Why Python?
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A friend of mine has started his journey to become a programmer. His class is learning Python, and I mus wonder, Why Python? I want him to have a look at C-like languages in-stead, (for when he's finished with his current course), but he is adamant that his teacher must be correct in saying that Python is what the programmers need today, to be hireable. I am a big fan of C# and PHP, and I see little in Python that makes them comparable, (granted I haven't used much time with Python), But I can't see it even begin to compete with the big ones, (The C-like languages). But am I wrong? The real question is really: are there really any big differences between the top 15 or 20 most popular programming languages? -frank
I think you're overthinking this. What he needs to do first is to learn how to be a good programmer -- the language doesn't matter. If he's an awesome Python programmer, how long will it really take him to pick up C#? Good programmers can learn new languages fairly quickly, especially if they are to use on the job with others who know the language. Also, it not be a bad idea for you to learn Python. For your next personal project, try using Python -- real Python, not Iron Python, and see what you think. In the end, it will make you a better C# programmer. Give yourself one afternoon and watch these two videos: http://youtu.be/tKTZoB2Vjuk[^] and code along with it. You'll know enough to write Python code after that.
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A friend of mine has started his journey to become a programmer. His class is learning Python, and I mus wonder, Why Python? I want him to have a look at C-like languages in-stead, (for when he's finished with his current course), but he is adamant that his teacher must be correct in saying that Python is what the programmers need today, to be hireable. I am a big fan of C# and PHP, and I see little in Python that makes them comparable, (granted I haven't used much time with Python), But I can't see it even begin to compete with the big ones, (The C-like languages). But am I wrong? The real question is really: are there really any big differences between the top 15 or 20 most popular programming languages? -frank
I haven't used Python for long, still I think it's clean and friendly enough to be a good choise to learn programming. Sure I think it may not be the best option when talking about market share, but if you really like programming, you will learn a new language; it has never been a stoper for somebody that really likes programming. And Python will give you a fine setup for everything else. There's also the advantange of knowing a scripting language to do those little or repetitive tasks that sometimes big languages are not the fastest (on development time, at least) options or the best fit. For example, I like Ruby when it's time to process text files. If we are talking about the languages used in "the real world", why has nobody said a word about Java? From my understanding, Java is the most widely used language (if we take apart C/C++ since it is innecesarilly complex nowadays, at least for line of business applications). I'm mainly a C# developer, so I can't say a lot about Java, but I can't deny its importance in the business. What do you think?
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Python is really well structured, especially for a beginner. It's forgiving, multi platform and pretty powerful. I know of a major bank that uses python to do their risk analytics, after doing rather a lot of technology performance comparisons. PHP is a godawful mess, and C# is tightly platform specific. It's a really nice language. Sure, people whine about the whitespace/tab thing. But once you get over it (it takes about 2 hours), it yields a much cleaner block of code. Frankly I'd be using it now if my code base wasn't already in perl. I'd say give it a shot. It'll almost certainly surprise you.
No, CSharp is not platform specific. And CSharp is free, not like Java that is Oracle's property. CSharp is like JavaScript, it's standard by ECMA. Why people think that only because it was created by Microsoft, it is platform specific. This is stupidity. Haskell was created inside Microsoft too. I Also suggest you to learn it.
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A friend of mine has started his journey to become a programmer. His class is learning Python, and I mus wonder, Why Python? I want him to have a look at C-like languages in-stead, (for when he's finished with his current course), but he is adamant that his teacher must be correct in saying that Python is what the programmers need today, to be hireable. I am a big fan of C# and PHP, and I see little in Python that makes them comparable, (granted I haven't used much time with Python), But I can't see it even begin to compete with the big ones, (The C-like languages). But am I wrong? The real question is really: are there really any big differences between the top 15 or 20 most popular programming languages? -frank
Whatever language he choses as his first language is fine, but he must understand that to be hirable he must learn other languages too.
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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No, CSharp is not platform specific. And CSharp is free, not like Java that is Oracle's property. CSharp is like JavaScript, it's standard by ECMA. Why people think that only because it was created by Microsoft, it is platform specific. This is stupidity. Haskell was created inside Microsoft too. I Also suggest you to learn it.
See, this is why I'm so very glad I asked everyone what languages they think I should learn.
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A friend of mine has started his journey to become a programmer. His class is learning Python, and I mus wonder, Why Python? I want him to have a look at C-like languages in-stead, (for when he's finished with his current course), but he is adamant that his teacher must be correct in saying that Python is what the programmers need today, to be hireable. I am a big fan of C# and PHP, and I see little in Python that makes them comparable, (granted I haven't used much time with Python), But I can't see it even begin to compete with the big ones, (The C-like languages). But am I wrong? The real question is really: are there really any big differences between the top 15 or 20 most popular programming languages? -frank
Perhaps the next class is about hardware implementation and everybody uses something like a Raspberry Pi. That's why I'm learning Python.