Programming?

[trick]

What language would be the most entertaining to learn? Ive decided to learn some things over the next few months. Im going to have ALOT of free time.. so im trying to improve my vocabulary, get upto the present in my auto-biography, and maybe learn a programming language.

whats something that will be fun? im not really looking to make a carreer out if it, just trying to get back in touch with my technical side. I was learnig basic and html at the same time not too far back, and i was under pressure n stuff, and i diddnt learn but maybe 1/6th of what i was aiming for. but now its abit more laid back, and im looking for some entertainment.

what language is the most powerful, and gives you the most access to exploytable computers? im looking be able to snoop and pull dirt up on the enemy when need be.

:finga:

 

[Guest]

what language is the most powerful, and gives you the most access to exploytable computers? im looking be able to snoop and pull dirt up on the enemy when need be.

Assembler is definately the most powerful I think (not a pro).

Still, I really don't think that there's much point learning such a low-level language, you might get much more from your time with something like C#, which I heard is quite modern and not that hard (once again, I'm REALLY not much into programming so don't take those advices for God's words).

It guess it all depends on what you're trying to achieve.

 

[IJesusChrist]

If you know what arduino is, and how fucking amazing that little peice of silicon is, learn C++.

You can make ANYTHING.

Surveilance, auto-lighting/watering/heating/cooling, alarms, you can even program it to make your ipod turn off and on by swinging your hand, turn the volume up with a clap, change the song with a whistle. You name it.

C++ (+) arduino is where it's at.

 

[trick]

ya im not even entierly SURE what i want to achieve out of it really. i really dont care, i just find it facinating. but its always an added bonus if what im learning can be used for counter blackmail if the situation should ever arise.

looks like ive got alot of looking in 2 do b4 i can even get started :ANAL: lol oh well, what can you do right?

 

[trick]

oh shit son! well that sounds like something fun to start with! sounds like it could be quite usefull.

 

[twoceebee]

If you know what arduino is, and how fucking amazing that little peice of silicon is, learn C++.

You can make ANYTHING.

Surveilance, auto-lighting/watering/heating/cooling, alarms, you can even program it to make your ipod turn off and on by swinging your hand, turn the volume up with a clap, change the song with a whistle. You name it.

C++ (+) arduino is where it's at.

Just bought myself a little board for a PICAXE, which is a similar sorta thing. Came with relays n stuff. Been getting so many bizzare ideas of what to do with it it's unreal, and programmable in Basic as well. I half wish I'd heard of Ardunio first though as it seems a bit more powerfull, and I've got C/++ experience. I think the PICAXE will be ideal for my little bits of tinkering though! Only paid about £10 on fleabay, I think there was ready-assembled versions for a bit more.

 

[dehn]

I would say the best first language to learn is Python.
It's simple enough to start yet is a modern language with which you can do whatever you want. It also has an increasing popularity among web developpers as a replacement for PHP (which I don't like).

C and/or C++ is a good choice too, it's actually the one I first learned (and the one many programming courses still teach as a first language), it's very old but still one of the most widely used. It's more difficult because you have to take care of many low level stuff (memory allocation for instance) but on the other hand you'll learn many things about how your computer works.

I would not recommend C# because it's (somewhat of) a Microsoft-owned language which isn't very portable, even if it has many success among Windows programmers. But even if you want to learn it, in my opinion you should still first learn C/C++ since C# is pretty much an extended C/C++ which runs in a virtual machine.

If you're a Linux or Mac OS X user, bash could be a good option since it's simple and you will be able to write scripts that could be really useful to you. But there is no much point learning bash if you don't and won't use an Unix-like OS.

 

[????????]

get upto the present in my auto-biography

lol can i read it?

listen to pokraka, he brings good advice. i would second python as a first language since it has been made easy to learn from day one by it's creator. java would be another one to put your eye to because it is used lots. c++ is not that friendly to beginners and you can do pretty much all you want without it, since you can do general purpose with java/python and web stuff with php, which is a breeze to program with if you already know any other object oriented language, like the aforementioned java and python

 

[Proteus]

I was just thinking, if your previous experience is in basic programming there are simple to learn and very fast basic programming languages that compile to multiple platforms. For example, GLBasic compiles for Windows, MacOS, Xbox, Linux, iPhone, iPad, etc. but its specifically meant for creating games. Very limited otherwise.

If you don't know what you might use your programming skills for then go for C++, like others have recommended. Its hard but once you get good at C++ pretty much every other programming language you might need will be relatively easy to pick up.