[karajorma]

Personally I think whether you start on C++ or Java is a matter of two things.

1. What you want to do with your qualification.
2. Your style of learning.

Let's deal with 2 first. If you would rather start hard and never have to relearn anything, pick C++. You'll have to learn pointers and deal with memory leak prevention right from the start (which makes learning the language harder). On the other hand you can learn Java first but when you learn C++ you have to remember that certain things which worked in Java won't work in C++

As for 1. The reverse is true is having learned C++ you want to learn Java. In Java many of the tricks you've learned in C++ simply won't work. If you only want to learn C++, do all your programming in it and never bother with Java, start with C++. But if you want to be able to get jobs in Java or C++ then you need to think about both points to determine which one you choose first.

[JGZinv]

I guess a relevant question then would be, what relationship has Java usage wise, with C++ - that having both is beneficial to some sort of project?
C++ seems like a foundation for a lot of programs, Java... while I know it claims to be used in controls or devices, I don't see it outside of doing Java updates
on PCs... Java script... etc.

Yes I'm not looking at it as a hobby, I should realistically be able to list on a resume that I've got some (insert choice here) experience and can back that up.

Basically what I'm planning is to review my A+ books since it's gotten fuzzy, then go into coding or Network+ study. How well I'll do depends on the materials and
how well I can apply myself.  What I think I need is a good introduction to programming, so that I can find my way around from there.

[Jeff Vader]

Java... while I know it claims to be used in controls or devices, I don't see outside of doing Java updates
on PCs... Java script... etc.

Javascript is completely different. Also, I know at least one bank who've created their online banking service with Java.

[JGZinv]

Well, there you go. A good indicator of my level of familiarity with Java.
I've got more exposure to ActionScripting in Flash then... which amounts to about an hour or so.

[The E]

I guess a relevant question then would be, what relationship has Java usage wise, with C++ - that having both is beneficial to some sort of project?
C++ seems like a foundation for a lot of programs, Java... while I know it claims to be used in controls or devices, I don't see it outside of doing Java updates
on PCs... Java script... etc.

Java is finding a niche right now in mobile apps. Android apps are written in a dialect of Java, for instance.
One of the great advantages of Java is that you basically do not have to care about differences between various operating systems, which makes it attractive for cross-platform products.

[Nuke]

i find i end up doing a lot of programming in straight c. especially since i started programming microcontrollers. i also pretty much started with c when i was in highschool. i like c++ for game programming since classes are easier to work with that structs. starting with either one is a good idea. they are good middle ground between high level and low level languages. so c/++ gives you a good foundation for learning other languages.

i do like lua but for entirely different reasons. besides being interpreted and thus slow, the big problem with starting with lua is that it follows a completely different paradigm than most other programming languages. it attempts to combine features of arrays and objects to form tables and therefore is table oriented. lack of useful datatypes is somewhat annoying, sometimes i wish they would add an integer type since sometimes you need integer math. i should also point out that lua is a memory whore and elements within a table take more space than the data they contain. habbits learned in lua do not carry over well to other programming languages. it has its place but not as a way to learn programming.

[Sushi]

I'm going to go against the grain and recommend NOT starting with C++. It has enough strange syntax and edge cases that learning that will trip you up and get in the way of learning the basics of actual programming. You'll want to learn it eventually, but I think it's a terrible place to start.

I'd actually recommend something like Python as a good place to start. The syntax is clear, the language is powerful, and you can use it for a wide variety of things.

It really depends on what you're trying to accomplish and how far you want to go. If you're interested in a career in software development, plan to learn as many as you can. If you just want to know something about how to program and potentially make your life easier, pick a language that focuses on flexibility and ease-of-use over speed or enterprise scalability.

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Actually, I think it might be a good idea not to use an object oriented programming language to learn the basics, such as variable, loops, recursivity and pointers. I agree with Sushi : C++, while quite a powerful language, kinda has a weird syntax. I'd recommend you start with something not object oriented, like C, before moving to C++, Java SE, C#, Python or else.

Side note: whatever happens, stay the hell away from ADA

[Shivan Hunter]

HOW TO WRITE CODE IN PYTHON

1) Write pseudocode
2) Indent

[Polpolion]

I'm going to go against the grain and recommend NOT starting with C++. It has enough strange syntax and edge cases that learning that will trip you up and get in the way of learning the basics of actual programming. You'll want to learn it eventually, but I think it's a terrible place to start.

I'd actually recommend something like Python as a good place to start. The syntax is clear, the language is powerful, and you can use it for a wide variety of things.

It really depends on what you're trying to accomplish and how far you want to go. If you're interested in a career in software development, plan to learn as many as you can. If you just want to know something about how to program and potentially make your life easier, pick a language that focuses on flexibility and ease-of-use over speed or enterprise scalability.

you'd be better off with Scheme, honestly

[Mongoose]

Urrrrrgh, Scheme.  Utter not that name in my presence.

