Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Someone help me choose which to learn first, can't and lost

Someone help me choose which to learn first, can't and lost

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
pythonphphtmlcsshelp
45 Posts 28 Posters 10 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • S sammygirl

    Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

    Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
    Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
    Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
    wrote on last edited by
    #4

    When you are reading articles about the 'best' programming language to start with, you are about to get a list of popular-easy-to-learn-but-not-really-powerful languages... But in truth the best language should be one that influenced them and has the complexity that will demand the use of your brain and will teach you ideas, that true for all languages... Only that way you will be able to move on to almost any language you may will have to use... To anyone serious I would tell to go for C, otherwise turn the dice and pick you number... (And 3 is not programming language, but a UI/UX language)

    "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge". Stephen Hawking, 1942- 2018

    "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • S sammygirl

      Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #5

      For a complete beginner? As the others said, I wouldn't suggest any of those. Peter's suggestion of C is a good one, but ... it's an old language and suffers from a lot of problems as a result, particularly if you don't know what you are doing. Because it is pointer based and doesn't use strong typing, it's very, very easy to make big mistakes without knowing and have them not show up as bugs until a lot later. Instead, I'd suggest C# - the language itself is pretty simple (though it's getting more complicated with each revision) and it's also very powerful. It's reference based and garbage collected which means that most of the problems with C have been designed out. It'll take a while to learn properly (because the .NET framework on which it depends is very large) but once learned it can be used to write websites, desktop app,s mobile apps, ... and it's a very popular language in the job market. All the tools you need to develop apps is available free from Microsoft as well - Google for Visual Studio Community Edition Download and you'll find it. And there are loads of books and courses on the language as well, mostly starting from the "complete beginner" level.

      Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • S sammygirl

        Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

        M Offline
        M Offline
        Mycroft Holmes
        wrote on last edited by
        #6

        None of the above - as OG said go with c#. However

        sammygirl wrote:

        I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life

        that seems to indicate you are not interested in LOB but some more esoteric area of computing. I suggest you define you goals more completely and then choose the tool appropriate to that path.

        Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • S sammygirl

          Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

          L Offline
          L Offline
          Lost User
          wrote on last edited by
          #7

          Another vote for C# here. You want this book[^]. Next, you want to download the free community edition of Visual Studio, so you can try the examples for yourself. Don't download examples to run them - copy them from the book and type each line.

          sammygirl wrote:

          I want to see creations come to life.

          You'll need to invest some time in learning the basics, which may be tedious at points. It is well worth it though :thumbsup:

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • S sammygirl

            Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

            G Offline
            G Offline
            GuyThiebaut
            wrote on last edited by
            #8

            sammygirl wrote:

            which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use?

            Nowadays developers are expected to know several languages so there really is no one language that you will jsu be able to settle on. That said As other have recommended - C# is a good starting point. Learning C# will give you a good basis for other languages. I would also say that whichever programming language you learn also learn some form of SQL at the same time. If you have time also familiarise yourself with the Uncle Bob videos on youtube CleanCode Episode 1 - YouTube[^]

            “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

            ― Christopher Hitchens

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • P PIEBALDconsult

              I can't recommend any of those.

              realJSOPR Online
              realJSOPR Online
              realJSOP
              wrote on last edited by
              #9

              Werd.

              ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
              -----
              You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
              -----
              When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • S sammygirl

                Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                realJSOPR Online
                realJSOPR Online
                realJSOP
                wrote on last edited by
                #10

                I recommend that ALL programmers learn Assembly language first, followed by C, and then branching out o the "simple" languages.

                ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                -----
                You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                -----
                When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                L A 2 Replies Last reply
                0
                • realJSOPR realJSOP

                  I recommend that ALL programmers learn Assembly language first, followed by C, and then branching out o the "simple" languages.

                  ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #11

                  Sure, and write your own microkernel to load it while you're at it :)

                  Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

                  M 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • S sammygirl

                    Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                    R Offline
                    R Offline
                    Ravi Bhavnani
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #12

                    Please see this answer:

                    • Ravi Bhavnani's answer to I want to start learning how to code. Where should I start? What do I need? - Quora[^]

                    /ravi

                    My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

                    G 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • S sammygirl

                      Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                      M Offline
                      M Offline
                      Manfred Rudolf Bihy
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #13

                      The best way to begin a career in programming is to train your brain. One of the best books I read and worked through towards that goal was Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. The language Scheme[^] isn't the most important part here, but rather learning how to use that grey matter in your noggin to solve problems.

                      "I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability!"

                      Ron White, Comedian

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • S sammygirl

                        Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                        J Offline
                        J Offline
                        Joe Woodbury
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #14

                        Start with Visual Studio Community Edition and C++ in a procedural way--that is, without objects.

                        K K 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • S sammygirl

                          Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          David Crow
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #15

                          A programming language is just a tool. Learn how to problem-solve first, then pick up the tool best suited for the problem. Universities these days are teaching how to solve problems by learning a programming language. Using that mindset, once the problem changes, the student is lost.

                          "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson

                          "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

                          "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • R Ravi Bhavnani

                            Please see this answer:

                            • Ravi Bhavnani's answer to I want to start learning how to code. Where should I start? What do I need? - Quora[^]

                            /ravi

                            My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

                            G Offline
                            G Offline
                            GuyThiebaut
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #16

                            That's a really good list and summary of what we need to know as software developers - I still have a way to go on some of them :)

                            “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

                            ― Christopher Hitchens

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • S sammygirl

                              Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                              J Offline
                              J Offline
                              jsc42
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #17

                              sammygirl wrote:

                              4.Javaschript

                              Definitely the one to go for. You would be a world expert in no time. No one else has even heard of this language! Whatever you do, do not confuse it with JavaScript.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • S sammygirl

                                Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                                K Offline
                                K Offline
                                Kirill Illenseer
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #18

                                Hands down Python. JavaScript is ubiqitous, but let's say, it wasn't designed, it evolved. And it shows. Same goes for PHP. HTML/CSS isn't programming, it's markup. Python is in high demand, it's (mostly) well-structured and it tends to be recommended as a beginner's/learner's language a lot.

