What's the best programming language to learn if I just want some experience?

Question

What's the best programming language to learn if I just want some experience?

Answer 1

Another vote for Python due to how easy it is to learn, and how powerful it is once you do... but have a look at Sage - its browser-based python for mathematicians. Sage has all the scientific and numeric libraries running by default, works in any browser, uses Python as its base language and is used to teach statistics and calculus in some universities because it makes things so easy.



So to split my answer: learn Python, but use it in Sage. Its free, open source and there are sage servers you can use all over the place for free - and because they are web (or cloud) based, your work can be accessed from wherever you are



Hope that helps : )



PS: Shadowman, I can program in just about every language you listed in your pro-Java rant... and I teach programming. From personal experience I can tell you that teaching someone Python is considerably easier than teaching someone Java - and Python is every bit as powerful. The underlying concepts are the same though. And Python as I have described is going to be much more useful to a mathematician than Java will be. It wasn't a misguided flame against Java by someone who doesn't know it - it was simple opinion, as are all answers here. Like it or not, thats what you get when you ask a question - opinions.



Oh - and you bit about Java being more powerful and cross-platform... Python is powerful and cross platform, so you really aren't making a great argument there...

Answer 2

Python

http://www.python.org/



It is very easy and intuitive, so it is quick to learn. Performing fairly complex tasks requires very little overhead. Personally, my favorite language is C++ for the power and performance it provides me, and I would recommend that for anybody who wants a career in programming. But to get the most out of C++ requires years of study. For someone who just wants to dabble in programming, I will recommend Python.

Answer 3

Ignore both of the other answers; Pall Mall's is entirely irrelevant and Irfaath's is... sparse. Give Python a try. Once you've got the hang of it, check out NumPy and SciPy (you said you were a mathematician, after all!)

Answer 4

I don't know why all the people who said Java, C, or C++ have thumbs down and Python have thumbs up. Seriously, I bet all the thumbs down are from the Python programmers who haven't yet learned the more powerful cross platform language Java. Learn Java and see how easy it is before thumbing other people down. Learning Java will help you have good programming habits because it is derived from C++, and if you know Java, you will already know C++, and if you know C++, you will already know Java. So would you rather learn one language, say, Python, and not having similarities between other languages or you can learn either C++ or Java and have similarities between other languages and can easily catch up with similar syntax of other languages. If you learn C++, you will learn Java at the same time, and vice versa. So for my recommendation, learn C++ then Java, or vice versa, and then finally settle on with Python and C. Then next Perl, C#, Delphi, F# and so on.



Note: Stay away from Visual Basic.

Answer 5

I'd go with Java just because it is 1) so versatile, 2) runs on nearly any computer, 3) you can do everything from write web applications to desktop applications and embedded apps with it (including Android apps), 4) the language and tools are all free, 5) it has extensive free/open source math and graphing libraries available as well as some very complex math libraries and tools. Look into the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with which you code Java as well as C/C++, PHP, Ruby, and several other languages, but it is best known for helping you write Java apps.

http://www.eclipse.org

http://sourceforge.net/

Answer 6

um, try C as there are many C-like languages out there; Java(Phones), C++(PCs), Objective-C(iPhones,Macs), PHP(web).



It's pretty a strict language so you'd learn to structure your code.

Answer 7

You should learn C/C++ first before learning any other languages.

Answer 8

linux ubuntu

Answer 9

Python. Easy to get into (unlike Java). Widely used. Very powerful, if you really get into it. Excellent books available. Free. Available on almost all systems -- Windows, Macs, Linux, others. Download it from



http://www.python.org/



There are multiple versions available, but do not get the alpha or beta test versions. Get the latest stable release. Click on "Downloads" on the left side to find what you need.



The best, widely-praised book is "Learning Python" from O'reilly. The Python page above has a lot of documentation, but don't waste your time. Get the book.



(I was also a mathematician who got into programming.)