Should I learn java or C++ first?

[Duke Nukem]

Once you start to get the hang of it it's as easy as ABC 123.

Coding VB.Net for me is like writing a good book these days.

[Runo]

I got my ass kicked from C++ until the day I tried to learn ActionScript 3.0 (Flash programming). I knew a little Basic, and learned it in one week. Learning a procedural language (like AS3 or JavaScript) first is much better imo, because the language is so easy you learn it very quickly and have time to concentrating on the logics, which is basically the same for any language you'll ever see.

Once you got that, It gets much easier. I've been through this in the last two months, and now I'm learning C++ a bit faster.

[NaturalViolence]

My path (not recommending this):
-scripting bullshit and markup languages like html
-visual basic 6.0
-actionscript 3.0
-C++
-java
-C#

I still prefer C++ way above everything else but I just started on C# so we will see how that goes. I'll also be learning SQL soon.

Path I would take if you want to be a USEFUL programmer:
-C/C++ (still the most useful languages in the universe, you'll thank me when you find yourself programming an arduino)
-C#

Path I would take if you want to have an easy time:
-python
-C++
-C#

Path I would take if you're interested in web development and server side scripting:
-javascript
-perl/php

I can't recommend starting with actionscript or VB.net because I honestly see no good use for them. But you haven't really told us what you plan on doing with these languages yet.

[ExtremeDude2]

(12-06-2011, 04:45 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: But you haven't really told us what you plan on doing with these languages yet.

Nothing really, I may make a simple game, but I really just want to learn programming for future use (I'm going to take computer science in college)

[NaturalViolence]

In that case you NEED to learn C/C++ at some point. I don't know why so many people tell newbies to start with something simple and work their way up to c++ because c++ is "too hard to learn as a first language". I didn't think it was that bad personally and felt a bit betrayed by all the horror stories from peers/friends talking about their early experiences with it. If you want to start with something super easy that's still semi-useful give python or perl a try, otherwise go straight into C/C++. Either way you eventually need to have C/C++ under your belt whether you start with it or not. I would advise learning C# once you feel that you have at least a moderate hold over the basic concepts of C/C++.

[ExtremeDude2]

I was thinking of learning python too , and I really appreciate your advise since (in my opinion) you are one of the most knowledgeable people here

[NaturalViolence]

Quote:and I really appreciate your advise since (in my opinion) you are one of the most knowledgeable people here

....wait a sec....was that a compliment?.....on an internet forum?.....on THIS internet forum?......what's that warm feeling in my chest

To be honest I don't consider myself very knowledgeable about this particular subject. I didn't push myself hard enough to learn real programming languages in high school and I ended up regretting that when I got to college and realized that if you want to be a computer science major it's pretty much expected/assumed that you've already done this stuff before. I haven't had enough experience yet to consider myself anything more than a really amateur programmer.

I would recommend that you talk to shuffle/neobrain/billiard/sonic/delroth/anyone else I may have forgotten on IRC if you want an opinion from someone with a lot of experience that really knows what they're doing.

Here is a sampler of your next few months if you decide on c/c++:

Quote:I was thinking of learning python too

Since you seem to be interested in my opinions (and others) I'll give you my opinion on python.

Pros:
-Python could make a good starting language.
-It's easier to learn than C++
-It's faster to develop/debug code than C++.
-It makes some complicated tasks incredibly easy with the standard libraries, this also means easier cross platform support since you're less likely to need to use external libraries
-It works on nearly any system since it's an interpreted scripting language
-Easy integration with other languages

Cons
-It's bloated
-It's slow
-Inferior IDE support
-Reduced maintainability, different developers will find it harder to work with each others code
-Less documentation, external libraries, etc. out there for it
-Terrible for making multithreaded applications, threads serialize on object access
-Lack of braces, indentation system, no types, no semicolons to end lines

That last problem is my big personal problem with it. It just doesn't look/feel like a real programming language. Look at C/C++/Java/C#/etc. Most programming languages share certain common rules/syntax/structure that python just doesn't have. So if you learn python you don't end up learning to use these rules. Once you learn c++ you can very easily make the jump to any other common language since most of them are heavily based off of c++. But with python, well python is just completely different from most languages. For some reason this just bothers me a lot. Another big problem is the fact that while it allows you to quickly make useful small applications (it might take you a day to make an application that would take you 1-2 weeks to make with c++) it doesn't "scale" very well to large projects. The bigger the project gets the harder everything is to maintain, with a big enough project C++ ends up being more productive.

C++ can be pretty fun to use once you get past the first few months of wanting to throw your computer out the nearest window every time something goes wrong.

[DacoTaco]

(12-06-2011, 04:45 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: Path I would take if you want to have an easy time:
-C#
-C/C++

fixed that for ya

[Zee530]

Okay, i'm still kind of confused on which to learn first, can someone give me a hierachy of easiest to hardest

[Garteal]

To ExtremeDude and Zee, read this, which I had posted before.

I agree with NV's view on Python. IMO, you should only use it as a 'side-language' beside your main language C# or C++.