@Nathraiben

See there was the problem right there... it's the right sock that works best with rocket science. =)

Along the same lines as we were saying before with the HR folks, if I do like C++ and find that I have a knack for it (I already do a fair amount of abstract thinking so I have hope) I'll go after Java as well for the pure fact of 'oooh this one knows java, hire him, yarp'.

I'm glad there have been so many different views on this thread so far, it does help to see why people don't like a language and why others do, as well, why folks prefer one vs another and the like.

Probably the wisest decision of them all. Knowing both of them makes for a good stand with both techies and HRs.

Just remember, if at any given time you're feeling overwhelmed, try one of the easier languages for a change. C++ can be rather frustrating (though if you DO find you have a knack for it, it will make learning Java more easy later).

*goes looking for some right socks*

I think that python is NOT a good language for a beginner. It's not strict enough. And as I can see on N900 it crawls, not flies.
About java: is there a VM for Maemo?

I like C++, because it's powerful and clear. It's the best language for me (I've tried some: pl1, basic, pascal, prolog, java to name a few). In my opinion it hasn't much common with C: OOP in non-OO language looks like a false tooth, see GTK+ API.
It's the only right language for Meego, because it's native for Qt.
And I'm sure that it's better to start with the language you're planning to use in the future without intermediate steps, because in this case you will be acquiring right habit from the start without acquiring wrong one first.

Here you go:

ASWING
http://www.aswing.org/
This is Equivalent of Swing if you are familiar with this. You don't have to rely on ugly heavy Flex components.

FlashDevelop
http://www.flashdevelop.org/wikidocs...itle=Main_Page
Very powerful tool to write/compile,debug your flash stuff. All of features like code completion, documentation creator and many many others You can also start programming in HaXe using this tool. Also you can develop in PHP, Java using this.

FlexSDK
http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/dis...ownload+Flex+4
Go there and select the OpenSource distribution of FlexSDK.
The version 4.1.0.16076 is Flash 10.1 enabled.

In Flash Develop set your path to downloaded SDK and you are ready to go. If you want to start coding using Pure AS3 to avoid flex components just select start->new Project-> AS3. Flash develop will generate project structure and first class body with entry point.

write trace("Hello World") and hit F5.

Now you can show your middle finger to CS5 Since you can enjoy this stuff you can use donate button to support those guys who made this all possible for free

And once again if you are to lazy to do so
http://wonderfl.net/ and you are ready to go

Some nice examples
http://wonderfl.net/c/q4Pa

or Ant Game
http://flash-games.wonderfl.net/blog/2010/06/ants.html

I'm a software development student and what the school basically teaches me are theories and fundamentals of programming.

Programming languages aren't the primary focus because they are aware of the internet and books where we can learn those languages from.

They teach fundamentals, business (preparation for work) principles like accounting, communication and design analysis as well as OOP, Structured Programming, and other styles of programming.

This technique gives students a starting point on developing their own style and field they want to pursue be it game, business, database, or web development. They teach a person how things work, and the person develops his/her own path(in this case, which language to learn).

I personally like how they design the curriculum and I will be excited to graduate.

Each programming language has a use that may be different from the rest, each language is efficient on different CPUs and OSs. So what I do is learn 2 at a time and compare how each work.

Try: C(low level) >> C++(low level++) >> Java(high level) >> C#(yeah, a microsoft thing)..


machine code: 1000 01100100 011001011101 001011100100

Qt is separate story. With Java and Python people get a rich set of libraries defined and shipped in close relation with the language. A clean stdlib C++ compared to them is, well, simply raw by modern standards. Qt is slowly getting to the point where it becomes an environment for C++, even a sort-of language extension and not just a generic set of libraries. Honestly, I'm even tempted to say that (with a stretch ) doing C++ with Qt is getting as far from C++ as C++ got further from C. Yeah, it's (mostly) backwards compatible with plain C++ and C, but with stuff like the various smart pointers, foreach(), QObject trickery, embeddable ECMA and whatnot it simply does not feel right calling it simply C++ with some libs.

I would say start with a language that is most suited to the kinds of tasks you need to perform. If you are an IT guy, you probably are not coding detailed web apps or user interfaces...you probably have some tasks that you can make your life easier with some programming. If that's the case, I would consider the following:

If you are using *nix servers then you might do well with bash scripting, which is pretty much universally available (ksh scripting might be even more available). I find it to be arcane and difficult to debug/use, but if you are writing scripts to do stuff (e.g. tar up a bunch of files and copy them off somewhere else and pop off an email notification) it is what you are stuck with.

Python may be an option for some of the above. It is definitely available on Linux boxes, but not necessarily on unix or aix. It can be installed easily on windows boxes also, and it gives you a more universal way to do some of the things an admin might need to do, along with the ability to ease into using functions, classes, and external packages to help with your work.

Perl sucks. I want to like it given its history and ubiquity, but I don't think I would touch it over Python, bash, or even PHP.

PHP makes it really easy to create web pages...you can just throw one up in a quickly configured apache server (which any IT person worth his/her salt should know how to manage and secure) and deliver some web pages. You can't create python-based web pages as easily as php based pages, though there are many ways to do it if you prefer. But if you want to dive into a web framework, Django is very nice--but you should learn more python before diving into that.

Java, while a great and well supported language, is probably not as useful for an IT guy. The degree to which it abstracts you from the underlying system is great for building apps, but not so good for the kind of stuff that an IT guy probably needs to do maintaining systems. And you will spend more time setting up your package structure and classpaths than just getting started.

The long and short of all this is that you should pick some real and simple tasks that you have to perform, then try to program them. Write it in shell script, then see if you can do it better in python. Then see if you can make it work even better (in other words, "refactor" it). Only through solving some real problems will you understand how things work differently and why. I think python is the best bet for that approach (you can just fire it off and get moving without futzing with compilers and make files and IDE's).

Another suggestion is to start doing the puzzles at http://projecteuler.net/ Even if they don't help you program, they will warm up your brain in ways you didn't even know you could use it since you were figuring out whose was the best person's test to cheat from in your 7th grade geometry class.