First computer language

Rajiv Vyas rajiv1 at gmail.com
Tue Aug 16 14:11:09 UTC 2005


On 8/15/05, hzs202 at gmail.com <hzs202 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Firstly, I would like to ask the OP (original poster) if learning Perl
> first was a questionable decision or something you have firmly decided
> upon.
> On 15/08/05 17:01 +0100, Anthony Gardner wrote:
> > Perl is as clean as you wish to make it. To begin
> > programming it's perfect as you don't have to worry
> > about memeory mgt and if you want to program the way
> > you speak, then it's perfect.
> 
> Although you can make Perl syntax read similar to language that does not
> mean that it is *compact*. Compactness is a term which describes the
> design of a programming language in this case can fit in your head. Eric
> Raymond, author of _The Art of Unix Programming_ has a good rule of
> thumb to measure whether something is compact or not. He says, "Does an
> experienced user need a manual? If not, then the design (or at least the
> subset of it that covers normal use [like C for example]) is compact.
> 
> I'm of the opinion that a compact programming languages (C and Python)
> should be taught first. Then non-compact languages such as Perl, Java,
> Lisp and Shell language or an anti-compact language such as C++.
> 
> This is my opinion based on my own learning difficulties, I _must_
> quote Raymond best illustrates my sentiment on the subject when he
> writes, "The purpose of emphasizing compactness as a virtue is not to
> condition you to treat compactness as an absolute requirement, but to
> teach you to do what *Unix Programmers do*..."



I was pretty much set on Perl. Perl was recommended to me by someone
who has done extensive financial modeling with it and at the same time
used it for doing simple things.

There are few very good suggestions to this thread: one was to look at
other languages such as Python, Ruby and MIT Scheme. I checked out
Python but either I did not find a good tutorial to start with or the
tutorials were beyond my understanding. But Ruby seems interesting and
so does MIT Scheme (mainly for understanding the logic behind
programming).

Another recent post was to dive into code, which I would agree. Once I
get the basics of whichever language I choose to start with, that
would be the next step.

Regarding C/C++, I think I would face similar issues as Python -- no
good tutorials to start with.


Thanks,

Rajiv




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