Languages

1. 2018-01-28 at 4:43 PM UTC

   #1
   

   mashlehash victim of incest [my perspicuously dependant flavourlessness]
   I've made a thread like this before.
   
   I downloaded notepad++ and thought I knew what I was doing.
   
   What language should i start with? Java?
   
   I understand html but that's rather basic.
   
   
   Help
2. 2018-01-28 at 8:07 PM UTC

   #2
   

   mashlehash victim of incest [my perspicuously dependant flavourlessness]
   LAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNY
3. 2018-01-29 at 12:54 AM UTC

   #3
   

   mashlehash victim of incest [my perspicuously dependant flavourlessness]
   Bump
4. 2018-01-29 at 1:06 AM UTC

   #4
   

   Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
   No. Java is the devil. Start with Python. Stay with Python, study Python, Master Python. And you will know da wei.
5. 2018-01-29 at 5:36 AM UTC

   #5
   

   SBTlauien African Astronaut
   First learn some Javascript. Use the tutorials at Tizag.com and your browser. You wont need to install anything.
   
   Then decide what you want to do from there. But Python is a good choice. Only learn Java if you have a reason to do so(like Android). C is also a good choice, actually better than Python imo.
6. 2018-01-29 at 7:30 AM UTC

   #6
   

   Lanny Bird of Courage
   It doesn't really matter what you start with, just that you stick with it.
   
   Learning to program and learning a programming language are two different things but it's a hard thing to see when you're doing both at the same time (as everybody does). Learning a language is easy, learning how to program is slow and painful. There's no reason to sweat learning multiple languages since all the pain and suffering you're about to go through will only happen once regardless of which language you pick out.
   
   Python is a good choice IMO. If you feel a particular inclination to learn Java or Javascript or anything else then go for it.
   
   If your interest is purely monetary javascript and associated ecosystem is probably the lowest time-to-making-money language you can pick up but it's not the simplest and who knows if that's going to be true in a few years.
   The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

   • SBTlauien, 
   • aldra
7. 2018-01-29 at 4:48 PM UTC

   #7
   

   mso8 Houston
   dont let anyone fool you, start with some kind of ASM language and read SICP on the side. that is the only way you are evar going to get anywhere in the life of programming
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   • aldra
8. 2018-01-30 at 4:42 AM UTC

   #8
   

   Lanny Bird of Courage
   have you read your sicp today?
9. 2018-01-30 at 4:45 AM UTC

   #9
   

   Lanny Bird of Courage
   
10. 2018-02-01 at 9:18 PM UTC

    #10
    

    Rivotril Houston
    Start with Python, or if you want to learn something even more easy, Bash Script.
    
    But talking seriously, Python is the best choice nowadays, is up in the programming market and is being implemented even in other non-technological markets such as Finance and Journalism. I learn Python because I study InfoSec and today most of security concepts can be easily implemented with Python.
11. 2018-02-01 at 9:55 PM UTC

    #11
    The Self Taught Man Black Hole
    Nerds keep pushing python, but Javascript is the best language to learn. It's important on sites, and you're probably gotta have to learn how to deal with JSON and APIs anyway, so you may as well do the backend in Javascript using node.js, or do desktop apps with Electron, etc.
    
    Heavy object orientation will make Javascript hard to get at first.
    
    If you want to do data analysis or deep learning then you generally get into Python.
    
    You will probably notice that Java is big with Pajeets, Perl is used by aging internet longhairs, R is big with statisticians, and C# is big in game development, but Python and Javascript are what the cool kids use.
12. 2018-02-01 at 11:11 PM UTC

    #12
    

    SBTlauien African Astronaut
    OP hasn't said what he wants to do. We need that info before we can start a war over what language is best for him to use.
13. 2018-02-02 at 3:17 AM UTC

    #13
    

    Lanny Bird of Courage

    Originally posted by Rivotril Start with Python, or if you want to learn something even more easy, Bash Script.

    
    "Bash script" as in like shell scripting? Bash is a notoriously difficult to learn and maintain "language".
    
    

    Originally posted by Issue313 Nerds keep pushing python, but Javascript is the best language to learn. It's important on sites, and you're probably gotta have to learn how to deal with JSON and APIs anyway, so you may as well do the backend in Javascript using node.js, or do desktop apps with Electron, etc.
    
    Heavy object orientation will make Javascript hard to get at first.

