3000/947 to which I had access to from time to time.
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@gjacobse said in What programming language should you learn first?:
Some of the projects I would like to take on, require some programming... However, I just can't seem to figure the logic of it. Maybe partly due to the 'Attention issues' and being quick to get frustrated on it. I can 'map it out' but I can't convert that map to any sort of code.
Many people find that if you didn't program as a child, you never develop the mental pathways for it. Like playing violin or speaking French.
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@thwr said in What programming language should you learn first?:
@stacksofplates said in What programming language should you learn first?:
Ha I learned QBasic as a kid, and had a VisualBasic class in 9th grade. But I haven't done hardly anything outside of scripting in BASH.
BASIC on Atari 400/800/800XL/ST for me. Turtle (Ha!) and Turbo Pascal at school. And Cobol on a HP 3000/947 to which I had access to from time to time.
I started with BASIC on DOS 1.0. Then eventually AmigaBASIC. Then Aztec C. Then Fortran 77.
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@RamblingBiped Yes, I'm strongly agree with you. Python is the best for start!
