java

[ECSTASY]

Hey guys...
As you know , summer is comming , and im gonna learn java language this summer . What do you guys think about java? Is it useful to script a program using java? If you wanna create your own program , which programing language would you prefer? :)

[TheMatrix]

It all depends. Personally I feel that Java isn't the best to start out with. Neither is C, or C++ for that matter. From what I've tried, C# is similar to Java in some ways, but you have to do some strange things (http://www.csharphelp.com/2005/12/mapping-a-c-com-interop-class-to-fixed-com-guids/) with GUIDs.

I believe that a scripting language is the best to start with.
But don't get caught in the PHP trap. PHP does not teach you what modular programming is, nor does it encourage code reuse or other libraries, since everything is just there. Instead, you have to play script kiddie and use random snippets of code from peoples' blogs and websites. These snippets can be confusing, so you don't actually learn anything from it.
I started (http://learn.perl.org/) with (http://www.perlmonks.org/) Perl (http://perlmaven.com/perl-tutorial), but it can be confusing to the new user.
But in the end you have to choose, since nobody should tell you what to be good at. Try various languages, read (annotated) sample programs, try these programs, modify them -- see if you like it.

When I write a program, my choice is based on what will be the easiest and quickest. For trivial little programs that I only use once -- usually transforming text or something -- I can do it quickly in Perl.
For GUIs and web applications, I prefer C/C++, because I like Qt (http://qt.digia.com/Product/) very much, with GTK+ following as a close second.
You should use the language best suited for the task. If you need to interact with hardware directly, generally you will want to use C or even Assembly if speed is the biggest concern. But it becomes painful when you want to do fancy things. Text processing is no fun in C, but it's a breeze in Perl.

So good luck, and hopefully you'll make something useful! :)

[ECSTASY]

It all depends. Personally I feel that Java isn't the best to start out with. Neither is C, or C++ for that matter. From what I've tried, C# is similar to Java in some ways, but you have to do some strange things (http://www.csharphelp.com/2005/12/mapping-a-c-com-interop-class-to-fixed-com-guids/) with GUIDs.

I believe that a scripting language is the best to start with.
But don't get caught in the PHP trap. PHP does not teach you what modular programming is, nor does it encourage code reuse or other libraries, since everything is just there. Instead, you have to play script kiddie and use random snippets of code from peoples' blogs and websites. These snippets can be confusing, so you don't actually learn anything from it.
I started (http://learn.perl.org/) with (http://www.perlmonks.org/) Perl (http://perlmaven.com/perl-tutorial), but it can be confusing to the new user.
But in the end you have to choose, since nobody should tell you what to be good at. Try various languages, read (annotated) sample programs, try these programs, modify them -- see if you like it.

When I write a program, my choice is based on what will be the easiest and quickest. For trivial little programs that I only use once -- usually transforming text or something -- I can do it quickly in Perl.
For GUIs and web applications, I prefer C/C++, because I like Qt (http://qt.digia.com/Product/) very much, with GTK+ following as a close second.
You should use the language best suited for the task. If you need to interact with hardware directly, generally you will want to use C or even Assembly if speed is the biggest concern. But it becomes painful when you want to do fancy things. Text processing is no fun in C, but it's a breeze in Perl.

So good luck, and hopefully you'll make something useful! :)

Thanks so much for the help :) well for the start , i learned c++ last year... But i didnt continue that cause it was really boring to create some simple dos program thats limited and works with a bunch of numbers for start :p in my opinion , graphics and the speed in scripting is really important .

[Jess]

I'm taking an online intro to java class right now :P

[ECSTASY]

Oh great :D i have to move to tehran for summer to take a class lol . A few people like scripting here in iran.. No one registered for java class in my city and they cancelled the classes :p

[TheMatrix]

Thanks so much for the help :) well for the start , i learned c++ last year... But i didnt continue that cause it was really boring to create some simple dos program thats limited and works with a bunch of numbers for start :p in my opinion , graphics and the speed in scripting is really important .

Well, you could combine the two. Graphics is best done in a compiled language(I prefer the OpenGL standards, but you could use DirectX too), and you could extend it with scripting, such as Lua.
But that's an advanced topic best studied once you are better at it.

Or the other way around, too. Perl has something called XSUBs, which are C libraries with a Perl interface. It greatly speeds up things. The only trade-off is the dynamic link time, and you can't easily just copy the shared objects between systems.
Python has this too, as does Tcl and most other scripting languages.

[ethanf93]

It all depends. Personally I feel that Java isn't the best to start out with. Neither is C, or C++ for that matter. From what I've tried, C# is similar to Java in some ways, but you have to do some strange things (http://www.csharphelp.com/2005/12/mapping-a-c-com-interop-class-to-fixed-com-guids/) with GUIDs.

Ignore this: C# will not make you do strange things- that's an advanced topic that you will undoubtedly not run in to.

I recommend Java or C# - there's a lot of discussion about what language or languages are best to start with, but ultimately you should just try different languages and IDEs. If you're using Windows I'd recommend Visual Studio Express Edition.

[TheMatrix]

Ignore this: C# will not make you do strange things- that's an advanced topic that you will undoubtedly not run in to.
I remember seeing it when I was messing around with ASP.NET and IIS for the heck of it once. Sure it's an advanced topic, but one that I haven't found much info on.

If you're using Windows I'd recommend Visual Studio Express Edition.
It's not a bad IDE. In fact, of all the Microsoft products, I'd have to say I like this the best.

[ECSTASY]

thanks everyone for the helps and guides :)