Catholic Info

Traditional Catholic Faith => Computers, Technology, Websites => Topic started by: Argentino on June 11, 2020, 03:59:56 PM

Title: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Argentino on June 11, 2020, 03:59:56 PM
I have been in the I.T. field for a long time now, but I have never worked as a programmer.

I want to move into becoming a professional programmer.

I am thinking of studying Python and/or C++

Any recommendations?
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: AlligatorDicax on June 16, 2020, 07:00:18 PM
I have been in the I.T. field for a long time now, but I have never worked as a programmer.  I want to move into becoming a professional programmer.  Any recommendations?

Uh, huh.

• More generically:
<https://insights.dice.com/2020/04/02/5-best-programming-languages-to-learn-during-covid-19-lockdown/>:
Quote
5 Best Programming Languages to Learn During COVID-19 Lockdown
Nick Kolakowski
April 2, 2020
[....]
For many developers and technologists, learning a new programming language is often a self-directed effort, based largely on playing around with code until you’ve absorbed the fundamentals. But if you’re the kind of developer who needs lessons and a more structured environment in which to learn, check out websites such as Codeacademy, Code.org, and Codewars, all of which offer coding courses for free.

N.B.:  I have no experience at all with any of the sites recommended above; therefore their mention does not constitute any endorsement by me.

• More "professional[ly]":
<https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/programming-languages-you-should-learn-in-2020>:
Quote
Home / Publications / Tech News / Trends
Programming Languages You Should Learn in 2020
by Gaurav Belani

What could possibly go wrong?
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on June 16, 2020, 08:07:15 PM
C# (.NET) is by far the most popular ... if you're looking for employment as a programmer at companies that pay real money.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Argentino on June 19, 2020, 07:31:05 PM
Thanks for the inputs.

I should have mentioned.....I hate working with Windows. So, that is out for me.

Any suggestions, now?
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Alan on July 01, 2020, 11:31:57 PM
I'd recommend Java or C#.

Python is highly popular, useful and easy to learn. But it is a poorly designed language -- no variable declaration, variables can get any values, control structure depends on indentation only.

I use it only as a small tool.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Argentino on July 09, 2020, 11:59:59 AM
I'd recommend Java or C#.

Python is highly popular, useful and easy to learn. But it is a poorly designed language -- no variable declaration, variables can get any values, control structure depends on indentation only.

I use it only as a small tool.

Thanks!  Would you know what type of apps businesses use Java for?  Like, is it used to interface with databases?
Title: Python?/Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: AlligatorDicax on August 25, 2020, 02:00:20 PM

I have been in the I.T. field for a long time now, but [....] I want to move into becoming a professional programmer.  I am thinking of studying Python and/or C++

Here's what Guido van Rossum, the designer of Python, said in 2003 about his own language [*]:

Quote from: Guido van Rossum in Artima

Actually, my initial goal for Python was to serve as a second language for people who were C or C++ programmers, but who had work where writing a C program was just not effective. [....]  Because maybe it was something you'd do only once.  It was the sort of thing you'd prefer to write a shell script for, but when you got into the writing details, you found that the shell was not the ideal language—you needed more data structures, more namespaces, or maybe more performance.  The first sound bite I had for Python was, "Bridge the gap between the shell and C."  So I never intended Python to be the primary language for programmers, although it has become the primary language for many Python users.  It was intended to be a second language for people who were already experienced programmers, as some of the early design choices reflect.

So its own inventor had no intention of Python becoming a first step toward "becoming a professional programmer".  His intent ought to count for something, as you evaluate paths to your goal.

I interpret "the primary language for many Python users" as a diplomatic way referring to people who are not professional programmers, but are entitled to some respect as part of the coding-or-programming community for his language.

-------
Note *: "Python's Design Goals [:] A Conversation with Guido van Rossum, Part II", by Bill Venners.  Artima, January 20, 2003: <https://www.artima.com/intv/pyscale.html (https://www.artima.com/intv/pyscale.html)>.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on August 25, 2020, 02:41:59 PM
Thanks for the inputs.

I should have mentioned.....I hate working with Windows. So, that is out for me.

Any suggestions, now?

Well, even if you don't program in C#, you'll almost inevitably have to "work with" Windows at least by having your IDE be windows-based.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on August 25, 2020, 02:43:38 PM
Thanks!  Would you know what type of apps businesses use Java for?  Like, is it used to interface with databases?

It's used for about anything you can think of, from embedded systems down to Windows applications ... short of having to program on a real-time operating system.
Title: JDBC/Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: AlligatorDicax on August 25, 2020, 05:00:13 PM

Would you know what type of apps businesses use Java for?  Like, is it used to interface with databases?

I'll assume, in the charity expected in CathInfo, that you haven't developed the technical perspective needed to do useful searches on line.  But I'd be surprised if some relevant acronyms wouldn't leap out at you even with naïve searches, ummm, like JDBC (i.e., Java Data-Base Connectivity).
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on August 25, 2020, 05:27:23 PM
I've programmed over the year in C#, Java, C/C++, Perl, PHP, Delphi/Pascal, Visual BASIC, and a few others, and C# is by far my favorite.  C# makes a lot of things easy that are cuмbersome and repetitive in the others.  You can focus more on what you want the code to DO and less on the low-level plumbing.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Alan on September 14, 2020, 01:51:17 AM
I've programmed over the year in C#, Java, C/C++, Perl, PHP, Delphi/Pascal, Visual BASIC, and a few others, and C# is by far my favorite.  C# makes a lot of things easy that are cuмbersome and repetitive in the others.  You can focus more on what you want the code to DO and less on the low-level plumbing.

That's impressive that you know so many languages.

Since you're familiar with C#, is it possible to create custom form controls in C# ??
I'm interested in building custom form controls for my VBA applications.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on September 14, 2020, 07:47:58 AM
That's impressive that you know so many languages.

Since you're familiar with C#, is it possible to create custom form controls in C# ??
I'm interested in building custom form controls for my VBA applications.

Yes, you can create custom form controls by overriding the existing ones.  I'm not sure if VBA can consume these natively (haven't worked with it in many years) or whether you have to "COM-wrap" them.
Title: Re: Seeking Program Language Recommendations
Post by: Ladislaus on September 14, 2020, 07:50:27 AM
Looks like you still have to COM-wrap them.

https://www.codeproject.com/Questions/167323/Using-a-VS2008-Custom-Control-in-VBA-NOT-VB