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welshbyte · 09-09-2004, 05:52 AM

I've been trying to look at a range of languages, not just learning a select few, and this way it feels like i am growing to know programming languages in general, the more i learn, the easier it is to pick up (at least the basics of) another language. Since i'm about to start university, three years later than i should have done, i'm finding that its quite a comfort to be able to pick up new programming languages quickly. I'm currently reading up on how Lisp and Python work after dabbling in C++, Java, VB, Pascal, SQL, PHP & ASP (web scripting) and I've also picked up HTML, XHTML and CSS for web authoring, i guess i could say i understand XML too. Its nice to be able to keep an open mind about programming languages and not "follow" a certain language e.g. I have read slightly less experienced people post messages in forums such as "(blah) is the greatest programming language and all the rest are sh*t!!". That really isnt the way to think although i'm sure corporations who create languages wouldnt mind. There are also a hell of a lot of articles out on the web comparing different languages but different languages are made for different purposes and to solve different types of problems so its really not that useful to compare them. But if you must, the best way to do it is to try them out yourself.

Getting back to Java, the most use i have gained from it is writing a game applet or two to make my website a bit more interesting. After using it for a while you kind of get to know that it really isnt easy to create a cross-platform piece of software with the latest version of the Java development package since only those who are "in the know" actually upgrade their java runtime environments and plugins. For applets, unfortunately, its best to use an older version of Java to write them. People (mostly newbies and technophobes) actually complain when i tell them they need to upgrade their java plugin. No one's/thing's perfect.

09-09-2004, 05:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
welshbyte Insane Location: Wales, UK, Europe, Earth, Milky Way, Universe	I've been trying to look at a range of languages, not just learning a select few, and this way it feels like i am growing to know programming languages in general, the more i learn, the easier it is to pick up (at least the basics of) another language. Since i'm about to start university, three years later than i should have done, i'm finding that its quite a comfort to be able to pick up new programming languages quickly. I'm currently reading up on how Lisp and Python work after dabbling in C++, Java, VB, Pascal, SQL, PHP & ASP (web scripting) and I've also picked up HTML, XHTML and CSS for web authoring, i guess i could say i understand XML too. Its nice to be able to keep an open mind about programming languages and not "follow" a certain language e.g. I have read slightly less experienced people post messages in forums such as "(blah) is the greatest programming language and all the rest are sht!!". That really isnt the way to think although i'm sure corporations who create languages wouldnt mind. There are also a hell of a lot of articles out on the web comparing different languages but different languages are made for different purposes and to solve different types of problems so its really not that useful to compare them. But if you must, the best way to do it is to try them out yourself. Getting back to Java, the most use i have gained from it is writing a game applet or two to make my website a bit more interesting. After using it for a while you kind of get to know that it really isnt easy to create a cross-platform piece of software with the latest version of the Java development package since only those who are "in the know" actually upgrade their java runtime environments and plugins. For applets, unfortunately, its best to use an older version of Java to write them. People (mostly newbies and technophobes) actually complain when i tell them they need to upgrade their java plugin. No one's/thing's perfect. __________________ There are only two industries that refer to their customers as "users".* - Edward Tufte Last edited by welshbyte; 09-09-2004 at 06:00 AM..