About programming, a general question

[Boggess Rod]

>hi,
>
>If one has to start from the scratch, from the zeroth level to do the
>programing, which programing language one should start with? In the
ocean
>of
>the languages, to start with is really very typical. Can one justify
it.
>Some say Python but again they say it is Perl which is better every
time
>then the Python. Some say to start with C or C++ but again some
emphasis to
>use Java or C#. Many say to go for .Net and VB or COBOL and some say to
>learn web based programing like HTML, PHP, ASP.Net. In this ocean who
is
>just starting to learn which one he should prefer?
>
>Many say that what is the purpose of learning, then I say that to have
the
>basic understanding of how exactly we can handle the machines like the
CPU.
>Not to generate the big projects for the management processes, not even
>banking system but to know the basic of programing like how to handle
the
>machines at the first, for that purpose, for the the scratch level
purpose
>and for the one which is good even for Linux, what programing language
>should one like me, initiate?
>
>--
>Regards,
>Parshwa Murdia
>-------------- next part --------------

Your motivation then is to understand the fundamental concepts in
computer science? In that case, I'm going to agree with the
Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) in the US and
go with "the language doesn't matter -- the fundamental concepts do."
That's why when you take a college class it has class descriptions like
"Fundamentals of Data Structures (taught using Ada programming
language)", and not "Ada programming language (users will be expected to
learn fundamentals of Data Structures)".

If you have more practical interests, there are languages that do
certain things better than others. You mention Linux, learn Bash. It has
practical application in that you can write scripts that actually do
something -- automate an administrative task. Or if you're more
ambitious, join a development team for one of the Gnu applications and
contribute while you learn and are mentored.

Or, if you're motivation is ultimately to design or develop something,
say web sites, you should start with languages that lend themselves to
those environments. (C# is very popular for Windows native programs,
ECMAScript or JavaScript as well as PHP are popular for web design, and
so on. Give us your motivation, and we can better help.) Here's a break
down of some by popularity:
http://www.dataists.com/2010/12/ranking-the-popularity-of-programming-la
ngauges/