Re: Should I learn C or Pascal?

[steidl@centuryinter.net]

In <4srb1i$n04@news-e2c.gnn.com>, ajaskey@gnn.com (Andy Askey) writes:
>anh@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (TRAN PHAN ANH) wrote:
>
>>Absolutely right.
>
>>But Pascal or C was the original question.  Start with C is what I say.  
>>Better yet, why not C++ then move on to JAVA?
>
>>Besides, if you can master C/C++, and JAVA, it will take you 5 min. to learn 
>>Pascal.  Actually, if one has a solid foundation in programming techniques and
>>a solid understanding of one or two languages, one can aquire a working 
>>knowledge of any language in no time.

It seems naive to think that one could have a "solid foundation in
programming techniques" if one only has a "solid understanding of one
or two languages" such as C/C++ and JAVA.  How can you obtain a solid
foundation of making use of dynamic types if you haven't had a lot of
practice with SmallTalk or some other language that supports it?  How
can you have a solid foundation in lazy evaluation if you don't have
a decent amount of experience with Haskell or some other language that
supports it?  How can you have a solid foundation in non-procedural
programming if you've only used procedural languages?  What about
functional programming, reflective programming, higher-order functions,
continuation semantics, syntactical pattern matching, metaclasses?
Yes, most of these can be emulated in C/C++, but not easily, and you
are not likely to be well versed in their use if C/C++/JAVA are the
only languages you've really used.

The statement "one can aquire a working knowledge of any language in no
time" also seems quite naive.  The languages that do support these
features are not as easy to pick up as you might think - using them to
their fullest requires learning substantially different approaches to
programming problems, just as OOP C++ requires a significantly
different approach than non-OOP C (or non-OOP C++).  And the learning
that comes out of taking that different approach is what will make you
a better programmer.

>>From my point of view, right now, C/C++, and JAVA on a resume is hotter 
>>than Pascal.
>>Anh

That's true, but how long will C++ be king of the hill?  Besides, when
I interview someone for a job, I don't care if their C++ specific
skills are at 100% or not.  I have even let interviewees answer
interview questions using their language of choice because I know that
picking up syntax is simple, but learning concepts is hard (and some
people never learn them).

>Absolutely right, Anh.  I started with Fortran, taught myself C and
>C++ in about a month or so, and then picked up Ada in a couple weeks.
>
>Andy Askey

If you think you learned C++ (and OOP) in a month after only knowning
ForTran, then either you are fooling yourself, or you're a hell of a
lot smarter then me or anyone else I know.  Most of the syntax can be
learned in a week or less.  But OOP (and some of the more obscure
facets of C++) take much longer.

As to the original question, if it is an either-or situation and you
are only considering strict Pascal, then yes C++ is probably the better
choice.  If you allow for Pascal variants (such as Delphi) or more
recent versions of Pascal (i.e. Modula 3), then the choice is not so
clear cut.  If your only goal in life is to get a job [:-(], then C++
probably still edges out the newer Pascals.  But that question is moot
and not even worth arguing since no aspiring programmer should limit
themselves to only one language.


-Jeff

steidl@centuryinter.net - http://www.dont.i.wish.com/
All opinions are my own, and are subject to change without notice.