Starting a teenager programming?

[chili5]

I seriously think that you don't know what your talking about. Python is widely used especially in search engines and their are a lot of resources online about it.

Originally Posted by
MeTh0Dz

Why would I just listen to someone if I know nothing of them? That's ignorant.

If so then why do we listen to you, we don't necessarily know that you know if you actually know what your saying or just talking up random * * * *

I agree winged obviously knows what he is talking about, yet you I think you don't know anything, if your not listening to anything that anybody says.

So for the user that started this topic, either learn python or C# first, don't start with java, assembly or C++.

[MeTh0Dz]

Chili do you even have a reason why it wouldn't be good to start with C++, C, or Assembly other than you think they are "difficult" (/cry) to learn. So next you are going to tell me that python is more widely used than Perl correct, or how about C, or maybe VB? You really should get some facts before you argue with me.

Python is simply not a mainstream language.

[Jordan]

I think C++ is an excellent language to begin with, as well as python. You might want to start by learning the general concepts of programming first. There are many great books and classes for this.

I think arguments such as these are great but don't take it to far and start insulting one another. We all have different opinions and we need to respect one another.


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[v0id]

Originally Posted by MeTh0Dz

Python is far from mainstream, it's community is still very small. Just saying it's used for something does not mean that it is widely used.

I disagree. I will say that Python has become mainstream. It's true that it hasn't as many users as other languages, and its community still not is as big as the others, but everything has to start somewhere, and I think that Python has become mainstream over the years, and that it still is. If you check some of all the statistics and other graphs of usage and popularity, like TIOBE and Langpop, you can see that Python in most of the cases is in the top 10, even above languages like C#.
A lot of projects do use Python, both commercial projects and non-commercial. Many games (like Battlefield, Crysis, ...) use Python as a scripting-backend for various tasks (and some games, like EVE Online, have even based most of the game on Python), Nokia uses Python extensively for their Series 60, and so does Google, NASA, YouTube, and so on.

Back to the discussion about C/C++ and Assembly versus everything else. I don't think your way of looking at things at is smart (no offense). You can't compare languages in general. You'll have to compare them in concrete situations. If I'm developing a system for parsing data from files (eventually XML, or some user-defined structure) for use in an application I would choose Python, because it has great facilities for string manipulation, built-in regex module, etc., and I would give a rat's *** if C is good at graphics or GUI development. It was just an example and it may sound stupid, but my point is that you can't choose a language from an overall perspective, but you must choose a language after the situation you're in or the project you're working on. purcellgal is a beginner. That is his (or her) situation. That's why I recommended Python; because I think it's best for beginners, while you recommended C/C++ and Assembly, simply because they're some good average languages. You shall not always care about what languages can or not can, but also how the productivity in the languages is, whether the languages have good documentation, and so on.

A last note. Don't get me wrong: I love C/C++ and Assembly, and they're my languages of choice (yes, I do prefer them over Python), but I simply don't see them as beginner languages. My opinion...


(PS. It's not a solution to drag other members into a discussion, when they're not even aware of it. In this case it was WingedPanther.)

[TcM]

Originally Posted by Xav

Sometimes you just need to accept that you can't always be right. ..... Stop pretending you know everything, because you don't, and listen to other people - you will learn something.

Well.. only if you do that, it would be great! Why are you telling someone to do that when you don't do it?!

Remember the Ubuntu being the same as windows thingy? That was noobish, and what made you look stupid was the fact that you did not accept the fact that what you said was wrong, instead you continued arguing. If you listened, you would have knew that!

[MeTh0Dz]

In my opinion, Python is still now mainstream. You are however correct in that more and more people are starting to pick up the language (I myself can code in it).

You refer to my way of looking at things. I was not the one that started comparing languages, all I said was that C, C++, and Assembly would be the best to start with. Then other people started comparing those languages with the ones that they thought were better choices. I was simply arguing a point that someone else created by comparing my choices with theirs. So don't say that my "way" of looking at the languages is "not smart".

I still say the best languages to start with are C, C++, Assembly, there is no reason to "baby" yourself just because you are new to programming. Learn a "powerful" - low level language.

[TcM]

Well, not to get in the argument, but I bet that's gonna be a hard start. Although low level is the fundamental of all languages.

[MeTh0Dz]

Regardless of if it is more difficult or not, it will be worthwhile in the end. And learning a low level language is not "that" much harder to learn than others.

[TcM]

Well... I know a little ASM, but only how it works, and a little coding... it's not that much hard to understand, but I think that for the more complex stuff... it is hard.

[WingedPanther]

I think a bigger concern than whether a language is mainstream or not is whether it is useful. Python (which I don't know), Java, C, C++, and many others are quite useful and worth knowing. Of course, learning PHP, HTML, and JavaScript would allow you to have the satisfaction of seeing results quickly.