Favourite Programming language?

[George Learmonth]

Just wondering what programming languages people use and why!
Personally, I started with python because its easy to use and easily functional, then moved on to C++ and the like, mainly because they're widely used and quite diverse. Recently, I've been experimenting with Haskell and Lua, (Lua for game development, Haskell for hardcore maths ) which are both quite specialist and unique languages. So, what do you guys like the most (personally, Lua is growing on me quite a bit but C++ is my favourite).

If anyone is wanting to learn how to program, I'd recommend starting with python and looking at some guides like http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/ unless you are an avid math nerd (like myself), in which case Haskell is great.

 

[Total LOLige]

I'm not much of a programmer but at college I've used two languages VisualBasic6 and C. Out of those two I preferred C, so that must be my favourite.

 

[Esotera]

Definitely Python, it's very well-designed and strikes the right balance between being powerful & relatively quick to prototype applications.

I guess the language I use most is technically Java, but I've also used C++, javascript, and HTML5 a fair bit...of these I've got to say I prefer the web technologies as they are very easy to use and are very forgiving.

 

[Qwurty2.0]

I a currently trying to self-teach myself to program in Python using this site: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

Not sure if it is the best way to learn, I have heard some programmers online say that it is not the best and that they wish people would stop using it, but I am not sure what else to use.

 

[Wyes]

I only really know Python, because the academic I work for likes it and so insisted I learn it for the work we do. It does seem like a pretty good place to start, though I do find I run into problems because I have no kind of 'formal' education when it comes to programming.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

I started out with BASIC (the old-fashioned kind with line numbers and GOTO, because I am old), then years later moved on to C, C++, and Java. I toyed around with C# for a while before finally learning Python a couple of years ago, and I love it.

Python is great in that it just gets out of your way and lets you program. The syntax is so simple that if you don't know exactly how to do something and just guess, you'll probably be right about 75% of the time. The one big drawback is that it's slower than languages that are compiled to machine code like C, but you can get around that by writing code in C and hooking into it from Python.

 

[obstructor]

I have only really ever programmed in C++. So that counts as my favorite. I did try to learn java a little while back but for some reason it was really hard to learn.

Honestly if it counts I have started to learn SDL. Which is more of a library than a language but you still have to learn how to make it work. Took like an hour to figure out how to get the mouse position out of the GetMouseState(x,y) function, turns out you just make x and y references to the variables you want to use.

 

[Qwurty2.0]

Any experienced and sassy programmers willing to bestow up ye low-minded peasants your advice on learn the almighty ways of Programacus?

 

[frizzlebyte]

Any experienced and sassy programmers willing to bestow up ye low-minded peasants your advice on learn the almighty ways of Programacus?

First: Stop posting stuff like that. It's not cute.

Second: If you can, get a college-level textbook for whatever language you want to learn. The most I've ever learned was through a proper textbook, because it assumes NO knowledge of the topic whatsoever, but doesn't treat you like a five year-old twerp who can't tie his own shoe-laces.

The C++ Primer is also good. I don't consider it a textbook, per se, and you will need to know some programming concepts, but it is a good book and teaches you proper techniques.

 

[Blade1130]

I've done Visual Basic, HTML, JavaScript, Flash, Java, and C, with minor amounts in C++, PHP, and ASP (also GameMaker if that counts). My favorite is still kinda up in the air between Java and C++. Java is a bit more structured and (I feel) intuitive, but C++'s pointers are a big plus. Maybe if I could get a decent editor to work for C++ I might go with that. But until Visual Studio stops exploding I'm gonna go with Java (thank you Eclipse).

 

[Qwurty2.0]

Snip

My apologizes. I will try to refrain next time.

 

[alphamalet]

My favorite programming language is probably Java. My favorite language for scripting is definitely C#

 

[Veylon]

I guess my favorite is C++. The only other ones that've been pushed on me are Basic and VisualBasic. I despised the latter.

Any experienced and sassy programmers willing to bestow up ye low-minded
peasants your advice on learn the almighty ways of Programacus?

Well, the first thing you need is a compiler. If you're learning C++, I advise getting Visual Studio Express [http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2012-express], which is both free and something I am familiar with. A very solid reference I use is CPlusPlus [http://www.cplusplus.com/] which has a tutorial link on the front page and shows how to use pretty much everything C++ has to offer, from the nuts-and-bolts stuff to STL and preprocessor exotica.

