opinions on a language

[thesimplecreator]

i want to learn programming but i want an easy/useful language to learn (to get down basic programming concepts) before i go to college to learn harder stuff.
some online quizz told me python would be best for me for ease of use and learning.
but i wanted real opinions if python would be good for me.

right now power and speed arent important i just need an easy-to-learn/cross-platform language that i can write basic programs with.

im probably a noob for righting easy and basic so many times

[nikkon]

from my point of view ... bash shell must be the firs one...for understanding how it works...i start with bash...and i have something to learn...and in the furute the next step will be perl...then phyton.

[RobinVossen]

I started with GML, then I did VB (that screwed me up.. Dont do VB or anything) and then I did C++.
If you are just new to programming. And are quite good in Math and inteligent.
Start with PHP, C++ or Perl. (If you are nuts try ASM as start )

[thesimplecreator]

but wich are the easyest of em to learn?

[Cabhan]

So there are a lot of languages out there, and all can basically do the same thing. The difference is that some are geared for a particular purpose, have a different culture, or have a different level of abstraction. The awesome thing is that once you understand the concepts between any language, you can apply those concepts to any other language.

Now, you specifically mentioned Python. Python is very popular these days as a first language because it is fairly syntax-sparse, it is very high-level, and it is cross-platform. However, Python is not the "best" language or anything.

Personally, I think you should just go and learn it. You definitely can write actual applications in Python, but at this point, that's not your goal. Your goal is to get introduced to programming and computer science. Python is as good as any other, and better than many for this purpose.

I'm sure there are tons of tutorials out there, and I remember hearing good things about this:
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python

There are always people around to help you with things you don't understand. Just don't be afraid to play around and ask questions.

[thesimplecreator]

ok thx for your help
im gonna try it

[Thrillhouse]

There are sort of 2 schools of thought when it comes to which language should be learned first. The first says that a relatively easy language like Python or Perl should be first to introduce you to the concepts of programming. You'll learn about variables and functions and what-have-you and you might even be able to program functional applications right from the get-go but the problem with these languages is that they abstract a lot of details for you. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. It's a good thing because it allows you to be more flexible but it can be a bad thing when you're trying to understand why something is happening the way it is.

The other school of thought says you should teach a more low-level language like C the first time around. It's more difficult but you learn a lot more about data types, memory allocation and the like. From that, you have a very solid base around which you can learn other languages. If you do it this way, learning a language like Python would only take a couple of days.

I prefer the second method simply because you get the hard stuff out of the way right up front. If you learn a high level language like Python first, you might struggle with the concepts but if you do then you are certainly more likely to struggle with the concepts when you get to C. If you learn C, you'll struggle just like you did with Python (and probably a little more) but then all that struggle is out of the way. It frees you up to learn other languages without having to ramp up to them.

But that's just my opinion. Go ahead and learn Python if you'd like. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from learning anything.