Most useful programming languages to know

[TwinkleTits]

I know HTML and PHP but thats about it. Right now I have a serious urge to learn javascript and java. Does knowing javascript help when learning java? I'm also fairly interested in C++ but its the web applet aspect of java that makes me inclined to learn java first. What would you all recommend learning considering that I know HTML and a fair bit of PHP?

[Agent 008]

HTML is not a programming language. It's a markup language, hence the ML in HTML.

There's no such thing as "most useful programming language". It depends entirely on your goals - different languages are better suited for different goals and styles. Any Turing-complete language is equally useful, really.

I would recommend you to focus not on learning various languages, but on learning programming concepts - functional programming, object-oriented programming, parallel programming, maybe even aspect-oriented programming.

Learning the syntax of a language is really easy if you understand the semantics. It really shouldn't take more than a few weeks to get yourself familiar, and no more than a few months to get reasonably comfortable using it.

[mafiabro]

C++.

[The Jitterskull]

C++ seems pretty good, Java also looks useful.
HTML/PHP are awesome for the net.

Those are the top few.

[pygar]

javascript is officially called ECMAscript. It got the name javascript because the syntax is pseudo java.

Java's syntax is pusudo C/C++

so knowing javascript is probably going to speed up the learning process for java in the earlier chapters.

[The Explanation]

javascript is designed to be easier for web designers to use, and it sounds like that's where most of your experience lies. I would learn that first, and then java if you think you still need it.

[olive]

I find python incredibly useful for day to day shit, as well as testing ideas and what not. You can do a lot of wonderful things with the urllib2 and socket modules

[BaconPie]

Python is apparently incredibly useful.

I've been learning Java for the past almost-a-year and it's a really nice language. It borrows ALOT (nearly all) syntax from C so the transitions from C and Java I imagine are piss easy. Java, unlike what most people think, isn't explicitly for the web; it was just built with the web in mind. See, Java runs in it's own virtual machine (The Java Virtual Machine) so you only have to compile once and it runs on all computers (provided they have the JVM installed for their computer). For example, I can write a Java application on a Linux, compile and send it to my friend who owns a Mac. He will be able to run the file without having to recompile. I can do the same with a windows machine and even on my phone. Compatibility is the key word and is Java's main goal. Only problem is that running in a virtual machine means your Java runs slowly.

Also, Javascript has NOTHING to do with Java. They just have similar syntax. I never understood that, it's like calling Java, C-script. Anyway Javascript if for web stuff, you should of learned it when you did PHP, they're in the same boat.

I say Java from personal experience. Hell I might even write you a mini guide to get you started.

[Axiom]

They're all good, learn them all...

[TwinkleTits]

Originally Posted by BaconPie

I say Java from personal experience. Hell I might even write you a mini guide to get you started.

That'd be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Axiom

They're all good, learn them all...

I dunno about learning all of them but I'll definitely learn a good few of them eventually. I don't study computer science in college so theres only so much time I can put into learning about computers/programming but I love this shit. The second course on my list when I applied to college was electronics engineering and one of the modules was "programming for engineers" but I did chemistry instead and the only computer related thing I needed to learn so far was how to make graphs with excel (or gnumeric in my case).

[Agent 008]

Originally Posted by BaconPie

I say Java from personal experience.

I agree.

If you are choosing between Java and C++, definitely go for Java. The sacrifice in performance is not significant enough to make a difference, unless you are programming some system that has to perform many real-time calculations. But it is a lot easier to use - I mean, with Java, you have to really struggle to get a memory leak, or to get a corrupted area of memory.

So it's really great for someone who's looking into learning OOP. Or even just basic imperative programming.

I'm a fan of C++ myself and I'm saying that, and that means a lot.

[Agent 008]

Originally Posted by TwinkleTits

I dunno about learning all of them but I'll definitely learn a good few of them eventually. I don't study computer science in college so theres only so much time I can put into learning about computers/programming but I love all this shit.

If you're interested, also look into Haskell. It may not be too practical (even though some difficult problems have VERY elegant solutions in Haskell!), but it'll really open your mind to what programming is or can be.

[dome]

Read this

http://norvig.com/21-days.html

[Jack]

Originally Posted by BaconPie

Also, Javascript has NOTHING to do with Java. They just have similar syntax. I never understood that, it's like calling Java, C-script.

More like C-bloat.

[BaconPie]

Originally Posted by Jack

More like C-bloat.

*Shakes fist* Whyyy youuuu!

[sevenTwo]

Python. It's a multiparadigm language, like C++, but without the ugly syntax, memory management, and multiple inheritance (I think). It's interpreted; not compiled, so code will run a lot slower as a result. If you need to optimize a certain part of code, you can always write that portion in C++ and import it as a module to Python (boost:: python for more details). I mean, really, it's the best language ever. I mean, it's even dynamically typed and you'll never ever get an Integer Overflow error!
THE BEST.

[Animal Farm Pig]

I would agree with those pointing to the usefulness of Python. I use it a lot.

I don't know about the rest of you, but often I will write a small module with whatever functions or classes I need to solve some problem. Then, I fire up the interactive interpreter and just use them directly. It saves a lot of time not having to make a user interface as such.

