Re: question?

[dmaziuk@yola.bmrb.wisc.edu (Dimitri Maziuk)]

* Wayne Sitton (waynes@techgod.net) spake thusly:
> I don't want to start a flame war, BUT....
> 
> I've been working with Uinx since I was 12, now I'm 28.  I've been a linux
> fan for about 3 years.  I started with red hat, but when a friend told
> debian was tthe one, I started using it.  and quickly learned the advantages
> of Debian.  I feel i'm adaquet as a user.  So , what is my next step?  I
> thought it would be learning some programing.  my problem is, there are so
> many languages out there.  I tried to start with C, but couldn't get through
> the book. I started a project that used php and have become pretty good at
> it.
> My question is what programming language is best to learn??????

That depends. I learned C first and I still believe it was the best first
language for *me*.

You could try Pascal. It was designed as a teaching aid and it illustrates 
several concepts of procedural programming very nicely.  OTOH you don't 
have to start with a procedural language: have a look at Bruce Eckel's
"Thinking in Java" (available online, free). 

OTGH you could start with CARDIAC (http://www.larkfarm.com/cardiac_answers.htm)
and proceed to assembly. After that you'll love C.

Don't start with Perl -- a language with no syntax is not a good choice for 
a beginner. You could try Lisp -- you might like functional programming...

C is closely tied to hardware and Unix, you'll have to learn about those to
fully appreciate the language. If you want to go that way, your best bet is
a university course with systems programming major.

When I learn a new language, I try to pick up a project and implement it in
that language. Works better then textbook exercises -- for me. YMMV.

Dima
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