How many programming languages do you speak?

johniscool · Post by **johniscool** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:54 pm

If you are into RoR, get "Learn to Program" by Chris Pine. You'll be programming in Ruby in no time. Its the only learn to program book that doesn't suck or waste your time. Then get "Beginning Ruby on Rails" by Steve Holzner. It's more than a tutorial cause it explains the why/how aspect.

You can do online tutorials if you understand the fundimentals of programming, but if you are totally green to the subjet, get those books.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:42 pm

nylarch wrote:i.e. RoR is still working out some scaling issues.

Some would say that it is trying to fix the public perception that it has scaling issues...

As for Flash, I say don't learn it. Become a conscientious objector! Save the web~!

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:28 am

I currently work as a web developer, use php, c# and ruby on rails. Ruby wins hands down for web development imo.

Also know Java and C. C was my first language.

nonnus · Post by **nonnus** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:52 am

+1 for ActionScript 3 !!!!

it is the bomb !
it should start to be used as a programming teaching tool

after programming for 20 years, basic, pascal, cobol, assembler, lisp, c, c+, c++, c# and so on, giving up on university programing mainly because the of the lack of graphic support 10 years ago

i´ve used flash since v3 and followed as1, as2, and as3 development, first as just a simple scripting tool (stop, play get url, in the beginining there even weren´t variables !) after that i became something like basic, to then beome something like c

now in as3 it is just like any other top language, only it also has a very developed integrated graphic development ambient (for the less graphical people they have adobe air and flex, just the programming ambient sans the flash ide)

but beware, as3 or other serious object oriented languages are not easy to grasp for a beginner programmer as they usually don´t have a simple logical flow, instead they build up on different elements and functions (objects and methods) that are left communicationg and interacting with each other, not to mention that ususally most of their power is derived from libraries that need to be imported as needed, requiring some permanent dedication to studying the different libraries and what they usefull to, creating new ones for using and implementing in other projects...

regarding documentation, i haven´t bougth a programing book for over 12 years, the net has been and i suppose it will always be the best source for info and docs for developers

nylarch · Post by **nylarch** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:29 pm

+1 for ActionScript 3 !!!!

it is the bomb !
it should start to be used as a programming teaching tool

I think just like AJAX caused people to take JavaScript seriously the RIA movement is going to make people really dig ActionScript. I started getting into Processing but AS3.0 fits the same bill with such a nice creative API to work with (Bitmap processing, animation, etc etc).

stew · Post by **stew** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:59 pm

Learn C++ if you want to work for Ableton

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:29 pm

I am generally rusty in C, C++. Perl, Java, PHP, Basic. My most recently learned language was ChucK.

leather_rhod · Post by **leather_rhod** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:23 am

I want to try and learn as many languages as I can on my own

i wouldn't do that. pick a 'hard core' language and stick to it. there is far more to programming than language syntax - design patterns / API's / methodologies / protocols etc...

if you go through many different languages and just lean the syntax, then you really wont be learning very much.

if your going to be studying java then stick to that and once you've learnt about types / operators / expressions / control flow / objects / interfaces /polymorphism /collections / thread synchronization / reflection etc... (the list is huge and really only amounts to the 'core' language) you will be able to apply that knowledge to any language.

that said web technologies like javscript / xml / xhtml / xml-rpc / soap / css are all pretty much essential to being a java programmer.

after the 'core' language java does get harder though - understanding open source projects plays a big part in this - but theres good reason for these projects and once you understand you'll be able to deal with complexity easily and efficiently.

Java, what are the programs I need to learn it on my own - at the school they use BlueJ and DrJava

most java tools are free right

when I go to Suns web site I don't know which one to download

thanks for your help again

Eclipse in my opinion as all you need to know for java development. but its not exactly for beginners. i used JCreator prior to eclipse.

as for tools from java.sun.com, you only really need the SE SDK. as a beginner i suggest going for version 1.4.2_15

i'd also stay clear of any 'code generators' while learning - things like GUI designers - you really should know what the code does and why to be able to trust what generators produce

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:22 am

leather_rhod wrote:
I want to try and learn as many languages as I can on my own
i wouldn't do that. pick a 'hard core' language and stick to it. there is far more to programming than language syntax - design patterns / API's / methodologies / protocols etc...

if you go through many different languages and just lean the syntax, then you really wont be learning very much.

if your going to be studying java then stick to that and once you've learnt about types / operators / expressions / control flow / objects / interfaces /polymorphism /collections / thread synchronization / reflection etc... (the list is huge and really only amounts to the 'core' language) you will be able to apply that knowledge to any language.

that said web technologies like javscript / xml / xhtml / xml-rpc / soap / css are all pretty much essential to being a java programmer.

after the 'core' language java does get harder though - understanding open source projects plays a big part in this - but theres good reason for these projects and once you understand you'll be able to deal with complexity easily and efficiently.

Java, what are the programs I need to learn it on my own - at the school they use BlueJ and DrJava

most java tools are free right

when I go to Suns web site I don't know which one to download

thanks for your help again
Eclipse in my opinion as all you need to know for java development. but its not exactly for beginners. i used JCreator prior to eclipse.

as for tools from java.sun.com, you only really need the SE SDK. as a beginner i suggest going for version 1.4.2_15

i'd also stay clear of any 'code generators' while learning - things like GUI designers - you really should know what the code does and why to be able to trust what generators produce

Yeah, I dove head first into my visual basic studio and I'm focusing on my .net stuff <---> honestly it's all I have time to to focus on

I dabble in the ruby stuff but I haven't gotten to far into the tutorias to be honest

but vb...hmm, I've crossed that invisible line from dedication to obsession

frahnque · Post by **frahnque** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:25 am

Since there are so many people shouting RoR (Ruby on Rails) I'd just thought I'd pitch in a few things about that.

If you are about to embark on the RoR-road make sure to:
1. Get a good idea of how HTML works
2. Read up on Ruby (the Pickaxe [Programming Ruby] is really good reading: http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titl ... index.html )
3. Get a good view (no pun intended) of the MVC pattern (a good starting point is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller )

Having knowledge of these three things will make it far more easier learning RoR, I wouldn't say it's imposssible without them - but you'll have a much more easier time.