[plug] programming

[Onno Benschop]

On Thu, 2003-09-18 at 18:59, Simon Scott wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:13, Adam Hewitt wrote:
> > Hi All,
> 
> > Does anyone have some suggestions on where I should start, what I should
> > use and information on both? 
> 
> A commodore 64, a colour TV, and a Programmer's Reference Guide. Search ebay.

For me it was a Vic 20, but yes I do agree.

While this point may have been made, I've just come back from a First
Aid course and I didn't have the stomach to wade through 140 messages -
sorry - you must realise that the first language you use is only the
first. The second will be both slightly harder and easier, the third
generally easier, then pretty soon it will become a case of: "How do I
do this with this new language?"

Also, if you go down the line of VB, I'll disinherit you.

While Commodores and Vic's started with BASIC, they never pretended to
be a real programming language, VB does pretend to be a real language,
and you'll learn some really filthy habits.

Anyway, I last counted my list of languages a few years ago, it came to
around 24. You find one that you like, you stay with it untill you need
to solve a problem that someone already solved in a different language,
you learn that one, and if it's an improvement, you'll swap - perhaps.

The adage: "If all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look
like a nail." is pretty true in programming.

Change is good in soooo many ways.



Best advice I can give you:

	Use the 'net - you're not on your own trying to start.


Cheers,


(Just for fun, I thought I'd see how many languages I've done things in
- anything more trivial than Hello World - some I use every day, some
I've taught and some I used once or twice and ran away from because they
were *ugly*)

BASIC, 6502 Assembly, Pascal, Modula-2, SPSS-X, BATch (MSDOS), Clipper,
dBase, Fox Pro, C, Perl, PHP, (My)SQL, HTML, WingZ, HyperScript,
SuperScript, AppleScript, JavaScript, VB, Excel, FileMaker, NetWare,
ToolBook, Lingo, AuthorWare, bash, MPW script, HP-calculators

(I'm sure there are others and I'm sure I've named some by the wrong
name - my point is that you're never done - one more language adds
another perspective to how you solve problems.)

(The language I've got the fondest memories for is Modula-2, though the
last time I used it was 15 years ago. Today I write most things in PHP
and MySQL)

Onno Benschop 

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