Beginning.

[maxiscool]

I have a few questions to ask about programming in ubuntu.

1. What language will I be using?
2. What is a good resource for beginners?

[DOllaBillz217]

Probably just be using shell scripting. I would use google.com and look up shell scripting for dummies or something like that. I bought a Sams Teach yourself shell programming in 24 hours book and it was pretty good.

[aliov]

I have a few questions to ask about programming in ubuntu.

1. What language will I be using?
2. What is a good resource for beginners?

what do you by programming in Ubuntu ? it's as any other Linux distro if you want to make some developments you can do starting from shell till going to make graphical programs.

[maxiscool]

OK. what exactly is shell scripting. Lets say that I want to make a simple pop up. Could I do that with Shell Scripting?

[aliov]

The shell scripting is the language that allow you to talk with you operating system, Linux uses bash as default, but you can always change for some users.

once you open a terminal and start making commands all these commands are interpreted by your shell .

for the popup ,in principle yes you can but you have to use a utility called dialog , check this http://invisible-island.net/dialog/dialog.png

Linux contains Library and developments packages as much as any developer in the whole world want. i'll list some of them.

1)-GTK+ it's a powerful library used by gnome to make their programs
2)-QT used by KDE to draw the panel and the utilities (similar to GTK)
3)-SDL simple direct layer, used to write games , chromium is a good example http://linuxreviews.org/games/classics/chromium-1.jpg
4)-Mesa (similar to openGL for 3d gaming
5)-the X11 development package , you can even make a complete desktop with this.

and much more , library for interpret XML files and ...........................

and sure don't forget the wonder of Linux ,the Kernel -
have a look to this Writing a Simple USB Driver | Linux Journal


and sure another languages are available like python .

Linux is the best choice for developer for many reason , it's open source free and contains a lot of developments packages

Regards.

[maxiscool]

So with all of those languages you listed above, all I need is the Terminal and I will get a GUI?

[aliov]

So with all of those languages you listed above, all I need is the Terminal and I will get a GUI?

I don't understand you clearly ,

first those aren't languages , they are libraries you can use them to write softwares GUI,games ,etc ....

So if you use for example GTK+ to write a software in order to run it your X should be running !

For the shell dialog utilities (this is used for the Linux installer some times like slackware installation ) all what you need is a terminal and a shell .

Provide me more information about what you are going to do , so i can help you.

Best Regards.

[maxiscool]

There is something I am not clearly understanding as well. Let me give you an example of a program that I would want to do:

A simple pop up that says "Hello World!"


How would I code that?

Also, instead of having programming languages, each 'library' has its own terminal and understands different commands, right?

[aliov]

you can do it in many different way,

if you want a old style (like DOS) you can do it from the terminal using the dialog utilities (it's a program not a library)

dialog --infobox "Hello World" 15 15 (the height and the width).

if you want to make a GUI panel , you can use GTK+ or QT , these are libraries
you have to include them in your source code and then use the functions/structures provided by these libraries with your C and C++ code, also these libraries are adapted to other languages like python , but let concentrate in the C or C++.

like when you include a file , #include<stdio.h> here you are including the standard GNU C library and you can then use the input/output manipulations and others.
so in GTK you do #include<gtk/gtk .h> and you'll have the functions that allow you to draw buttons and bars and so on,

also for GTK for example you need to link the correct libraries and to tell your compiler to link them usually if you want to compile a GTK+ program you do .


gcc `pkg-config --libs --cflags gtk+-2.0` monprog.c -o monprog

Regards.

[DOllaBillz217]

You could just type

echo Hello World

And it will popup "in your terminal" not on the screen. You can just make a script, run the script, and then accomplish whatever it is you want