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etank
February 13th, 2007, 03:25 AM
Are there any programmers here? I'm interested in learning a few languages.

I like to dabble in Perl and Python. I am in no way a real programmer though.
Condoulo
February 13th, 2007, 04:01 AM
..... Just curious, what are those?
etank
February 13th, 2007, 04:34 AM
Python (http://python.org/) and Perl (http://perl.com/) are both opensource programming languages. They are cross platform so that means that you can use them on Windows and Linux. There is also another language that is making headway called Ruby (http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/).

They are all good languages. In my opinion Python is a great one to start with (or even end with).
Condoulo
February 14th, 2007, 03:27 AM
Thanks. :) I'm installing it right now. ^^ Any guides on how to use it?
etank
February 14th, 2007, 04:04 AM
Thanks. :) I'm installing it right now. ^^ Any guides on how to use it?

By "it" what are you referring too?
Condoulo
February 15th, 2007, 02:21 AM
Python. Sorry for not being specific at the time.
etank
February 15th, 2007, 03:00 AM
Python. Sorry for not being specific at the time.

Go to http://python.org. The documentation on the site is great. Also if you search synaptic for python there is a book called Dive Into Python. Once installed you can access the book through the help system (System->Help->System Documentation).
montgoej
February 15th, 2007, 03:54 AM
I like Python, but I've only dabbled in it. C++ is really great, it just takes a while, and like Python, I've only dabbled in it. I have wrote some small useless scripts though.
~Jordan Montgomery
Mr_Knuckles
February 17th, 2007, 01:07 AM
In your guy's opinion, what would be the best language to start with? When you're developing a program, does it matter which language you use? Are there languages preferred over others?
Zuph
February 17th, 2007, 03:29 AM
In your guy's opinion, what would be the best language to start with? When you're developing a program, does it matter which language you use? Are there languages preferred over others?

It really depends on what you're going to be doing with the programming language. If you're just banging out a quick program to make some tedious process faster, python, perl, etc. are all good bets. If you're going to be doing serious web programming, you'll want to use PHP or Ruby on Rails. If you want to make an operating system, or 3D engine, C++ is a good bet.

Java is a good swiss army knife of programming languages. It teaches you good object-oriented practices and doesn't mire you in things like memory management. It's also inherently cross-platform. The downside is that performance isn't as good as other languages. As a beginner, though, you won't be taxing it too much.
etank
February 17th, 2007, 04:31 AM
I would add to what Zuph said about web programming. If you are learning Python and want a great framework to help in creating database driven websites then look to django. It is considered the Rails of the Python world by some.

Python is a great language to start with in my opinion because it teaches good coding habits.
Mr_Knuckles
February 20th, 2007, 02:54 AM
C++ sounds like the most powerful of the languages, so I'm really interested in it. And since most things are moving toward web functionality PHP and AJAX looks to be a good bet to learn as well. I've been looking at C++ and PHP, their syntax looks similar.

Is PHP capable of developing web applications? I see that it uses forms very well, but can it do anything like AJAX? Can it be integrated with AJAX?
Zuph
February 20th, 2007, 02:32 PM
C++ sounds like the most powerful of the languages, so I'm really interested in it. And since most things are moving toward web functionality PHP and AJAX looks to be a good bet to learn as well. I've been looking at C++ and PHP, their syntax looks similar.

Is PHP capable of developing web applications? I see that it uses forms very well, but can it do anything like AJAX? Can it be integrated with AJAX?

C++ and PHP are only similar at first glance. Operationally, they're very different, with C++ being a much lower-level language. That being said, after you pick up one lower-level language, it's usually pretty easy to learn more of them.

PHP is very capable of developing web applications, and AJAX, being the grouping of various technologies, is definitely capable of being integrated with PHP. AJAX alone cannot develop seriously interactive web-applications. Of course, if you're going for portability and versatility of web-apps, nothing beats Java at the moment.
kambrik
February 21st, 2007, 10:52 PM
Hello everyone:
Just joined the Kentucky LoCo Team, i don't live in Kentucky but only 5 minutes away, i live in and work in Evansville IN.

I just wanted to post my programming abilities.
HTML 4, CSS, JavaScript, VBScript, ,AJax,ASP 3.0, Visual Basic 6, WMI, SQL7,SQL 2000, Photoshop.

