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What is the best starting language for a new developer?   [Edit]

Survey period: 7 Apr 2008 to 14 Apr 2008

Some developers start with scripting and move to high level languages, while other start with ASM and continue from there. What do you think is best way to start? (Suggested by Christiaan Rakowski)

OptionVotes% 
Assembler (any flavour)512.43
C30614.59
C++28713.68
C# / Java69633.17
Lisp150.71
Pascal / Modula / Delphi1266.01
Python361.72
VBScript241.14
Visual Basic26912.82
The first language will depend on what area the developer will want to work24111.49

View optional text answers (93 answers)


 
GeneralRe: My route Pin
quangtin38-Apr-08 19:50
quangtin38-Apr-08 19:50 
GeneralRe: My route Pin
Rajesh R Subramanian9-Apr-08 5:12
professionalRajesh R Subramanian9-Apr-08 5:12 
GeneralABC = Assembly (for the basics), Basic (for the assembly) and C/C++ (for structure)... Pin
Palavos8-Apr-08 3:24
Palavos8-Apr-08 3:24 
GeneralRe: ABC = Assembly (for the basics), Basic (for the assembly) and C/C++ (for structure)... Pin
DJ van Wyk8-Apr-08 21:31
professionalDJ van Wyk8-Apr-08 21:31 
GeneralGadgets rather than Computers... Pin
Palavos9-Apr-08 2:28
Palavos9-Apr-08 2:28 
GeneralC Pin
izmoto8-Apr-08 1:56
izmoto8-Apr-08 1:56 
GeneralMy route was ... Pin
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar7-Apr-08 21:13
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar7-Apr-08 21:13 
GeneralStudy? Work? Sys? Utils? Web? Pin
workwarever7-Apr-08 20:41
workwarever7-Apr-08 20:41 
IMHO, starting language for studying is 'Scheme' (lisp dialect) and famous
book SICP (Structure and Interpretation of computer programs). Scheme/Lisp is
a very powerful language which can be extended with new syntax, i.e. you
can implement language in language. Starting with Lisp can give you wisdom of many fundamental conceps which are present in many modern languages like c#.

If you want to become commercial style coder as soon as possible, than the best choice probably whould be c#/java (i prefer c#) which have big codebase, coding
traditions and are actively used over the world.

If your target is low-level system or game programming (or anything requiring
performance or hardware access) than you should learn c/c++. Before starting
with c++, newbie should now that c++ is DIFFICULT language and you spend a lot
of time for mastering it. There are many people saying c++ is the best ... please ignore them - make your OWN opinion. If you still plan to study c++, please look at www.boost.org ... they are real masters, which know everything about c++ Smile | :)

If you need language to write small utils QUICKLY than the best choice would be
Python/Ruby/Perl (i prefer Python). Python is a clean language with powerful
syntax and big codebase. Probably same is true for Ruby. And Perl is a language
with poor syntax/design, but with huge codebase and powerful in dealing with text.

If you plan to become web programmer, than you SHOULD learn javascript and HTML DOM. Additionally you should learn at least one server side programming language: c#&ASP.Net, java&JSP, PHP, Python&ZOPE, Ruby&(...). Even if you are
plan to write single-page AJAX application (with no server side functionality for page generation) you still need server side language for writing web services. Additionally you should study XSLT (+XML) which is a semi-programming
language for Data->HTML conversion.

Be patient the best prgoramming language is still not invented Smile | :)
GeneralPascal! What about BASIC??? Pin
ThatsAlok7-Apr-08 19:34
ThatsAlok7-Apr-08 19:34 
GeneralRe: Pascal! What about BASIC??? Pin
Herl the Pearl7-Apr-08 19:48
Herl the Pearl7-Apr-08 19:48 
GeneralRe: Pascal! What about BASIC??? Pin
Martin ISDN7-Apr-08 23:33
Martin ISDN7-Apr-08 23:33 
GeneralRe: Pascal! What about BASIC??? Pin
ThatsAlok8-Apr-08 3:50
ThatsAlok8-Apr-08 3:50 
GeneralC - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Nisamudheen7-Apr-08 18:06
Nisamudheen7-Apr-08 18:06 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Martin ISDN8-Apr-08 0:03
Martin ISDN8-Apr-08 0:03 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
kraft8-Apr-08 15:32
kraft8-Apr-08 15:32 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Pater8-Apr-08 1:06
Pater8-Apr-08 1:06 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Rachel Mant8-Apr-08 7:17
Rachel Mant8-Apr-08 7:17 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Nisamudheen8-Apr-08 14:19
Nisamudheen8-Apr-08 14:19 
GeneralRe: C - The Mother of All Languages Pin
Pater8-Apr-08 20:29
Pater8-Apr-08 20:29 
General[Message Removed] Pin
Mojtaba Vali7-Apr-08 16:59
Mojtaba Vali7-Apr-08 16:59 
GeneralRe: Assembly Pin
MurrayLang7-Apr-08 17:29
MurrayLang7-Apr-08 17:29 
GeneralRe: Assembly [modified] Pin
richard_k7-Apr-08 17:47
richard_k7-Apr-08 17:47 
GeneralWhere is Haskell? Pin
BugMeNot ACCOUNT7-Apr-08 12:41
BugMeNot ACCOUNT7-Apr-08 12:41 
GeneralRe: Where is Haskell? Pin
Yitzchok Dev7-Apr-08 15:10
Yitzchok Dev7-Apr-08 15:10 
GeneralRe: Where is Haskell? Pin
illium8-Apr-08 8:44
illium8-Apr-08 8:44 

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