what do you mean here by "to keep up"?

Check out these interactive training courses.

http://authors.phptr.com/phptrintera.../training.html

If you want your applications to be competitive in the marketplace regarding speed and file size, I would recommend C# or C++. If you're just wanting to write shit for yourself it won't matter as much.

If you are serious about programming, it's probably best you take a basic c++ programming course at a local community college. It will teach you programming concepts applicable to any programming language.

I get it, thanks

thanks. i'll look into this

what worries me about c++ is the amount of time it takes to become competent in it. that's what has put me off looking at it in depth so far

First learn programming logic and constructs and you'll be able to program in any language. That means, first learn how to write algorithms on paper, how loops work, and if constructs.

Then for Windows programming, I'd recommend learning Visual Basic.

It's really not too bad and you get what you put into it... I suppose you can become a vb guru in half the time it takes to become a c++ guru, but vb guru is really worth half as much as a c++ guru...

and I think you get Microsoft's IDE's free to use if you are a student.

i recommend english programming language. lol

50 nerds.

Whoah the new quick reply just keeps em all on the same page with no pagebreak till you refresh.

I know this isn`t what you are asking but I`m starting to learn python and it`s incredibly useful.And like someone said , you can make windows apps, server side apps and pretty much anything else.
Of course for a big windows app it won`t work, but for automating tasks and stuff,it`s looking really good.
I`m learning from a couple of free books on the net :
http://www.byteofpython.info/
http://diveintopython.org/

thanks for that

thanks. I think this is the best place for start for me.

i've actually got an old copy of visual studio with vb6 so that along with a decent book should get me going...

on a related note - is it possible for me to find out which programming langauge was used to create a certain .EXE? I was just wondering if there's a tool for this.

thanks. bookmarked

I'll go with vb for starters and see how I get on. fingers crossed that should be good enough to create consumer software.

I've actually seen job ads for big financial firms asking for VB, so I guess if it's good enough for them...

okay, one final question:

do you happen to know of any good online resources for learning VB6?

thanks!

C++

Once you have matered that and win32 programming you are the god of programing.

Egomancer

A lot of suggestions down the road - Assembly is definately the worst suggestion so far :)

I really really enjoy C++ OOP (Object Oriented Programming)
I would not recommend anything else to anyone, maybe Java but thats slower.

If you want to learn C++ and are starting from (almost) nothing, learning C first is not only a total waste of time, but also downright harmful :2 cents:


As for my advice: start with either TurboPascal (no, seriously, it's a good language to learn how to program in general) or Java, and once you get that down, move on to C++. Or, if you already know a decent amount about programming, move on to C++ immediately.

I would say grab MSDN, it's a great reference. As for learning resources, that depends on how you learn. If you learn from seeing examples, check out pscode.com if you learn best with tutorials, check google.

VB gets my recommendation.

On a side note, not to hijack, but what is a nice stable language to write the backend for web apps with? I was thinking either C, Perl or Py but I've heard mixed reviews about Py being slow and such, which isn't good. So this thread doesn't get too hijacked, if you want to PM me that'd be cool :thumbsup

Good luck, Vb is relatively easy to learn.

thanks very much for this. and feel free to hijack away...

I'd have to recommend trying .NET first. It might be a bit more difficult to jump into initially than VB is, but in the end it'll pay off since you can do much more with it. With .NET, the programming language you use is moreso an option of personal preference, so regardless of whether you use VB, C#, J# or C++ the end code will essentually be the same. Microsoft offers "lightweight" verions that are free to use, provided that you're not using them for commerical purposes.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ex...b/default.aspx - Visual Basic
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ex...p/default.aspx - Visual C#
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ex...c/default.aspx - Visual C++
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ex...J/default.aspx - Visual J#

Personally, I would have to recommend going with c#. But it really depends on where you're looking to go with it, for me programming has been moreso a hobby and fascination ever since i was 13, so I'm sure that i view things differently than someone that just now getting into it for the purpose of making money. :error

That's definitely true...once you get a basic grasp of the logic, learning other languages is cake.

VB is a horrible habit to get into. It's going to craete quite the hurdle for you to learn another language.

Why not look into python? It's fast and quite easy to learn, and its platform agnostic. In english that means that if you write a program under windows on your pc, you most likely will be able to run the same promgram on your server.

I have to agree in theory, but TurboPascal? Does anyone still use pascal? I wrote bbs software in pascal and havent writen a line of code in it since 1993 atleast...

What I have to agree with is dont learn ansi c first. Learn a good Object Oriented modern lagnuage then jump into C++... I'd recommend something like Ruby or Python to start....

Go with C++ , so you can use that knowledge on *nix also ..

TurboPascal isn't something I'd recommend to actually use, it just is a good learning language. It was originally created as an introductory language to teach students structured programming, and for that, it still works pretty well.

IMHO, you'd be alot better off learning delphi then vb, there's alot of reasons i won't get in to, but do yourself a favor and find a copy of Delphi 6 Personal Edition (it's free) and go that route

Hmm.... Well I guess it depends what you are doing. In my "non-adult" day job, I pretty much do data driven, ASP.Net websites, using C#, and SQL for the DB queries. I don't really write standalone Windows programs. Please note that Visual Studio .Net and the associated MS backends can get very pricey real quick. They are a couple of decent free tools that Microsoft has. You could also do some basic Asp.net sites using Dreamweaver. It has build in support for this although few people use it.

If you want to write data driven websites for your own purposes, I would say PHP and MYSQL(both free) would do the job in most cases. You could use Dreamweaver for development.

Good luck.

thanks. I'll do a search for this.

thanks for this. was looking at php/mysql for server side, and was considering my options for client side. as visual studio express is free that should be a good starting point. will also take a look at delphi personal edition.

Why not learn something like pearl?

I'm pretty much retarded, so don't read what I type below.
----------------

Fuck desktop programming languages. Focus on something that works on many platforms (well 2, windows / unix flavored servers). I think in the next few years, a lot of desktop software (not all), will go the way of the dinosaur. Internet applications, web services, etc. will be the future.

thanks. I feel though that the money's in windows apps and I can't see downloadable software going anywhere, personally.

that said, if you do server side services right that can work, but that's more for business customers I would say rather than targeting consumers.

looking at options for windows client apps. have so far decided on php/mysql for server side stuff

just hire a phillipin programmer and pay him $3 an hour

tried that. didn't work well. however carefully you tell them what you want, in my experience they always fuck up

short of me getting to grips with this, the next best way I feel would be to actually have someone in house.

maybe there's a trick to getting stuff coded remotely and successfully, but I haven't found it yet

no confusion, C++ or C#