From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: fc89c,97188312486d4578 X-Google-Attributes: gidfc89c,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,baaf5f793d03d420 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,97188312486d4578 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,6154de2e240de72a X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public From: tequila@interlog.com (Mark Eissler) Subject: Re: What's the best language to start with? [was: Re: Should I learn C or Pascal?] Date: 1996/07/28 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 170818721 references: <01bb73e3.1c6a0060$6bf467ce@dave.iceslimited.com> <1996Jul20.124025.122789@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <01bb7b06$311fabc0$87ee6fce@timpent.airshields.com> organization: Tequila Films Inc. newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.unix.programmer,comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-07-28T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: > "Tim Behrendsen" wrote: > > >Mark Eissler wrote in article > >... > >> Yes, but since just about everyone else has said something I'd say follow > >> this path BASIC -> Pascal -> C -> C++ -> JAVA. > > >I think that is fine for the casual programmer. If you want to be > >a professional programmer, I think this is the *best* course, but > >not the easiest ... > > >Assembly -> C [non-GUI] -> C-GUI -> C++ > > >All the rest of the languages are variations on the same theme. I would still argue that some form of BASIC should be taken as a preliminary step to any programming. Going from nothing into Assembly is suicidal. Something as simple as a loop tends to appear 8 billion times more complicated than the same thing in BASIC. Not only that, but you can't argue that ASM isn't more cryptic than any high level language. Although I've only dabbled in Assembly (I do intend to crack this beast!), I don't think it's a great starting point. Possibly a next step. Structure will be more clear learned from BASIC (writing sequentially executed programs). ASM code looks like it jumps around an awful lot (because it does). I think it can be agreed, though, that learning to program is a progression. You can't just pick up one book one day and expect to write the next killer app the day after. My first programming experiences began with a ZX-81 about 15 or 16 years ago. I must have learned at least 4 or 5 different interpretations of BASIC after that before moving on to dBASE, C (got confused), Pascal (needed it to understand the developer docs. provided by Apple for the Mac), C again (Pascal knowledge helped me real big with this), C++. I'm still dealing with C++ right now. Plan to learn JAVA next (don't feel too pressured though) and want to get back into learning ASM. I think I might add Ada to my list of things to do. I guess there are arguments that you don't need to learn a billion languages in order to learn how to program. Having spent a great deal of time learning this (without too much formal instruction -- 'cause I really suck at the math courses they always make mandatory at Universities) I think the progression from one language to the next has only helped me. -- Mark Eissler | If something doesn't start tequila@interlog.com | happening soon, I'm gonna http://www.interlog.com/~tequila/ | take up Yak farming!