HondaCop

Hello, I am a new guy who is trying to get started on Programming, but I am having a hard time deciding on what language to learn.

I don't have much programming experience, other than some simple knowledge of PHP and MySQL.

What language should I start off with? Visual Basic? C++? C#?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

DaWei

I recommend Python.

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Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

HondaCop

Thanks for your reply, DaWei.

So with Python, I can develop an application that will interact with say Microsoft's Flight Simulator? In other words, Python does the same thing as VB or C# does?

Grich

Of course. You can program anything you want with a language (you would be limited by what you know of course). Interacting with Flight Sim would be a challenge of course. If you want a language to do something simular to VB for example with a Graphical User Interface. You would need a library with Graphical User Interface tools. Go to the python website and do some intense researching into the matter. Learning a language is the best part of programming.

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HondaCop

Thanks for your response. The reason why I mentioned C#, is because from what I have read, C#'s syntax is very similar to PHP's syntax, and that would be a big plus for me. How is Python's syntax?

In order to interact with the Flight Sim, there is a program named FSUIPC, which is a module that allows external programs to interact with the Flight Sim. The author of FSUIPC has released SDKs for VB, C#, Java, Delphi and MFC. Personally, I want to learn one of these, since SDKs are already available for what I want to do.

How do you guys feel about C#?

titaniumdecoy

You will most likely find it easiest to interact with Microsoft software with a Microsoft language (eg, VB/C#/MFC).

Grich

That's how I started actually.

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Grich

C# is fine. Personally, the language doesn't make the programmer, it's what you can do with the knowledge a programmer has.
Python Syntax is easy, I personnally believe it is (it is debatable) inbetween javascript and vb.
JAVA is good. Not many purest programmers like it (I use it to annoy them), I personally would recommend VB and / or python for beginners.

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lectricpharaoh

I quite like C# myself, but the choice of language is really of secondary importance; the important thing is that you have problem-solving skills. If you do, the language doesn't matter. Unless you're using some language with poor support and/or syntax that really limits what you can express (esoteric 'novelty' languages and new languages still in development are the most common cases), you can do a job in that language. Some languages just make it easier than others.

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Jabo

Or, if you're career minded, find out what language(s) a company's programs are written in, and concentrate on learning that.