                                K 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • S sammygirl

                                  Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  maze3
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #19

                                  Examples of what you want to do goes a long way to help with suggestions.

                                  sammygirl wrote:

                                  see creations come to life

                                  You could write the game of life John Conway's Game of Life[^] in language. Some you might spend more time on getting the visuals to work, and others may be the reverse where visuals take a short time, but the code behind is more tricky. If you like things like this Draggable | jQuery UI[^] and want to make a picture puzzle - HTML + Javascript - you can skip the "hardcore" css for inline styling on first pass. - 2-3 days (10 hours) on the middle amount of time to do something. - then 2+ years of adding features to cloud save, different sized pieces, cross platform support, fixing that weird bug your number one user keeps getting but you cant replicate. Customizable colour schemes, individual user styles, performance inprovements, ai helper, machine learning auto solver, color bind support, other alternative usability support, rewritting it from scratch.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • S sammygirl

                                    Where would you recommend a beginner to start in programming? I do have a brief understanding of these languages but need help choosing which is the most skillful and practical in the real world to learn and put to use? I want to do something related solving, building, not just dealing with data. I want to see creations come to life. 1.Python 2.Php 3.HTML/CSS 4.Javaschript Which shall I choose?

                                    K Offline
                                    K Offline
                                    KBZX5000
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #20

                                    Can't you just do C# in Visual Studio Code like a normal beginner? If you can figure out how to set up Visual Studio Code to compile, run, and debug your code, you will have gained a valuable real-world practical skill. If you get started with .NET Core 2.1 today (= the thing that runs your C# code) you'll be somewhat good at it when they reach version 3. Version 3 will introduce a bunch of UI stuff. If you time it right, you can get on that gravy train when it starts chugging. If I have to pick something from that list, do Python. But don't get bamboozled: starting with python is really easy, but it takes forever to get good at it. C# is harder to pick up, but you get good at it much faster. Also, number 2 is a raging dumpster-fire, number 3 ian't a damn programming language, and number 4 is spelled wrong. But those are just details you can safely ignore for now. We all have to start somewhere.

                                    J 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • J Joe Woodbury

                                      Start with Visual Studio Community Edition and C++ in a procedural way--that is, without objects.

                                      K Offline
                                      K Offline
                                      KBZX5000
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #21

                                      Easy there.. that's decent learning. People stopped doing that a while ago. I don't think people have the patience for C++ anymore. At least not as a first language. I still remember trying to figure out pointers when I was 12. Good times. First time I ever yelled at a computer screen, a book, and cursed the gods.

                                      J K 2 Replies Last reply
                                      0
                                      • J Joe Woodbury

                                        Start with Visual Studio Community Edition and C++ in a procedural way--that is, without objects.

                                        K Offline
                                        K Offline
                                        kalberts
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #22

                                        OO and OO are different things. I believe that simple use of OO is great for a beginner. The problems come when some code wizard comes to show all the superfancy ways you can use the most intricate details of advanced OO to do things that only code wizards will understand :-) I was coding C++ for a number of years, before taking over a couple of C# projects. Then, after a few years, I picked up one of my old hobby C++ projects, and got terribly frustrated: I had completely forgotten about all those messy details, having nothing to do with solving the problem, but with initialization / setup, heap management and lots of other stuff. I felt as if I had to search through an intertwingled mess of really not relevant code details to find the real problem solution parts. So my vote goes for C# rather than C++. It also gives you basic OO "for free"; there is no way to do C# without objects - but it doesn't have the cost that it does in C++. I'd also say that Visual Studio support for C# is better than for C++, but that is partially because the language (read: the lack of explicit pointer handling) makes it easier to provide better support. In one respect I fully agree with you: Especially for a beginner, a compiled language is essential. Then entire program code must be syntactically checked (and as far as possible, semantically checked) before any execution - that is a great help for a beginner. And the continous syntax checking while editing, done by VS, is a great help to reduce the compilation errors. So, thumbs up for compiled, strictly typed languages.

                                        J 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • K Kirill Illenseer

                                          Hands down Python. JavaScript is ubiqitous, but let's say, it wasn't designed, it evolved. And it shows. Same goes for PHP. HTML/CSS isn't programming, it's markup. Python is in high demand, it's (mostly) well-structured and it tends to be recommended as a beginner's/learner's language a lot.

                                          K Offline
                                          K Offline
                                          kalberts
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #23

                                          I don't know of very many designed languages - and those I know of, has more or less flopped. Now, I don't mind that Ada flopped; it was a mastadont both conceptually and implementation-wise. APL is so curious that you never could expect it to succeed (but it wa fun to play with :-)) But I miss CHILL... A really well-designed language: Lightweight, yet with all the facilities for multi-threaded programming designed into the language. Clean exception handling. A type ("mode") system that beats almost any other language. Some details of the flow control structures that makes it great. Syntax is very well suited for catching errors, even semantic ones. Especially considering that the first version was standardized as early as 1980 makes it a remarkable language. There are other designed languages as well, but the vast majority are evolved languages. Some, like Python, may not have done all the evolution steps by themselves but adopted large parts of their syntax from its predecessors, which have been through a significant evolution. It is not like the designers brought up a pile of blank sheets, agreeing "Let's do it right from the very beginning, this time!" - more like adding and removing features from an old language so much that it ends up as a "new" language.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups