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Where to start in Programming | A Guide - Revenge - Dec 4, 2013

Introduction
I've seen a lot of threads around this section asking "What's the best language to learn?", "Where can I learn", "I want to be able to code ____, what language should I learn?". I'm here to answer all of these questions and I'll make it very easy to find which language is for you. You'll be coding in no time!

Visual Basic .NET
Visual Basic is one of the easiest languages to learn and it's where a lot of people start. Visual Basic can be used to code a wide variety of programs and it's very versatile. It was first released in 1992 by Microsoft after Alan Cooper sold it to them. A lot of the time it is shortened to "VB.NET" and it includes a very easy to use drag and drop interface.

Common Uses:
  • ASP.NET Web Applications
  • Microsoft Windows applications
  • Windows Phone apps
  • Simple Games

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Easy to learn. It has one of the easiest syntax's for a new programmer to learn.
    • Lots of resources for someone who is begining to learn a programming language.

    Cons:
    • Memory Intensive. It is not useful over a language such as C for programs that require lots of processing time.
    • A hard language to debug code. It is a hard language to debug code in with bad error handling messages.

Resources:
C#
C# which is pronounced C Sharp is developed by Microsoft and it was created to use all of the .NET platform. It was first released in 2001 and the development team is lead by Anders Hejlsberg who also created the langue Delphi.

Common Uses:
  • Web Applications
  • Simple Games
  • Windows Applications

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • The syntax of C# is similar to a number of different languages such as Java, Objective C, PHP, and C++. This makes it so that other languages will be easier to learn.
    • One of the most in-demand languages for employers.
    • Has an advanced garbage collector which helps to prevent memory leaks.


    Cons:
    • Has a difficult syntax to learn for a beginner.
    • Largely dedicated to Microsoft Windows so misses out on the Linux and Mac operating systems.

Resources:

C++:
C++ pronounced see plus plus was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in the 1980's. It was made in an attempt to better the C programming language.

Common Uses:
  • Computer Games
  • Anti-Virus Software
  • Medical Software
  • C++ Compilers
  • Design Software

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Wide variety of different programs can be made in C++
    • A lot of people program in C++
    • It's a low-level programming language

    Cons:
    • Difficult syntax for beginners to learn
    • Harder to free up memory than other languages
    • Can't be used on all operating systems

Resources:

C
The language C was developed to do system programming for the OS UNIX. It was developed in the early 1970's by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie.

Common Uses:
  • Writing Operating Systems
  • System Level Programming
  • Compilers
  • Embedded Systems

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Useful to know because many other languages are made on the foundations of C
    • Easy to make programs run on multiple machines, and thus is considered highly portable
    • Relatively easy to learn

    Cons:
    • It has no exception handling
    • There's no runtime checking
    • Doesn't support object oriented programming

Resources:
Objective-C
Objective-C was developed in the 1980's by Brad Cox and Tom Love, but it didn't become popular until NeXT bought it. Later on NeXT was bought by Apple and it has become the main language for the Mac OS X, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Common Uses:
  • App development for Apple products
  • Apple Computer Programs

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Object oriented

    Cons:
    • Swift has replaced it in a lot of different areas

Resources:
Java
Java was first developed by James Gosling and it was first released in 1995. It's currently one of the most popular languages and has about 10 million users.

Common Uses:
  • Making websites
  • Mobile Phone Software
  • Games
  • Android Applications

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Industry standard
    • Object oriented
    • Relatively easy to learn for a beginner
    • Platform independant

    Cons:
    • It can be slower than other languages

Resources:

* - Revenge - Dec 4, 2013

JavaScript
JavaScript is a scripting language rather than a programming language, but I decided to include it also. JavaScript was developed by Brendan Eich.

Common Uses:
  • Building Websites
  • Games

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Very fast
    • It's a very simplistic language
    • It's a very versatile language

    Cons:
    • Security issues
    • Reliant on what the end user is doing

Resources:

PHP
PHP(Hypertext Preprocessor) is another scripting language and tons of websites are now using it. It was first developed by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1995.

