Re: Programming?

["Robert G. Brown" <bob@xxxxxxx>]

Bruce Smith <bruce@armintl.com> wrote:
>>>>I think a FIRST programming language should be
>>>>something that's commonly found in most workplaces, or at least
>>>>vaguely resemble a common programming language.
>Andy <misplice@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >If I should use something for my workplace then I
>> >should be looking at Visual Basic. 

Adam Williams <adam@morrison-ind.com> wrote:
>> NOOOOOOOOOO!  Visual Basic stinks!  You're better off with C (which most
>> "real" apps are written in). 
Depends on the shop, of course. I know of shops that swear by VB; they
develops lots of software. AFAIK, this effort continues.  VB is one of the
building blocks of the Palace Of Redmond, tread with caution.

I agree that C is a good starting place, but for the beginner is it fraught 
with time consuming problems. APL avoids those problems (perhaps, in some 
people's view, while introducing others), and provides a rich enviroment for
learning qbout the things that cause programming to be valuable. Andy is not
looking for his LAST or ONLY programming language to learn, but his FIRST.
Let's not allow this to deteriorate into a "religious" argument about which 
language is for some reason the BEST.

Personally, I don't think one exists. I write in C++, C, APL, and PERL more
or less routinely (I also write in various shells, and dabble in other things).
So far I have yet to find a "best" unless you can tell me what you're doing. I
try to match the tool to fit the problem at hand.

Bruce Smith <bruce@armintl.com> wrote:
>I agree that it's not a good language for real applications,
>but I do believe it's a good learning tool.
Ah, so you agree (at least in principle) that a good language to learn
stuff is NOT nessesarily a good language to use in the workplace.
No argument! :)

>> Anyone who writes a business system in VB is
>> just plain nuts (and I know alot of them).
But a few messages ago, you were telling us how APL is used by so few,
and other languages (like VB) are used by so many. If they're all nuts,
why need we listen to 'em?

>He's not talking about writing business systems, but
>learning programming.
Exactly! I've proposed a language which has proven itself (despite you
personal experience) to be an outstanding tool at this sort of thing.

                                                        Regards,
                                                         ---> RGB <---