Best programming language?

[ﾠ]

Hey PC, what's the best programming language to learn regardless of any field (software/gaming etc). The only languages I know are C, JScript, HTML and Perl. Should I learn more than 4 languages or 4 is enough? I've took IT course for over a year now and I still don't know what language I should learn.

 

[Shining Arcanine]

You really should not group C# with C and C++. Also, Visual C++ is not a programming language per se, but just the name that Microsoft gives to their IDE for C++.

You also should not have grouped, Java, JScript, HTML, CSS and PHP. Java has more in common with C# than anything else. Javascript is a client side scripting language while PHP is a server side scripting language. HTML and CSS are languages are not even programming languages.

SQL is a query language and it does not even exist in the wild. While there are implementations of it, each are different and unless you are using a variation with stored procedures, it is not a programming language in the slightest.

UNIX shell is not a programming language per se, but a command prompt, of which there are numerous varieties that all have different syntaxes. Each individual shell is a language in itself.

Also, I have no idea why you put Powerhouse and Squirrel on the list when you have omitted FORTRAN, COBOL and Lisp. FORTRAN and Lisp are largely the progenitors of modern programming languages, although COBOL is a highly important language in its own right and anyone who knows it is basically guaranteed a job for life, regardless of whether or not they hang themselves because of it. There are also BASIC, ALGOL, APL, SML/NJ, Smalltalk, Haskell, OCaml, etcetera to name a few.

Anyway, if you want to learn a new programming language, I recommend C++. If you have a solid knowledge of C, then learning C++ will be an extremely educational experience. C++ is a huge language that has nearly all of the features found in the categories of imperative, object oriented programming languages. Knowing C++ will make learning other languages in that category easy. At the same time, if you want to have a good knowledge of programming, you will also need to learn functional programming (e.g. SML/NJ, Smalltalk, Haskell, OCaml, etcetera) and also write a compiler. If you can write a compiler, then you will be able to write basically anything.

You also should probably be asking about book recommendations. Some good books are The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth, the Dragon Book (google it), The C++ Programming Language, The C Programming Language and The UNIX Programming Environment.

If you have not stopped using Windows already, I recommend switching to a UNIX OS like FreeBSD. Linux distributions are also good, but FreeBSD will likely be more educational in the areas that count unless you decide to use Gentoo Linux, Slackware Linux or Linux From Scratch.

 

[twocows]

I don't know why C, C++, and C# are grouped together. I suppose C and C++ kind of sort of makes sense (not really, C isn't object-oriented and C++ is, they're entirely different paradigms), but C# is more like Java than C or C++. And Visual C++ is just Microsoft's compiler/IDE for C++, it's not even a different language. And the same for Java et. al. The above poster's absolutely correct, they're not even close. HTML isn't even a programming language, it's a markup language. Javascript is a scripting language vs. Java which is compiled.

I'm a big fan of C, myself. I also know a few other languages, but C is my favorite. I'd recommend reading Structures and Interpretation of Computer Programs and learning Scheme; a different paradigm will help you approach problems from a different perspective and SICP will help you learn to organize your code.

 

[Shining Arcanine]

To add some information to what twocows said, Scheme is one of the two main dialects of Lisp, the other being Common Lisp. Being a dialect of Lisp, learning Scheme would a way to learn functional programming.

 

[erma96]

I think C++, 'cause it's the most suitable language I know apart assembly, but it isn't appropriate to do complicated applications.

 

[Gero50]

I guess I'll go with Java/JScript,HTML,CSS,PHP because I am a web designer.
Plus I just enjoy these the most. I love the web more then programing for a platform any day.

 

[dizzyKitty]

HTML isn't really a programming language. Yes, it does have "language" in its name, but all it really is is formatting. You can't solve complex computing problems with it.

I've been working with Java since high school, so I have to say it's more my cup of tea. Er, coffee. Forgive the pun. Yep.

 

[BlackSheep6]

If anyone knows how to code using Python msg me if you wanna be my programmer for my mmorg

 

[37h4n]

I am best using Python. While it is slower than some other languages, it is a lot easier to program. For more experienced programmers though, C++, Java, or C# are better options.

 

[Sсott]

Overall, Java and C, arguably, are the two best programming languages till this date. However, there are others that are gaining fast momentum and users and are rapidly disseminating, such as Python and C#. Objective-C can also be grouped with the ever-increasing programming languages in this decade. And you cannot ever really exclude C++, being the most prevalent language in different industries, particularly gaming and 3D work, up till now.

But the question as to what programming languages are best to learn for 2011 cannot be unanimous. It is a matter of experience and how conversant you are with the language. If it comes to me, I would suggest either Java, C, or Python.

 

[twocows]

Don't bump things nearly a month old unless you have a really good reason.