Learning perl

Networking, Windows, and linux. Domains, NFS, Active Directory,Firewalls
Windows 95 - XP
Hardware/PC Repair

Cocreater of www.4saleevansville.com
www.4saleowensboro.com.

I am seeking to learn setting up and maintaining email servers.
Mr_Knuckles
February 22nd, 2007, 02:06 AM
C++ and PHP are only similar at first glance. Operationally, they're very different, with C++ being a much lower-level language. That being said, after you pick up one lower-level language, it's usually pretty easy to learn more of them.

PHP is very capable of developing web applications, and AJAX, being the grouping of various technologies, is definitely capable of being integrated with PHP. AJAX alone cannot develop seriously interactive web-applications. Of course, if you're going for portability and versatility of web-apps, nothing beats Java at the moment.

Thanks for the info. Do you know of any good websites or books to start learning PHP and C++ from?
etank
February 22nd, 2007, 02:43 AM
For PHP I used to read http://www.hudzilla.org/phpbook/. It was written pretty well. I also would post on http://www.phpfreaks.com/ quite often when I could not find an answer to a problem that I was having.

For C++ you could try this site http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html.
X-626
February 22nd, 2007, 03:48 AM
I have been learning a little C++, but I don't remember the sites I started learning it on...(which it only provided basic examples, anyway). When I first started with PHP, I went to the PHP MySQL Tutorial Web site at: http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/
Though, if you're not interested in using MySQL with PHP, then you may not find what you need there. One other site you could use is http://www.php.net but you may not want to go there until you know a little more. There are plenty of PHP help sites on the Internet. I learned all I know about PHP mainly from the documentation that the developers provide.
kambrik
February 22nd, 2007, 06:30 PM
Also checkout these for books,training videos etc...

http://www.ebooksportal.org
http://www.blueportal.org

or of course on mIRC undernet #books, #techbooks
montgoej
February 23rd, 2007, 02:13 AM
Another good thing for Linux programmers: Mono now has a VB compiler. Some say that it's bad cause we're accepting Microsoft stuff, but I like it, cause I have friends who use VB and won't switch to Linux b/c of it, and I also have a VB class coming up in a few weeks. I don't completely like VB, I use Python more, but it's good to know I can use it if need be.
~Jordan Montgomery
kambrik
February 23rd, 2007, 02:45 AM
What is Mono?
montgoej
February 23rd, 2007, 04:49 AM
Mono is a project that creates a set of compilers for C#, .Net and now Visual Basic. The Beagle desktop search program, I believe, was written in Mono.
~Stash
Zuph
February 23rd, 2007, 06:21 AM
The O'Reilly books for anything are also incredible. I recommend them whole-heartedly.

Stay away from those "Learn X in 21 days" books, though. They're crap.
srwalter
March 1st, 2007, 03:54 PM
I do a lot of programming in Python and in C. I do a little bit of Perl, but I don't enjoy it nearly as much ;) Otherwise I do a lot of sysadmin type work.
threesneeze
March 27th, 2007, 06:44 PM
The O'Reilly books for anything are also incredible. I recommend them whole-heartedly.

Stay away from those "Learn X in 21 days" books, though. They're crap.

I agree those books are terrible. If you want to learn Java try out the Head First Java (2nd edition) book. I haven't read it but I do have experience with the Web Component one and that one is well written.
ScatterBrain
March 28th, 2007, 09:50 PM
I've done some PHP, HTML, CSS. Just private or internal things.

I've also written bash scripts, and a couple of perl scripts.

I wish I did more programming, I simply can't seem to find the time. ;-)
annihilus06
April 7th, 2007, 06:56 AM
Python (http://python.org/) and Perl (http://perl.com/) are both opensource programming languages. They are cross platform so that means that you can use them on Windows and Linux. There is also another language that is making headway called Ruby (http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/).

They are all good languages. In my opinion Python is a great one to start with (or even end with).

I actually have recently gained some experience in the Ruby language with an internship I am involved with my school. If you're looking for a good language to learn as a first language, Ruby makes life very easy. This doesnt mean its for beginners only, but it has an easy learning curve.