Re: Programming?

[Wesley Leonard <x95leonard@xxxxxxxxx>]

If it means anything, every University I know of that teachers Computer
Science starts off with C/C++.

I would recommend the book "Teach Yourself C in 21 Days."  It's not a
particularly good reference but it's rather inexpensive and you can go
through it in a month, get all the basics, and see if you like C.  gcc
is in any Linux distribution (and I believe you can even get a windoze
version) for compiling.  After you learn C, C++ is just a bit of extra
stuff (classes and templates, etc).

Once you learn C++, Java will be a breeze.  Once you learn Java you
should understand programming languages enough to be able to pick up any
other language in no time.

Another good reason to learn C is because that's what the Linux kernel
and lots of other GPL'ed software packages are written in.  

This is probably one of the most heavily discussed items we've had on
this list...  I hope all of these emails help Andy in some way.

-- 
Wesley Leonard
x95leonard@wmich.edu

http://members.xoom.com/pacd
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to
me."
	--Linus Torvalds 
	  (Referring to the cover of Bill Gates' book "The Road Ahead")

Andy wrote:
> 
> Ok, I haven't programmed anything since BASIC and I
> was wondering what would be the best language to learn
> as a starting point for others. I've heard C/C++ is a
> good place to start because some of the other
> languages are offshoots of them and are then easier to
> learn since you know C/C++. Also I know everyone likes
> teh O'Reilly books, but are there anyothers that you
> would recommend as a learning aid?
> 
> Thanks
> Andy
> 
> =====
> "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
>                                 - Albert Einstein
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