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[legacy]

A while ago I was on here looking to get into some programming. Its been a side hobby and I've learned some Python to get me started. I was looking at where to go next and the way I see it you can essentially divide programming into 3 "disciplines": Web Development, Game Development, and Software/Application Development. The first two are self explanatory but could someone tell me the kind of things I'd be looking at working on in the third category?

Secondly, what are good languages to learn for each discipline? I haven't decided exactly what I want to focus on but this will help for when I do.

Lastly, can people just give some suggestions of projects I can work on or work towards being able to do please. Mostly in Python but I'm at the point where I'm willing to branch out.

Sorry if this is a n00b post

[WingedPanther]

I would consider Game Development as part of Software/Application Development. That would include writing programs that are meant to run on an OS, such as Word, Excel, OpenOffice, and OpenArena.

Web Development: any server-side scripting language, along with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and possibly some plugin languages like ActionScript (Flash) or Java.

Application Development: any language meant for that, including C, C++, .NET languages, Java, Delphi/Lazarus, and a variety of scripting languages.

Game Development: depends on the platform, but tends to favor languages with lower overhead. Trying to write the latest, greatest action game in an interpreted language that runs like molasses is a bad idea. Generally, the more it pushes the envelope on graphics/sound/etc, the more likely it is to be C or C++.

I recently read a book on Data Analysis with open-source tools, and about half of the sample programs were in Python.