Whats a good prog. lang?

goasakawa

Im pretty balanced with my cert/experience levels and once I finish off my CCNA class (as i do the mcsa on weekends ) I am wondering what are some good program languages to pick up.

Im looking into something that is pretty much a standard or at least in demand that wont take a googl-ilian years to master. It can be application specific (i.e.,lotus/domingo apps) or good ole coding (i.e., C+, Visual Basic, etc...)

I welcome your suggestions as I am looking to increase my marketability. Thanky! [/i]

mikey_b

I found SQL to be very easy to learn, and it's a skill that can be ported to pretty much any relational database management system. It also paves the way for SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Informix, Sybase, and other RDBMS, which leverages server administration skills.

schwarztrader

This is a very good question indeed as I too have asked myself this question every once in a while. I started to learn Basic, C+ and have dabbled in VB6. But now that I have a little time under my belt I have noticed a good surge in the Java language as most enterprise apps are composed from it.

Just my two cents.

erwin f fletcher

VB.Net is a good one to pick up along with the other object oriented languages...........

goasakawa

Thank you all for the good responses. But I have yet another questions.... what the heck is all this .NET ASP whatever stuff?

And if you had to choose learning SQL versus Java, what would you choose. A coworker let me borrow both sql and java books from him.

Thanks

/usr

It ultimately depends on what you want to do. SQL and Java are two completely different things.

My advice, if you're just now starting out, would be to learn VB.NET. My reasoning behind this is as follows. If you start off with an object oriented language, you're going to be able to carry that knowledge over to other object oriented languages, such as Java, thus you will be learning the basics of other languages at the same time.
Furthermore, if you begin programming in VB, you'll be able to program in MS Office apps using VBA.

By the way, you'll be able to incorporate SQL into your VB programs. Most VB books have at least one section on writing SQL queries, manipulating recordsets, etc.

Like I said, it just depends on what you're interests are.

JDMurray

As a person who has been writing software for the past 22 years, here's my $0.02US worth:

Know what kind of programs you want to write before choosing a language. Not every language is suited or every kind of task. SQL is for writing database queries, not GUIs. Perl and Ruby are good for text processing, but not computer graphics. C and C++ are good for both low- and high-level programs, but not for writing web client/server scripts, etc. If you want to work on newer programs then learn newer languages. Java, C#, and VB.NET are the "hot" languages that most new programs are written in. If you become a C/C++, Visual Basic, or Cobol programmer, you may very well end up working on legacy programs simply to maintain them (e.g., bug fixes, adding simple features). There are many highly specialized programming languages. For example, ASP and ASP.NET are for moving data between web clients and servers. VBScript and ECMAScript (formerly known as JavaScript) are used for writing programs that run only inside of web browsers. VBA (the language implemented by Visual Basic) is used as a macro language in many programs, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Visio. Lingo is a language used to write Shockwave movies. If learning/using Object Oriented Design (OOD) is important to you, then pick an Object Oriented Language (OOL). Java and the .NET languages are OOLs. C++ is technically an OOL, but its OO features were retrofitted into ANSI C, and it's typically harder to learn an an OOL that was designed properly from the ground up (IMHO). Some language have OO features, but they are not true OOLs (most notably, Visual Basic 6). Also, when picking your first OOL, choose a common and useful one, like Java or C#, not a rare and exotic one, like Eiffel, Ruby, or Smalltalk. There are many exotic, rare languages which are very interesting to learn, but they won't land you a job unless you are a proven expert in using them to produce useful programs. Such languages include Ruby, Python, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Oberon, ML, LISP, Scheme. Many of these languages rarely see practical use outside of a university. Be aware of what operating system that a language is commonly used on. For example, if you want to write programs that run on UNIX/Linux or the Mac, you should not choose to learn a Windows-only programming language, such as Visual Basic or any of the .NET languages. Just because a language may run on many different operating systems does not mean that the programs you write using the language will likewise run on many different OSes. For example, you can write programs in C/C++ on many different OSes, but a C/C++ program written for Windows will not automatically run under UNIX/Linux (and visa versa) unless you specifically design and code it to do so. Languages like Java and Perl are specifically designed to be OS-independent, but the more complex a program is the less likely it is to be 100% portable without writing some OS-dependant (or runtime engine-dependant) code.

As you can see, choosing one from among the hundreds of programmings languages to learn can be a very difficult decision. What you need to realize is that there is no such thing as learning a programming language quickly. Just like learning any subject in school, learning a programming language requires constant practice and devotion to what you are doing.

Plantwiz

Excellent post JD!!!

I learned a bunch from that one

TeKniques

I agree, thank you JDMurray for a wonderful informative post.

This is an excellent topic. I would have to say that Object Oriented languages would be the ones to focus on. Which one would depend on the company you work for and your ambitions.

My favorite is Java, because I feel the most comfortable with it. I also like scripting languages (PHP, JavaScript), but these aren't considered actual programming languages.

If I had to choose which language to learn, I would definitely go with the OOL ones. Good luck to you.

JDMurray

TeKniques wrote:

I also like scripting languages (PHP, JavaScript), but these aren't considered actual programming languages.

PHP and JavaScript are examples of "highly specialized programming languages." In other words, they are only used to write very specific types of programs. In the case of PHP and JavaScript, they are used for Web client and/or server programming.

A good explanation of that a programming language is can be found in the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language.

The Wikipedia also has a nice history of programming languages here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_programming_languages.

2lazybutsmart

Nice topic . It's always remained a question, though, where exactly we should draw the line between simplicity and robustness. There are some C programmers out there who'll do wonders with their TurboC editor; yet, out in the open, what a VB programmer would do in a few clicks might take them weeks if not months.

So should we brag about "how tough writing a program in language x is" or "how fast you can develop a program in language x" ?

I think the answer lies in the nature of your work. Are you writing code because it's your hobby? Are you a developer in an enterprise setup? Do you want to write bug-free programs or scalable, multi-platform programs?, etc.etc…

Whatever your situation, I think learning the following programming languages for the stated reasons is a good choice:

1- C --> to build your logical or analytical capabilities that help you develop complex control and loop structures.
2- Java --> to build your OOP skills
3- VB.net --> to build your GUI skills, your client/server platform skills, and to expand on your OOP skills (because VB.net is now a fully-fledged OOP language).

As /usr stated in the first post, you can see that VB.net kinda puts all the things together for you in a box. Some people say C sharp does that magic… but most people just run away from that language because it starts with "C" (Shoulda been VB sharp eh so that it gets more audience) .

2lbs.

JDMurray

I found a blurb on digg.com about a large collection of "Hello World" programs. If you wonder what practically any programming language looks like, have a browse through this fun page: http://www.roesler-ac.de/wolfram/hello.htm.