[Trueborn]

Python? What? Seriously? I think I'm starting to see a generation of programmers go full-circle here...

Here are some things that I believe:

1) Interpreted languages (source -> output, not source -> bytecode -> output like Java, C#, etc.) should not be used for software engineering and product development. They should be used for making small tools and utilities that aren't very involved or for adding scripting ability to end products. (This is why I like Lua.) By their very nature, interpreted languages simply don't have the efficiency of compiled code; the fetch -> decode -> execute -> store cycle is so much more involved because of the additional code needed to translate text in to an actual instruction. No amount of optimization will ever be able to hurdle this problem. It is this same reason that you will never see engineers using seriously consider the use of Stamp controllers (and Parallax products in general) in embedded hardware.

2) Dynamically typed/typeless languages generally produce semantic errors in numbers that vast outweigh similar code in stronger typed languages. Typo a variable name? No problem! The interpreter will just make a new variable for you with that typo'd name! Just wait until you see the program output! I'm sure you can see how this would be a problem... The funny thing about this is that programmers loathed Visual Basic with each inception largely due to this reason. Amazingly, this practice somehow became accepted and even preferred with the advent of Python. What the hell?

With Python in particular, many of its proponents seem to suggest that "less code is better code." That's true in many situations, but I don't think that's necessarly the case here; a syntactically good language allows a user to look at a statement or expression without knowing it and is able to decipher its meaning. For example, which one of these makes more sense to you:

y.get(y.size() - 1);

or

y[-1]

But I digress.

Languages are use specific as I tried to point out in my first paragraph up there. My suggestion would be to learn a number of them. And as difficult as it may look at first, it always helps to learn a little Assembly language so you have a better understanding of how the processor does what it does when you write code in other languages.

Here's a couple suggestions:

- C++ generally allows you to do more low-level stuff than Java, and it's almost always faster. Having said that, I personally think the object oriented syntax of Java is much cleaner and nicer to look at compared to C++. This is becoming less and less of an issue as the standards for C++ now allow class member definitions within the class declaration itself... you'll learn what that all means when you learn object oriented programming.

- C# is sort of a hybrid between Java and C++ and it's slowly taking over the fucking world. It's becoming very prominent in web applications, distributed software, phone apps, and with the creation of XNA, it's being used extensively by the video game industry.

There's quite a few languages out there to learn. As it has already been pointed out, it's probably best to learn programming concepts before learning actual programming, but this has been known to, sometimes, dissuade would-be developers from ever starting... simply because it's usually boring. Even so, it's an important step in the learning process. Pick a language and learn the concepts through it.

[Archetype]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_assembly_language

[olive]

Originally Posted by Trueborn Vorpal

2) Dynamically typed/typeless languages generally produce semantic errors in numbers that vast outweigh similar code in stronger typed languages. Typo a variable name? No problem! The interpreter will just make a new variable for you with that typo'd name! Just wait until you see the program output! I'm sure you can see how this would be a problem... The funny thing about this is that programmers loathed Visual Basic with each inception largely due to this reason. Amazingly, this practice somehow became accepted and even preferred with the advent of Python. What the hell?

weell I get your point but that's not always the case. Depending on where the typo is you can definitely get an error. Usually a "unbound local error"

[Mutant Funk Drink]

I'd probably say C++, but then again I have little experience with it since I've never had to write anything terribly complex.

Visual Basic is great for quick and dirty stuff, but it's not multi-platform.(although the programs run fine in WINE) If you're doing simple things, VB is a great way to make a program with a good interface.

Python is really good to learn because it's multi-platform.

[Agent 008]

Originally Posted by Mutant Funk Drink

Visual Basic is great for quick and dirty stuff, but it's not multi-platform.(although the programs run fine in WINE) If you're doing simple things, VB is a great way to make a program with a good interface.

Don't even think about learning VB. Really, it is a waste of time; it won't even teach you good coding practices.

There are good visual tools for most modern GUI libraries.

[Jaguarstrike]

Perl is GREAT to start out with.

[Agent 008]

Originally Posted by Jaguarstrike

Perl is GREAT to start out with.

You enjoy.

[Jaguarstrike]

Originally Posted by SHODAN

You enjoy.

Would you happen to know where to find the source code of the background program in text form? I'd love to see what it does.

[Agent 008]

Originally Posted by Jaguarstrike

Would you happen to know where to find the source code of the background program in text form? I'd love to see what it does.

Nope, afraid not. Try typing bits of it into google with quotation marks around it, maybe it'll come up with something.

But I'm pretty sure even the person who wrote it had no idea what the code meant when he woke up the next morning. That's Pearl for you.

[olive]

Originally Posted by Jaguarstrike

Would you happen to know where to find the source code of the background program in text form? I'd love to see what it does.

Try looking for JAPH (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_another_Perl_hacker) contests. I coulda sworn I've seen it before somewhere

[Pooka]

Originally Posted by SHODAN

I mean, with Java, you have to really struggle to get a memory leak, or to get a corrupted area of memory.

That's because most of the memory management is done by the runtime.