Question about learning programming languages?

Question

I have some basic idea about programming. Im interested in learning one. I used to code a little ASP web applications long time ago.

C++ looks very attractive to me after reading about different programming languages but looks like it is so difficult that someone would start writing useful stuff after at least 2 years of studying it.

So python is one of the recommended ones for a beginner. But here is my concern.
If Python and C++ are different languages then why learning the easier one would be a step so later it becomes easier to learn the other?
I mean.. if they have different ways to write the code, then why it becomes easier in the future to learn the more complex one? How much code do they have in common so you can jump to the other in a better position than if you would be learning C++ from the beginning?
"The syntax C++ is more difficult than Python" ok.. but i would have to learn the new syntax anyway when i decide to make the jump, right?. So whats the point?

Answer 1

I asked this question before I started college. I'm a CS major myself and have struggled to learn my first language. I may not have spent enough time in one language before moving on to the next one, but I do know that once you have a concept down for one language and it is also part of another language then the difficulty of learning how to properly implement that concept is greatly diminished. The only remaining obstacle is the exact syntax for that language.

The only real world example I can think of to explain this is learning to speak spanish and then moving on to speak italian. Many of the words mean exactly the same thing, with a few exceptions. You don't have to re-learn everything.

Keep in mind that many languages are based on C and C++ much in the same way that many spoken languages are based on Latin.

Some free books to learn computer language basic concepts, language implementation, and syntax:
Thinking In Java 3rd Edition, Author: Bruce Eckel
http://www.mindviewinc.com/downloads/TIJ-3rd-edition4.0.zip
Thinking in C++ 2nd edition, vol 1&2, Author:Bruce Eckel
http://www.mindviewinc.com/downloads/TICPP-2nd-ed-Vol-one.zip
http://www.mindviewinc.com/downloads/TICPP-2nd-ed-Vol-two.zip
A byte of python official site (updated wiki style)
http://www.swaroopch.info/text/Byte_of_Python:Main_Page
A byte of python pdf format Dated document January 2005
http://www.dpawson.co.uk/bop/byteofpython_120.pdf

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Once you've learned a simple programming language, you have the concepts down for others. For example, I learned a bit of Basic before any other language, then my knowledge of how computers worked helped me to learn HTML, then JavaScript. I then studied Visual Basic, then some Java. Java is almost identical to C, so with what I've learned, I could probably write a program in C. I haven't done much in Python or C yet, but I have a Windows 98/Ubuntu partitioned system with both. If you already have done some scripting, go ahead and learn C. But, if you want to learn something simpler so you can get C concepts down first so that you can comprehend C easier, learn Python.

Answer 4

I'm an IS major. Over the years I've learned procedural languages like Cobal and Fortan to the OOP languages like Java, VB.Net, C++ etc. Any language has a flow of logic that is the same. The commands are the easy part because there is help available for syntax. I really like VB. It is pretty easy to learn and you can pick it up and write cool stuff relatively quickly. Java would be my second choice and C++ my third. But to further answer your question. After one semester, I was writing Point-of-sale programs in C++ so it really isn't that difficult once you understand the logic. Good luck!

Answer 5

The point would be to develop your problem solving skills. This is the important thing to learn. Once you become a proficient programmer, picking up a new syntax is fairly easy.

Many universities are debating exactly the same thing you are. The issue they see is that students who learn an object oriented language like C++ or Java from the beginning are often overloaded with the syntactic details of the language. So, they learn classes and objects, but never learn how to find the index of the minimum element of an array.

One possible solution to this problem is to first learn a simple language and learn how to use control structures like loops, if-statements, etc. Only after you have that stuff down, do you start to tackle the concepts and syntax of an object oriented language.

Let me know how it works out.

Answer 6

He might be trying to say that you need to learn programming techniques and logic, rather than languages. This really is important, too. For instance, being able to hold a conversation in 15 human languages doesn't mean you can write an outstanding work of literature in any of them; and a really well written program is much like a really well written book, in that it needs to have many parts that fit together in non-obvious but effective ways.

Answer 7

The important thing about Python and C++ is that they are Object Oriented languages. Also smalltalk and java and a number of others. In OO programming, the most important thing is to learn how to think and program in an OO manner, syntax can always be learned later. Unfortunately, many programmers using C++ are just using C structure and design, and end up just programming procedural code without getting the benefit of OO.

Answer 8

The first question you should ask yourself is what do you want to make with the program ?

Once a person learns what variables, input, output, loops, condition statements, and object oriented are it's a matter of syntax after that. Might as well learn on a language with easy syntax first.

Answer 9

Sir all languages use the verbs of the language.
Nothing else! The difference is the syntax, how the written instruction using the verb is formed.

The actual program is putting the verbs in the right order to cover all issues that the program has to address.

You must know what you need to do and the order, that is why we always created a detailed flow chart before starting to code!

If you have a good flow chart, you can use the index of any language to look up the verb and its syntax! It does not matter which program.
language, the verb is all ways the same, be it READ, COPY, INDEX, PRINT, PERFORM,
only the syntax maybe different, and all language books show how the syntax of its use of the verb is formed! Just go to the index, look up the page that the verb is on and it will give you an example of how the required syntax!

Answer 10

I took C++ for a semester in college and I learned quite a bit. It was a bit confusing, but I had learned useful code in one semester. The logic will stay basically the same for most programming languages (if, then, else, ,etc.). If I were you, I'd go with whatever interested me most.