[Thaeris]

FORTRAN 77

[X3N0-Life-Form]

What about object oriented cobol ?

[headdie]

I learned in pascal, the course then migrated to C+ and VB for the second year.  not really programmed since college though so forgotten most of it

[Nuke]

Actually, I think it might be a good idea not to use an object oriented programming language to learn the basics, such as variable, loops, recursivity and pointers. I agree with Sushi : C++, while quite a powerful language, kinda has a weird syntax. I'd recommend you start with something not object oriented, like C, before moving to C++, Java SE, C#, Python or else.

Side note: whatever happens, stay the hell away from ADA

i really think it depends on the angle youre coming in at, if your coming in from he hardware up, its better to learn something close to machine code, straight c, perhaps some asm. now if youre coming in from the software down, learn something with oop, c++ maybe java or interpreted languages. if you want to do game programming definitely learn something that is fast, like c. there is no definite learn me first language, it all depends on what you want to do with it.

also isnt ada meant for mission critical systems for things like medical fields and avionics, systems that if crash cause people to die? its a language designed to result in stable as **** executables.

[sigtau]

Choosing which language to learn depends almost entirely on what you're wanting to do in the end, and the only way to really assess that is to experiment with different applications of programming--and by applications, I mean the different uses for programming--game development, utility applications (text editors, audio converters, that sort of thing), web application development, and the like.

My best advice would be to start with something C-like--if not C or C++, then something like Java or C# (I especially recommend Java and C# for entry-level, but that's just me).  Try out as many languages as possible, get a bit of experience in each one, and then start applying the skills to little mini-projects--a small Breakout or PONG clone, for instance, or a simple OGG media player, or a simple content management system for a website--and whichever one you end up liking the most in the end, go for it.

If you want a bit of insight on how else to figure out what's best for you, also think of what you enjoy seeing as a result of the fruits of your labor.  If you want instant gratification with results that will be entertaining based on how much time and effort you put in, I would say go for game development.*  If you're more into practical things, or you like to solve problems that can be beneficial to both you and other people who are likely to have the same problem, I'd say go for application programming.**  If you like the instant gratification feeling of game development but you also prefer more practical solutions to problems, web development is what you'll probably like.***

It's really all up to what you end up liking to do the most.  I'd recommend specializing in a field that appeals to you the most, but don't ever limit yourself to just that.  If you can, try and gain experience even in the programming subcategories you don't like.  In the real world, unless you're a skilled developer like Will Wright or Notch, you probably won't get the chance to develop exactly what you want, and you'll probably end up developing something that your managers want you to develop--so, again, it's best not to totally limit yourself to one field.

* C(++), C# especially, or a dialect of BASIC are the best starting points for game development, but either way, you'll need C(++) experience somewhere in there.
** Java is very good for application development for something that isn't game design--Minecraft nonwithstanding.  C and C++ also apply to this field just as much.
*** PHP is what you'll probably end up using if you choose web dev, but there's also ASP.NET if you like Windows servers and ColdFusion if you like proprietary, not-so-well-documented code.

[Sushi]

I'd actually recommend something like Python as a good place to start. The syntax is clear, the language is powerful, and you can use it for a wide variety of things.

you'd be better off with Scheme, honestly

Why? This makes zero sense to me.

[Polpolion]

the syntax is clear, the language is powerful, and you can use it for a wide variety of things

edit: no 4 srs, the syntax in c++ that would trip up newbies is used by the sort of things that newbies won't be using unless they're not actually newbies. It's a terrible reason to instead start in a language with dynamic typing and auto memory management. And if you're going to be doing that anyway, I personally find Scheme to convey actual programming ideas much better than python (admittedly I've used scheme much more than python, so take that with a grain of salt).

[JGZinv]

@sigtau  that's a pretty decent explanation.

As I've said earlier, I'm looking at this for job purposes and for potential use here. So essentially application and game development.

Web development, granted there's a mountain of job openings in that area - and while I do have some graphics experience that would help
with content creation. I can't say I've got any real passion for doing it. For whatever reason, the social media, web design, blogging, etc etc... stuff never caught
on with me to have an interest in making web content. Which in turn is probably why I update FringeSpace news as little as possible. Which I realize we're somewhat
talking apples and oranges coding vs. other aspects of web design - but I sort of feel the same about it either way.

[X3N0-Life-Form]

also isnt ada meant for mission critical systems for things like medical fields and avionics, systems that if crash cause people to die? its a language designed to result in stable as **** executables.

Yup, and it is really painful to code in it, especially if you want to use arrays or pointers.


Anyway, there has been lots of suggestions so far. It's gonna be hard for JGZinv to pick one