[2004] Which programming language should I learn?

for website developement PHP is a good choice.....

 

I learned PHP before I looked into C++ and my PHP knowledge helped me a lot, and like is said above me , if your going for web dev, go PHP.

 

I never understood why colleges taught Java/.NET before C. C contains the fundamentals of programming.. functions, variables, logical structures.. Java contains high-end application models that contain thousands of the low end operations. One has to crawl before they walk.

I say.. learn x86 assembly first! (joking.)

 

Why not... I know some guys who started with assembly and had no trouble getting off the ground. Assembly isn't dificult. It is just that it will take you more time to do things. The experience and knowledge you get from learning assembly is priceless, even if you don't use it ever again.

Programming languages that you should learn in your lifetime just for the sake of learning: Assembly, C, Scheme, Haskell, Smalltalk, Prolog.

 

I started with Assembler on a very old IBM machine. Then jumped all over roughly speaking in this order:

Assembler
Fortran
Assembler on a different machine
MAD
COBOL
Basic
Assembler on the current IBM mainframe
PL/1
Assembler on DEC PDP-8
Algol
Assembler on a Burroughs machine
SPITBOL/SNOBOL
DEC PDP-11 Assembler
CICS
Basic - special version on an HP graphics Computer
Z80 Assembler
C
6502 Assembler
dBase
PL/8
FoxPro
Clarion
C++
Access
Gupta SQL/Windows
Visual Basic
Perl
PHP

There were two languages I started to learn, but just could not get into them - Lisp and Prolog.

The problem with starting with PHP is that I think it leads to sloppiness with other programming. On the other hand C++ can lead to overly complex programs, when the the programmer gets too fancy. I've seen expert C++ programmers argue for hours about what one line of programming actaully does. Supposedly Java is better, just have not got around to using it yet.

No one language is the best for a job, some are good for quick and dirty solutions but lousy for production, some are good for single client dekstop but not for client/server, etc.

I use whatever is best - so I have one website that uses Perl/PHP/Visual Foxpro/Clarion and mySQL. PHP and mySQL do the website in realtime, the rest do overnight processing to create the update files for mySQL.

 

Finally mac! Someone to end the "which language is better" endless debate, it always depends on the type of job. It also depends who's paying how much to write what language , I've sold out on a couple ASP projects when ASP was clearly thewrong choice for the job -- but as a contractor, they're the ones having to deal with it later, I just collect my payment

And actually, as far as Java being better.. Sadly, I'm going to have to agree with most developers that the .NET framework is actually better than Java at the moment. In production apps I've noticed roughly the same speed between the two (both are slow, of course.)

C/ASM can be an incredible resource even for web applications.. say you involve encryption algorithms in the server-side processing (hypotheticalliy speaking), why not write a C/CGI module that calls assembly code to do the math? Seems the best option to me if you want to make efficient use of server resources.

 

Yeah, I got carried away <blush>

 

Heh. Thanks. Blame the beer. :-/ I get caught up in religious debates like this.

People get so excited about "Use *my* language" "No, *x* is so much better than *y*"!!!

They're all just tools. I wanted to toss out an evaluation about frames of mind behind using those tools.

 

I hear ya. It's definitely a religious debate, and there's really no way to end the debate.. I'd rather be busy producing actual software/web apps than spend TOO much time arguing moot points

I know what you mean about the beer too. Sweet nectar of hops, how I love thee.

 

In case I didn't make this clear enough in my last post. Complete and total B.S.

C++ is a *great* programming language. It's *not* the "best to learn."

It will teach you a lot about computer hardware. If you pay attention, you'll learn more than you did just programming C.

Both languages are worth knowing. Use higher level languages as long as you can.

You have this completely and totally wrong. C++ is based on Algol. Most HLL are also based on Algol. This does not mean that, for example, PHP is based on C++.

PHP bears very little resemblance to C++, except for their Algol fore-fathers. Yes, they look mostly the same. If one knows C++, it's laughable to learn PHP. This is a far cry from what you seem to be claiming.

