which progrraming language to learn first

[dave walker]

Dougie wrote:

> I would recommend C or C++ for a couple of reasons.  There are several 
> good free compilers available for C on both windows and linux.  Alot 
> of linux stuff is written in C so there should be plenty of source 
> code to look at and play with. 
>
> Visit http://www.cprogramming.com/
> No certificates but alot of good info and tutorials on the C language. 
>
>
> On 7/15/05, *Mustafa Abbasi* <lordverminard at gmail.com 
> <mailto:lordverminard at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     i have recently started using linux and since its my summer
>     vacations i wantedto learn a language.
>     i'll be honest part of this is so that i have  a certificate to
>     show when i apply to colleges but mostly its cuz i
>     wanna learn.
>     so what language should i start with.
>     i was thinking C or visual basic but i am not sure if visual basic
>     can be used in linux ( can it???)
>     are these easy to learn, if only at the begginer level.
>     is there some place that would offer me a certificate for
>     completing this thing.
>     i live in pakistan so an online coarse that offer a certificate
>     would be incredible.
>     thanks.
>
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>
>
>
A: Because it ruins the flow of conversation
Q: Why is top posting bad?

I would, being a C programmer, say C.  However it is hard.  Stephen made 
a point that C is not good for quick find, and replace in files.  But to 
counter,

int main()
{

        __asm                    /* invoke the inline assembler */
        {
	STMDB SP!, {R1}       /* save work register */
        MRS R1, CPSR          /* get current program status */
        BIC R1, R1, #0x80     /* clear IRQ disable bit flag */
        ORR R1, R1, R0        /* OR with new value (variable NewState is in R0) */
        MSR CPSR, R1          /* store updated program status */
        LDMIA SP!,{R1}        /* restore work register */
        }
}

This would be very hard, if not impossible to do in Perl without calling a C function.  The question is,
are you going to need to be able to understand what it does?  I will however say, don't not learn C.
It is a great language to know, it sure teaches you a lot of design and formality.  But, it is not easy
to master whereas a scripting language with better documentation would be easier to learn.

my 2cents.

--
Dave