Common Uses:
  • It's mostly used for building websites(I'll go through some of the things it can do).
  • Collect User Information
  • Can create graphics with GD libary
  • It can preform calculations

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Easy to learn
    • It's a well supported language
    • Platform independant
    • Speed and efficiency

    Cons:
    • Security
    • Can struggle with larger projects

Resources:
Python
Python was created by Guido van Rossum in 1991 and it was named after a game show known as "Monty Python". Python is considered one of the best languages to start learning with out there today.

Common Uses:
  • Network Programming
  • Games
  • Web Development
  • Scientific Programming

Pros and cons:
  • Pros:
    • Simplistic design
    • Internet of things programming is often done with Python

    Cons:
    • Can be slower than other languages
    • It has design restrictions

Resources:

* - Revenge - Dec 4, 2013

  • Thanks to Viral Dragon and Ethereal for allowing me to use the Wiki sub forum to make this thread and also for the post holders
  • I got much of my information from Wikipedia and Google Searches as well as from on here. All threads are linked and a link to the profile is provided.


* - Revenge - Dec 5, 2013

Thank you Para for moving. I'm glad to see this up and running. If anyone has any languages they would like to see added let me know!

* - Herbert - Dec 5, 2013

Wow a lot of effort has put into this, deserves a sticky imho.

* - +mK - Dec 5, 2013

Thanks for the thread dude, I'll probably be using this just for my own knowledge in about a month or so.

* - Freddy Kruеger - Dec 5, 2013

Great thread buddy, I also think it deserves a sticky.

* - Cyan - Dec 5, 2013

Thanks for posting this, It will be helpful to a lot of people.

* - vitalitasia - Dec 5, 2013

Thanks for this awesome thread, I love it! I started learning Javascript but finished the stuff on Codecademy and needed new sites to learn. You helped me out ✌

I bet this will be a sticky.

* - beta69 - Dec 5, 2013

I'd like to see D on the list, considering it's one of the most developing languages in this time and it's starting to get really popular. Recently Facebook started to use D.

Also C# is used more than VB when it comes to ASP.NET

* - Revenge - Dec 5, 2013

(Dec 5, 2013 02:22 PM)Lutan Wrote:  Thanks for this awesome thread, I love it! I started learning Javascript but finished the stuff on Codecademy and needed new sites to learn. You helped me out ✌

I bet this will be a sticky.

Hey that's great man. The thread was designed for beginners to get into coding/programming, but it's great to see it helping people who aren't beginners as such also. Let me know how you get on from here on in bud haha

* - Hollywood Undead - Dec 5, 2013

Looks good dude. Bookmarking this, will definitely use this.

* - Revenge - Dec 6, 2013

(Dec 5, 2013 05:01 PM)Prevail ‍ Wrote:  Looks good dude. Bookmarking this, will definitely use this.

That's good to hear. I will update it with more languages later, I'm thinking of including Pearl and Delphi by request. What does everyone think?

* - beta69 - Dec 6, 2013

(Dec 6, 2013 01:27 AM)Revenge. Wrote:  That's good to hear. I will update it with more languages later, I'm thinking of including Pearl and Delphi by request. What does everyone think?

Did you read my post? But yeah include Peral and Delphi as well, don't limit languages by popularity. Maybe split it all up into categories etc. Some more indepth explanations, hello world examples and perhaps list IDE's & Compilers etc.

* - Revenge - Dec 6, 2013

(Dec 6, 2013 06:59 AM)beta69 Wrote:  Did you read my post? But yeah include Peral and Delphi as well, don't limit languages by popularity. Maybe split it all up into categories etc. Some more indepth explanations, hello world examples and perhaps list IDE's & Compilers etc.

Oh sorry, I thought I replied to it. Yeah I will add that too when I get the chance. I don't think I need examples etc though, it's not what this thread is about do you not think? 🙂