# Which language seems to be the best to learn?



## HomunQlus (May 13, 2005)

Well... I want to learn to program obviously, to write my own programs for OS X and Linux.

I think C++ is getting out of date now. So which language do you think seems to be the best to learn? 

(Besides: I find C++ a bit complicated...  )


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## Zammy-Sam (May 13, 2005)

What kind of programs do you want to write? I found Perl very easy to learn since it's very similar to C++.


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## Ceroc Addict (May 13, 2005)

HomunQlus said:
			
		

> Well... I want to learn to program obviously, to write my own programs for OS X and Linux.
> 
> I think C++ is getting out of date now. So which language do you think seems to be the best to learn?
> 
> (Besides: I find C++ a bit complicated...  )


Javascript (_<don't mind me as I hack out my own tongue - if you told me 5 years ago that I'd be  recommending learning Javascript...>_ ).

Why? - it's apparently the language that Dashboard widgets are written in and if OS X needs anything, it needs a lot of great widgets.

Kap


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## Viro (May 13, 2005)

He wants to write programs for OS X and Linux. If that is the case, Objective-C is definitely out of the question, as it is mainly a OS X only thing.

You've got a few main options : Java, C++, Python. 

Java runs great on OS X but not so great on Linux. The up side of Java is that employers seem to be dropping over themselves to get Java programmers. At least that's the impression I get over in the UK. The speed of Java is pretty much up to par with C++ for most things these days, and I'm now writing most of my simulation code in Java since it is easier to port compared to C++, and has a much more complete cross-platform library.

C++ is the main stay of computer science. It's not too bad a language, but it can be very very complex once you start getting into the deep stuff. Use the Qt library if you want to write applications for Linux and OS X. I think the libraries are quite Java like, and that's a good thing!

Python seems to be getting popular. Runs great on pretty much anything with a Python _interpreter_. That's right, like Perl it's interpreted. If you want speed, stay away from Python. that said, Python looks like an easy to learn language and you can knock stuff up quite quickly in Python.


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## HomunQlus (May 13, 2005)

Thanks guys!

I want to write simple applications at first, just to learn, than later on more useful apps. Java and C++ seems to be the best shot... I guess will buy books about those two.

Cheers guys


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## riccbhard (May 19, 2005)

Well I like VB, but thats so easy I feel like i'm using an out-of-date language. Hoping to get RealBasic for Mac.


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## Tyaedalis (May 20, 2005)

what language is the best for 2d games?

c++?


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## Viro (May 20, 2005)

None. You can write games in any language.


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## wiz (May 25, 2005)

Ruby. Its the best to learn.


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## texanpenguin (May 26, 2005)

I really don't like Java anymore. Neither AWT nor Swing have actually kept up to date with visual styles that OS X has implemented (tabbedPanes in Java will never, ever, ever look right. Either we have Jaguar-style big tabs, or we have a light coloured JPanel within the tabbedPane, and that just looks bad).

Interfaces are notoriously hard to write in Java too (though there are some tools that help somewhat, they're never Interface Builder good). Add to that that Java always seems to run like it's being interpreted on the fly (as far as speed goes), and interface responsiveness isn't up to par (if anyone has ever used LimeWire or Eclipse on OS X compared to Windows, it's a JOKE).

Java is a worthwhile language to learn, but I can't help feeling dirty running it on OS X.

That having been said, I don't have a straight answer for the poster.


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