Now you're contradicting yourself. First, they were all the same. Now they're all different.

FUD.

.NET might be the wave of the future. If people are mindless enough to follow MS' imperative: Use .NET or else!

Write your app in whatever programming language works for you. CGI is simple. REST. Really. REST. All this, um, nonsense about SOAP, .NET, etc? FUD.

Mr. Gates is waving a sign saying "Pay No Attention to the Man Behind The Curtain." Just Say No.

>

Yes, it is. The question to ask is "Why?"

Well, actually, it's not. MFC (which uses a subset of C++) is the dominating desktop language.

Why? (I'll reserve my opinions for a later post).

Personally, I think this is a huge mistake. I liked PHP as a sleek little scripting language I could slip into the midst of some web page.

If it's big and nasty enough to get into OOP? I might as well look into something serious, like Plone. But that's just me.

C++ is a difficult language to grasp. Period.

PHP *is* a better option if you want to experiment with Web 2.0. Unless you're a person who enjoys playing with minutiae concerning the latest state of your cpu's L1 cache. (Yes, I confess, this fascinates me).

This *is* a religious debate. This debate rolls on. Maybe I'm feeding the Trolls by being stupid enough to respond.

Learn how to program. I recomended some languages in some other post. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Learn how to program in some language. They all mostly boil down to the same thing. Choose a HLL like python, get stuff done. Choose a LLL like Java, waste a lot of time writing cruft. Whatever.

If you want to program, learn a programming language. Then come back and argue about important things like vim vs. emacs.

 

If you know c++ then you know PHP....unfortunately if you know c++ you don't necessarily know how to make php look good which is my problem at mo, wrecking my tits it is.

 

Hey guys, as the starter of this thread, I had specific uses I mentioned and I think PHP was the best answer for those uses. I like the arguements for all the different languages presented and I don't think I'm the only one who appreciates the information.

I believe that learning c++ would cover many aspects, and would prepare you for other languages, but learning just php is probably what I will be doing since it will be specific for our sites and seems to be strong in popularity and uses.

I bet that if I wanted to learn c++ after that, it will be a little easier, since I will have more understanding already due to php.

Personally I think I will stay away from microsoft items, unless I planned on being some sort of microsoft professional, then the pay is probably pretty good once certified.

 

perl is the bets choice for webmaster

 

Would you take advice from a betting man?

 

Except for the fact that Java is not easy to learn without guidance (and requires an IDE and other web development tools installed to learn web dev), I'd definitely recommend going that route. It's *very* powerful, will teach you object oriented aspects that you can then apply to a less strict PHP, etc and is easier to learn than C/C++. Most Java programmers use various frameworks and libraries which encourages modular code, re-use and ease of maintenance.

Plus, these days Java seems to have the best market (or one of them) of all programming languages.

 

hi old fella like me!!!

I did Assembler Fortran and PL1 on an IBM 360/30!!!

Got pissed off with the game and stopped

Came back when the internet got interesting

So I've watched this thread with interest and although I *do* php [and of course html] I do not know it yet ... but I will, and then I think I will learn Java

Fascinating thread and thanks everybody for the comments

 

I'll add Lisp to that list. Although all the warnings about it spoiling you are true. I'm just in the middle of learning it, and I already look at programs in other languages and start mentally whining about all the extra, repititious crap I have to type.

It's kind of pathetic, really.

 

Either C or Java - the rest fall into place without much effort

 

You can do everything PHP can do with JSP if you are going down the Java route.

It's a better "enterprise class" language to learn as it's used in many of the big database technologies, and can also be used on the desktop and in wireless devices (most recent Nokia phones for example).

Java scales up very, very well to high bandwidth websites, as Servlets load once and run over and over again.

Guess what we write?

 

If people say about PHP, just dont listen. Bet on Ruby on Rails. Why? Because it has many built-in processes and many features for which you find difficulty in applying when using PHP. On the database side, try MySQL or Oracle.