Noob wanting to learn c or java

[knux889]

hey I am new to this, and currently i have ubuntu on my cp for about a year and i want to learn to program. I dont know where and what to start with so if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be awsome. Thanks.

[gerard4143]

Here's a link to show you how to write 'Hello, World' in C

Beginning C programming tutorial by The Linux Information Project

If your interested in C try these books:

"The C Programming Language"

and

"The Complete Reference C"

[techieMoe]

For Java, I recommend the tutorials from Sun:

New to Java Programming Center - Sun Microsystems

As well as the book Learn Java in a Weekend, although it's kind of hard to find. Used book stores would be your best bet. Wrox has some good programming books as well.

[coopstah13]

Personally I don't think C, C++, or java are good first languages. Java is certainly more noob friendly than the first two though.

I think you're better off learning a scripting language like python. I've heard great things about lua and ruby as well.

[knux889]

thanks, i think i might try java out and see where that takes me, any suggestions on a program for ubuntu?

[techieMoe]

Personally I don't think C, C++, or java are good first languages. Java is certainly more noob friendly than the first two though.

I think you're better off learning a scripting language like python. I've heard great things about lua and ruby as well.

Much like flavors of ice cream, everyone has their favorite computer languages. Any programming language can be a good first language; it just depends on the individual user's needs and abilities.

Why do you believe scripting languages are "better" than C/C++ or Java? I'm curious.

[techieMoe]

thanks, i think i might try java out and see where that takes me, any suggestions on a program for ubuntu?

My personal favorite Java development client for all platforms (Linux, Win, Mac) is Eclipse, but there are a number of clients available. I believe you can get Eclipse from the Ubuntu repositories using Add/Remove Programs.

[coopstah13]

I think they are better first languages, I don't think they are necessarily better than those because its all about the right tool for the job, whatever that may be. I just think that learning on a scripting language is easier because usually their syntax is a lot easier to read and you can learn most if not all general programming/software engineering concepts through them. Especially with something like python, it forces you to write readable code. Personally, I did learn on C++ and I was fine, but many people have difficulty with memory management. This turns a lot of people away from computer science, and the reason why many universities are stopping this from being the language used in the early courses.

[hugortega]

15 years ago I started to learn programming with basic: it was a complete waste of time... after that, I started to learn C and Pascal and I can say it was very good (specially C) because I learned how to program with take care on details, and that's a good thing, because I take on my mind that I needed to be rigorous to write *good* code.... years later I learned java and various scripting languages (such as Python and JS) and I love them (really), but I'm not sure about use them as a first programming language, because they eliminate some important parts (in my opinion) of the learning curve, e.g. how to write *very* efficient code... ok, of course you can write efficient code with scripting languages, but there are things such as programming your own B+ tree data structure or managing image buffers (and many others), that are excellent to learn how to programming efficient code.

Anyway, at the end, depends of your requirements... every language have their use and you will need to learn several on the real (professional) life: if you're thinking about write device drivers for your own pieces of your linux-based-robot's hardware, learn C... but if you're curious about programming and want to learn a new and useful tool to complement your main job, you will be fine with python, ruby or even scripting in R language.

Hugo

[Rubberman]

You can learn to program in most any language, including shell scripting languages (bash, csh, ksh, perl, et al). As Niklas Wirth said, "Data + Algorithms = Programs". You need to learn to think about solving problems in the context of the data that delineates the parameters of the problem, and the transformations that data (algorithms) that implement the solution of the problem.

As for languages, most any will allow you to apply transformations to data to implement a program. The C language is a procedural language which while difficult to master, is not too difficult to learn, syntactically speaking. Java is an object-oriented language which has procedural capabilities - I consider it to be C++ with training wheels. Object-oriented languages help to encapsulate and express programs by grouping data and its transformations together in classes in a more consistent and logical manner than a purely procedural language such as C. Personally, for beginning programmers I usually recommend something like Java that encourages you to consider the data and its transformations as a whole, rather than a purely procedural language where you have to deal with a lot more niddly details about that.