    
    By exactly what metric is Javascript the "best language to learn"? By all accounts it's design is far kludgier than python's, contains more stumbling blocks (see: arcane scoping rules and an ocean of deprecated and inconsistently supported APIs), and it's tooling ecosystem is positively byzantine (experience with webpack is now something people put on their resumes). There is nothing special about JS with respect to JSON or "APIs" and Electron is an abomination.
    
    Also there's nothing at all in JS that can really justify calling it "heavily object oriented".
14. 2018-02-02 at 8:29 PM UTC

    #14
    

    Sophie Pedophile Tech Support

    Originally posted by Lanny "Bash script" as in like shell scripting? Bash is a notoriously difficult to learn and maintain "language".

    
    Wait wut. I mean, Bash can get complex for sure but i've never really experienced learning it or at least getting into it and progressing to the level where i am at now as particularly difficult. I'm by no means an expert but you can accomplish quite a bit with some knowledge of the general syntax like if/then/else and a decent grasp of shell commands.
15. 2018-02-02 at 9:54 PM UTC

    #15
    

    mashlehash victim of incest [my perspicuously dependant flavourlessness]
    Thanks
16. 2018-02-03 at 9:26 AM UTC

    #16
    

    Lanny Bird of Courage

    Originally posted by Sophie Wait wut. I mean, Bash can get complex for sure but i've never really experienced learning it or at least getting into it and progressing to the level where i am at now as particularly difficult. I'm by no means an expert but you can accomplish quite a bit with some knowledge of the general syntax like if/then/else and a decent grasp of shell commands.

    
    It's definitely possible to hack things together but there's a lot of really awkward constructs in the language. One of the most famous is that "FOO=42" is not the same as "FOO = 42" although neither will throw an error or do anything to instruct you on which one you want. In general spaces work in ways you wouldn't expect because a lot of the language is designed around this "everything's a process or builtin" notion. There's like 3 conflicting string literal escaping schemes, the loop and conditional syntax just weird, functions don't have named arguments although they inherited C's func def syntax. The general ontology of the system is, despite trying oh so hard to be elegant, just a hot mess.
    
    But it's easy because everyone knows how to type commands into the shell, everyone has bash installed, and you _think_ it's portable because of that fact (until you try and send your shell script to someone who doesn't have GNU coreutils as part of their system).
    
    Shell scripting is useful, but as an exercise in language design it's pretty much a list of things not to do.
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    • SBTlauien, 
    • Sophie
17. 2018-02-04 at 2:02 AM UTC

    #17
    

    Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
    Well, then it's really all their fault for not having coreutils now is it. Also.
    
    

    
    #!/bin/bash
    
    function lol()
    {    echo "this works just fine"
        
    }
    
    lol
    

    
    
    I have never defined a function in bash with `def`
    
    
    However, i get what you are trying to say. Just from some nigga' with cyber hobby's perspective it's pretty straightforward.
18. 2018-02-04 at 5:40 AM UTC

    #18
    

    Lanny Bird of Courage
    Ah, that's actually the syntax I'm talking about. What I mean by C's func def syntax is like:
    
    

    
    void output_desu(char* str) {
      printf("%s desu\n", str);
    }
    

    
    
    You get named variables there. In bash the following doens't work like you'd expect:
    
    

    
    function output_desu(str) {
      echo "$str desu"
    }
    

    
    
    Instead you have to do:
    
    

    
    function output_desu() {
      echo "$1 desu"
    }
    

    
    
    and just remember what the first arg does. It's actively harmful to program legibility to not have arg names as your arglist grows. You can argue about signature typing and flexibility but plenty of dynamic languages find sane ways of allowing open signatures without depriving the programmer of variable naming. Bash stands alone in this user-hostile kludge.
    
    But I mean this is not to say it's not straight forward in some sense or that it's not a useful skill. I use bash scripting fairly regularly because it's there and it's a lot easier than dealing with language interfaces to subprocessing.
19. 2018-02-04 at 9:30 AM UTC

    #19
    

    ))<>(( Yung Blood

    Originally posted by Lanny have you read your sicp today?

    
    weconjurethespiritsofthecomputerwithourspells
20. 2018-02-04 at 9:31 AM UTC

    #20
    

    Lanny Bird of Courage
    CAR CAR CAR CAR
    CDR CDR CDR CDR
    The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

    • ))<>((