Selecting Your First Programming Language

Selecting Your First Programming Language

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Deciding what your needs are

Many times on forums and in chat rooms I hear the same question over and over. “What programming language should I learn?” but the answer is different for every person. However there are some common questions you can ask yourself to figure out a good starting point.

“What do I want to accomplish?”

First you should start to think about what you want to create when coding. Do you want to make cool websites, and web applications, or maybe a quick windows application to calculate the amount of paint needed for a room? What about creating video, flash, and 3D graphics. There are languages designed to do all this and more! You just need to figure out what your needs and wants are. Do some research on popular languages and find out what types of programs other people have written with them.

! Keep in mind !

When you first start coding it is more important to learn how to program then it is to learn the library's or modules of the language. Focus on the basics and make sure you understand them before moving on.

“Should I worry about compatibility & portability?”

The short answer is: no that is not likely at this stage. Since you are just starting out you will most likely just pick a language that will run on your current operating system. However in the future you may need or want your application to work on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Mac.

“Is the language well documented?”

Are you going to be able to find a lot of information about your language? What types of books, internet tutorials, and official documentation are there available for your language? It is always nice to have a good community around the language as well. Most on-line communities are based on forums, IRC, and mailing lists. Remember that Google is your friend. Just look up your language on Google to find tutorials, and on-line community's, check out Borders or Amazon dot com for books.

“What level of architecture do I want to code in?”

Computer do not understand the source code we write. They only understand machine code. Machine code can be thought of as binary, just two states 0 or 1 or switches that are either on or off. We could say there are about 4 different levels of programming languages. Low, middle, high, and very high level. When a language is said to be a low level language it means that the source code is more closely related to the machine code. This means the source is a bit more cryptic an complex, but you have very fine control and a lot of power over your program. If a language is high level it means it is closer to human readable language and it is much easier to get common (and some uncommon) things done. Though some of the finer details are hidden from the programmer. The benefits of a lower level language is speed and power. The problem is you wouldn't want to write an entire game in a low level language because it would be large, complex, and hard to understand.

“Compiled or interpreted?”

When a program is said to be “compiled” it means that the source code is passed threw a special program called a compiler before it can be ran. The compiler turns the human readable source code directly into machine language also known as a “binary file” or “.exe”.

When a program is said to be “interpreted” it means the source code is passed to a special program appropriately called an interpreter during run time. This means you just have to save a script with an appropriate file extension and run it. The source code is compiled dynamically on the fly during run-time. So compile time is run time. The pro is you can create programs very quickly and save a lot of time. The con is you lose some speed and power in your programs. Compiled programs are naturally faster the interpreted ones. Don't let that put you off though, many interpreted languages are more then powerful enough for your everyday needs.

Some languages are / or can be “byte compiled”. This means that when the source is compiled it is not turned directly into machine language. Instead it is turned into an “intermediate language” called byte code. Byte code is on a lower level then the source but is not ready to be ran by the computer. Byte code is then ran on some form of virtual machine were the byte code is compiled, garbage collected, and more. Some popular virtual machines are: the java virtual machine, .NET platform (pronounced “Dot Net”), and mono platform.

Side notes

Do not stress to much over what language to pick. Pick a language that will help you learn to program, and accomplish your tasks. Don't worry about what’s cool or the newest thing go with what works for you. Odds are you are going to be learning new languages later on anyways. So as long as you have the basic programming concepts, and techniques down you will be able to learn a new language more easily. The most important part is to have fun! Enjoy what you are doing or why do it at all?

Language Reviews

I am going to give a short list of programming languages that I think beginners will find useful and will learn the most from.

This is not a full list of languages!

This is just a few languages that allow different areas of software to be explored, in different ways. For a larger list of languages check out wikipedia's alphabetical list of programming languages

= Web Sites = Basic static text websites can be created with a combo of these two languages and some graphics.

XHTML Type: Markup Language Geared for: Websites Difficulty: Very Easy Compatibility: Works with modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Explorer) Documentation: No lack of documentation. I find that the w3school tutorials cover just about everything, so it is unlikely you will need a book. Links: www.w3schools.com Notes: All you need is a good text editor. However there are also more complex programs like Dreamweaver to help simplify the creation of XHTML pages.

CSS Type: Style Sheets Geared for: Websites Difficulty: Easy Compatibility: Works with modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Explorer) Documentation: Lots of great on-line tutorials. You might find buying a book helpful as it will explain more about design. Links: www.w3schools.com Notes: All you need is a good text editor. However there are also more complex programs like Dreamweaver to help simplify the creation of CSS files.