I should emphasize that it's important to try things. If you think there's any facet you don't understand, fiddle with it until you do. Don't skip ahead until you've mastered what you've learned. C++, especially the STL stuff, can be pretty tough and there's a lot of unintuitiveness to it. Misplaced semicolons and confusing "=" with "==" will give you headaches.

 

[Revolutionary]

I haven't used that many but I like C++, wasn't really a fan of Java.

 

[Axel1105]

I a currently trying to self-teach myself to program in Python using this site: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

Not sure if it is the best way to learn, I have heard some programmers online say that it is not the best and that they wish people would stop using it, but I am not sure what else to use.

give this a shot:

http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python

It's an interactive tutorial for learning python. Very intuitive and hand-on.

EDIT: As far as advice on learning how to program. I recommend learning only one programming language at a time, so don't try to learn different languages before you're able to develop anything meaningful in one. Python is a good place to start. Generally, you don't want to bite off more than you can chew, so don't advance past a concept in any of your tutorials/textbooks until you fully understand it. The hardest part of learning to program is the getting into it in the first place. Once you wrap you head around computer science fundamentals, the rest is a piece of cake. Lastly, try to program things you find interesting or fun, the key is to minimize time between learning something new and the satisfaction of seeing it working on screen.

OT: I love c++, it's not the easiest to program in but it is very powerful language with a ton of features.
I also love Python. But really, it all on what I am trying to develop.

 

[Qwurty2.0]

I a currently trying to self-teach myself to program in Python using this site: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

Not sure if it is the best way to learn, I have heard some programmers online say that it is not the best and that they wish people would stop using it, but I am not sure what else to use.

give this a shot:

http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python

It's an interactive tutorial for learning python. Very intuitive and hand-on.

OT: I love c++, it's not the easiest to program in but it is very powerful language with a ton of features.
I also love Python. But really, it all on what I am trying to develop.

Thanks, I'll definitely give it a look. The one I linked to is very brief and the author purposefully makes the exercises more confusing than they need to be.

 

[zephyron]

My favorite programming language is probably Java. My favorite scripting language is definitely C#

I hope you mean "my favorite language for scripting is C#." C# is just as much of a programming language as Java (and, in fact, includes pretty much every feature I like about Java). C# does work pretty well as a scripting language, both in terms of commandline scripts and stuff like video game scripts.


My biggest piece of advise for any new programmer is to stay away from C++ until you have a rock-solid understanding for the general process of programming and software engineering. C++ is incredibly powerful, but the language is 20 years old and based on a language 30 years old, and it really shows its age. C++ requires you to understand significantly more about how it works "under the hood" than most other languages. It also is easier to make mistakes and harder to debug than most modern languages. I'd guess 90%+ of the software that's being written in C++ right now could be made more quickly and with fewer bugs, and the end-user wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Of course, C++ is great if you have to write code that needs to be incredibly performant (say, you're making a AAA game where you're strictly budgeting each of the 17 ms per frame, or you're writing kernel code that is constantly run).

So if C++ is what you should stay away from, what should you look for? If you're starting out, simple is better. Scripting languages like Python and Ruby are great for this. Programming isn't about figuring out whether the values you want are going to be integers or floating point numbers, it's about the logic and the process and the algorithms. Make up reasonable tasks for yourself, like a little text-based guess-a-number game or a random RPG name generator, whatever interests you, and try to figure out how to do it. Then, once you have the basics, start looking into a more fully-featured popular programming language like Java or C#. Personally, I feel that C# pretty much does everything that Java does, and usually better or more cleanly, and I prefer using Visual Studio to Eclipse and the other Java editors. The difference might come down to operating system support-- Java works out of the box on pretty much everything, even Android uses it natively; C# can work on everything, but getting it to work on more than just PC usually requires extra effort.

 

[alphamalet]

My favorite programming language is probably Java. My favorite scripting language is definitely C#

I hope you mean "my favorite language for scripting is C#." C# is just as much of a programming language as Java (and, in fact, includes pretty much every feature I like about Java). C# does work pretty well as a scripting language, both in terms of commandline scripts and stuff like video game scripts.

Indeed, that is what I meant. It's getting late and I should have caught how that came across. Fixing it.

 

[llafnwod]

Learn C if you want to learn about computers, learn Python if you want to learn structured programming, and learn Scheme if you want to learn how to think.

http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/

 

[Marc Wyzomirski]

C++ is definitely at the top of my list.

Managed C++ can go to hell though. I usually end up making a conversion class for everything and just doing things in normal C++, converting as necessary.

I have experience in C++, Java, and VisualBasic. With C++ I've used both DirectX9, and OpenGL. I by far prefer DirectX though.