should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

I took Pascal and BASIC in a couple of beginner programming courses about a
decade ago and did well with them. I am good with pseudocode, algorithms,
and the mathematics of programming. I decided I should perhaps learn a
more powerful language to program my own apps. I got a "Beginning C" book,
but the C programs won't compile in the free compilers I have downloaded.
The syntax is different. I guess I have to buy a programming package, but
money's tight. Any recommendations?

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Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

grappletech napsal:
> I took Pascal and BASIC in a couple of beginner programming courses about a
> decade ago and did well with them. I am good with pseudocode, algorithms,
> and the mathematics of programming. I decided I should perhaps learn a
> more powerful language to program my own apps. I got a "Beginning C" book,
> but the C programs won't compile in the free compilers I have downloaded.
> The syntax is different. I guess I have to buy a programming package, but
> money's tight. Any recommendations?
>
> ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

You can get many free compilers for various platforms (for example Gnu
C/C++ is available for almost any platform). You can find many of them
at http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/cpp.shtml

Question "C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?" is not good for C++ forum.
The answer is of course C++. You can ask on java forum and you'll get
answer java, etc. I (personaly) would recommend C++ or java. C is also
good. But definitely not Visual Basic (no flame - it is just my
personal opinion).

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

grappletech wrote:
> Any recommendations?

Try a search engine.
Such questions were posted thousands of times already.

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

grappletech:

> I took Pascal and BASIC in a couple of beginner programming courses
> about a decade ago and did well with them. I am good with pseudocode,
> algorithms, and the mathematics of programming. I decided I should
> perhaps learn a more powerful language to program my own apps. I got a
> "Beginning C" book, but the C programs won't compile in the free
> compilers I have downloaded. The syntax is different. I guess I have
> to buy a programming package, but money's tight. Any recommendations?


C++, it's the Swiss army knife of programming languages.

--

Frederick Gotham

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

grappletech <noone@removenowhere.biz> wrote:

> I took Pascal and BASIC in a couple of beginner programming courses about a
> decade ago and did well with them. I am good with pseudocode, algorithms,
> and the mathematics of programming. I decided I should perhaps learn a
> more powerful language to program my own apps. I got a "Beginning C" book,
> but the C programs won't compile in the free compilers I have downloaded.
> The syntax is different. I guess I have to buy a programming package, but
> money's tight. Any recommendations?

Yes. You should also study SmallTalk, Python, and Ruby. As well as
Scheme, Lisp, CLOS, Eiffel, and Ada.

--
To send me email, put "sheltie" in the subject.

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

[...]
> Yes. You should also study SmallTalk, Python, and Ruby. As well as
> Scheme, Lisp, CLOS, Eiffel, and Ada.
I'd look at ASM :)
>

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

DevC++ is a good, free development environment:
http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html, along with Dialog Designer for
wxWidgets: http://wxdsgn.sourceforge.net/.

Alan

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

Daniel T. wrote:

> Yes. You should also study SmallTalk, Python, and Ruby. As well as
> Scheme, Lisp, CLOS, Eiffel, and Ada.

There are a lot of languages that could be removed, either because they
are redundant or obsolete.
On the other hand, there is no representative of the ML family.

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

[Followups set to acclcc++]

grappletech said:

> I got a "Beginning C"
> book, but the C programs won't compile in the free compilers I have
> downloaded.

C is C. Sounds like you got a lousy book, so the solution is to get a better
book. "The C Programming Language", 2nd edition, by Kernighan and Ritchie,
is the definitive guide to C, and worth every penny. (Dennis Ritchie is the
creator of the C language.)

--
Richard Heathfield
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29/7/1999
http://www.cpax.org.uk
email: rjh at the above domain, - www.

Re: should I study C or C++ or Java or Visual Basic?
 

Alan wrote:
> DevC++ is a good, free development environment:
> http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html, along with Dialog Designer for
> wxWidgets: http://wxdsgn.sourceforge.net/.
>
> Alan
>

Get Code::Blocks instead. AFAIK, Dev-C++ is no longer being developed
and Code::Blocks is its moral successor.

Incidentally, I think Visual Studio Express by Microsoft is even better,
and it's also free.