On Fri, 1 Jun 2001, Romain Lerallut wrote: > Usually, you choose a language depending on what you want done. YMMV. > > If you want to learn a bit about computer languages > *in general* you may want to: > > 1) start with interpreted languages, such as Perl. ( not Python which is strongly object-oriented). It's easy to create a proglet that is useful , and very satisfying.
This would be a mistake. Perl code can be hard to read and the language itself is biased towards text processing (Practical Extracting and Reporting Language; Python is a general purpose language with clear syntax and semantics, just what a beginner needs. > 2a) then learn about object-oriented languages (Java, Python). I would advise *against* starting with an OO language, since it *might* be harder to come back to > non-OO languages. Python does not require you to use obviously OO techniques (classes, etc.) for everything, you can write in pretty much any style you like. > *OR* > > 2b) then learn about compiled languages such as C. C is harder to program than interpreted languages, mostly because of memory management issues, but it is also IMHO very elegantly written. > It has a lot of balance in its conception. You can understand more of the internals with C than with Java. > *After* being decently fluent in C, you may want to learn C++ or others. Though I like C better for its simplicity and elegance. Sure, if you want to learn about computer internals also (hard to get away from that with a low level language like C)... I think it is the best way to start. Steep learning curve, though. - Bruce
