What language should I use?

[MrWizard14]

I am a novice programmer who would like to develop my skills. I recently learned Visual Basic, only to discover it was incompatible with macs. I have decided to take up a new language, but don't know which would be the best one to use. Also, do you have any reccomendations on what would be useful in my beginning programming?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mikuro]

If you're coming from Visual Basic, REALbasic is the natural choice. I've been using it for years (since it first came out in '98), and even though I do most of my work in Cocoa these days, I still think it's a great tool. It's not free, though. One good thing about REALbasic is that if you buy the professional version, you can compile cross-platform apps with no trouble.

The premier language on OS X is Objective-C, which is what Cocoa is built around (the two names are often used interchangeably, although that's not really accurate). You build Objective-C apps with Xcode, Apple's free IDE. It's powerful, it lets you make apps that feel like Mac apps, and it's all free. The downside is that it's really only useful for making OS X apps; Objective-C apps are not very portable.