Re: Programming first steps.

[Jonathan Dowland <jmtd@compsoc.dur.ac.uk>]

On Sun, Nov 16, 2003 at 08:45:51PM +0800, David Palmer wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I thought that I might make a beginning at learning.
> I've searched the web, found information that goes beyond the definition
> of plethora, so I thought that I'd ask here.
> 
> (1) What is the best language to start with?

Learn more than one (breadth first search rather than depth first) :)
Pick a procedural, pick an object-oriented, pick a functional, pick a
'glue' language. I'd recommend C, Perl, Java, Haskell. I would possibly
recommend Python over Java if I had any experience with it.

I think learning vi(m) is a good idea but grab emacs, kate and (insert
someone else's recommendation here) and give them at least a cursory
glance.

Diversity is the key - as a user and a developer.

-- 
Jon Dowland
http://jon.dowland.name/