On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:44 PM, James McKenzie <jjmckenzie51@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > +1 > > I learned to program in HP BASIC, COBOL and FORTRAN, but 'c' is the way to learn how to program, no 'seat belts'. I have TWO copies of K&Rs book as well as the 'C Puzzle Book'. > I have K&R's book, too, and that's how I learned c, but I already knew PL/I, Fortran, and, of course, Basic. I wouldn't recommend any of those languages for a beginning programmer. I wouldn't recommend c++, either. There are two ways of thinking about referring to "things" in programming. You can refer to memory locations (as in c or Fortran), or you can refer to "objects." Neither way is, in my never humble opinion, perfect or even adequate, but you will be stuck with one or the other (or both at the same time, as in c++) and whoever is trying to teach you whatever language will probably make you just as confused as everyone else appears to be. Not only that, since programming is more about theology than anything else, whoever you ask will be trying to persuade you to join their religious sect. So, far, you have been approached mostly by "c" street evangelists. I've started using Python as a scripting language, and I think it's a better language for the random computer user to know than most others because it can work as a hack and run scripting language or as the basis for more serious programming, but that's my opinion of the moment. If you *do* learn Python, I think the fork into most other languages will be easier. Do **not** begin with c. If you want to deal with machines at that level, learn and use assembly language, which can be a lot of fun and is not encumbered with funky abstractions (other than what the OS forces on you). Robert. -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
