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  1. #1
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    Starter

    Hi im just starting into programming. and im going to be installing Linux at Home, (redhat) but also doing it at school in my computer class (windows xp)

    Wondering if Java is actually better to start with then C,

    also ive learned python which i know is related to C

    The reason im posting is this is, i would think its better to start with C becasue java codes and C codes are not alike. and some of my friends said C would be better.

    I have a C/C++/C# Bible at my house which im also i might bring to school.

    Wondering also good compiler for the windows computer to tell my Teacher.

    Thx

  2. #2
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    The most important part of programming is to understand the actual process of breaking a problem up into smaller part that can be easily solved. This doesn't change with what the language is.

    It may matter what the language is for EXACTLY how you go about solving the small pieces that you've broken it into, and how small the pieces become before you can easily solve them - but the overall process is certainly no different if you program in Cobol, C, C++, Java, Python, Lisp or Prolog.

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    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

  3. #3
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    ok thanks that sounds good, but ive heard from a few people that C isnt the greatest language to start with so thats why im kinda confused if i should or not.

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    C and the relatively close C++ are the two biggest commercial languages, although lots of companies also use Java and C#. Whilst it's possible to learn C++ from scratch, if you ever need to understand the base-level of C++, you need to understand C.

    Java is a different language, C# is more similar to Java than C++.

    But my point is that the language you learn is less important than the principle of programming. Far too many peopel concentrate on the language, rather than "how to solve the problems". Picking up a new language should be relatively fast, comparatively. Of course, there is a difference between "knowing enough of a language to order beer, and being able to discuss politics with a native" - the same applies to computer languages. There are simple concepts that anyone who knows a couple of programming languages will be able to relate to fairly quickly. Then there are the special ways of how you do things in that particular language, etc. etc.


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    Mats
    Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

  5. #5
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    Moving to GD. This isn't actually about Linux programming.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  6. #6
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    > I have a C/C++/C# Bible at my house which im also i might bring to school.
    That's like an engineering student having one book to describe jet fighters, oil tankers and sky scrapers.

    Get 3 specific books which describe each language properly. Not 3000 page doorstops which generally seem to make a mess of such things.
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

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