= Web Applications = Web applications add interactivity to a website such as pop up boxes, log-in forms, shout boxes, games, and more.

JavaScript Type: Interpreted / scripting Geared for: Web Applications Difficulty: Easy - Mild Compatibility: Works with modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Explorer) Documentation: Great on-line tutorials, but you may find a book helpful. Links: www.w3schools.com Notes: This gives web designers a scripting language to embed in there web pages. Can create pop up boxes, validate XHTML forms, and more. Code is executed by the browser.

PHP Type: Interpreted / scripting Geared for: Web Applications Difficulty: Mild Compatibility: Code is ran on server Documentation: Good on-line tutorials, may want a book for more complete learning process. Links: www.w3schools.com Notes: Because code is executed on the server the user can not view the source code, this adds a level of protection and security for things like login forms and online transactions.

= Databases = Databases allow you to store tons of information in a logical way. In software development you can use them to keep track of websites members, scores in a game, employes on a pay roll, and more.

SQL Type: Structured Query Language Level: Very High Geared for: Databases Difficulty: Mild - Hard Compatibility: Used with many major database management systems (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Access, Oracle, SQLite, and more ) Documentation: Great documentation, many books, and on-line tutorials. Links: www.w3schools.com Notes: SQL is a standard language for accessing databases. There are many different versions of the SQL language. However, to be compliant, they all support at least the major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a similar manner.

= Desktop Applications =

VB.net Type: Byte Compiled Level: High Geared for: .NET or Mono platforms Difficulty: Mild Compatibility: .NET on Windows, or Mono on Windows, Linux, & Mac Documentation: .NET is well supported by Microsoft and there are many books available. Mono conforms to most of .NET standards. Links: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/default.aspx http://www.mono-project.com/VisualBasic.NET_support Notes: VisualBasic.NET is a different language in the sense of syntax and code blocks. Reserved words such as Dim … As, or Begin … End are used instead of symbols like in C style languages. For this is the reason this language ended up on the list.

C# Type: Byte Compiled Level: High Geared for: .NET or Mono platforms Difficulty: Mild Compatibility: .NET on Windows, or Mono on Windows, Linux, & Mac Documentation: No lack of documentation to speak of. Links: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/aa336809.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/ http://mono-project.com/Main_Page Notes: Great new language developed by Microsoft. Often compared with Java, though it is my opinion that C# is superior for windows development. Also works well with the Mono platform for linux.

C / C++ Type: Compiled Level: Middle Geared for: Desktop applications. Difficulty: Hard Compatibility: There are compilers for all platforms. Documentation: Tons!! Books, on-line, people, just tons! Links: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ http://www.cprogramming.com/ Notes: It is now an older language, but still very useful when you need to squeeze a lot of power into a program.

= Mixed (Desktop, Web Applications, Mobile Phones) =

Java Type: Byte Compiled Level: High Geared for: Portability Difficulty: Mild - Hard Compatibility: Cross platform Documentation: Well documented Links: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/ Notes: Good for teaching object oriented programming. Many library's, making development of complex programs more easy.

Python / Jython / IronPython Type: Interpreted / Byte Compiled Level: Very High Geared for: Everything, and RAD (Rapid, Application, Development) Difficulty: Easy Compatibility: Cross platform Documentation: Very well documented Links: http://www.python.org http://www.jython.org/ http://ironpython.net/ Notes: Fantastic language for beginners! The Python interpreter is written in C. The byte code is specific to the python platform. Jython compiles to Java byte code and runs on the Java Virtual Machine. IronPython compiles to CIL (common intermediate language) for .NET or Mono platforms.

= 3D Graphics or flash games =

Processing Type: Byte Compiled Level: Very High Geared for: 3D images, animation, and interactions. Difficulty: Mild Compatibility: Java platform Documentation: Well documented Links: http://processing.org/ Notes: A fun and interesting language to do 3D work.

Actionscript Type: interpreted Level: Very High Geared for: 2d Flash animations and Flex 3D Difficulty: Mild Compatibility: Works were ever flash or flex is compatible. Documentation: Normal Links: http://www.actionscript.org Side notes: This is a popular language for this specific task.

= Embedded Systems = Washing machines, tv's, watches, toasters, you name it!

Assembly Type: Assembled Level: Low Geared for: Special niches when needed Difficulty: Very Hard Compatibility: Each processor architecture has Its own version. Documentation: Normal Links: http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/ Side notes: If you learn assembly for one architecture, than it isn't too difficult to code on different ones. You just have to learn a new instruction set.

Remember to have fun and learn all you can!

last edited: Dec 28, 09