Does anyone...

[Aureole]

Does anyone recommend trying to learn C++, I'm still learning php but I have a lot of free time and need something more to do, do you think it would be worth it in the end?

[obsidian]

Does anyone recommend trying to learn C++, I'm still learning php but I have a lot of free time and need something more to do, do you think it would be worth it in the end?

 

It all depends on what you're looking to do long-term. At face value, I would always recommend someone to learn a new language to keep their horizons open if they have the time.

[nuxy]

Well, It depends what you want to do.

You can't just directly go and learn C++, it will be very difficult, learn C# first.

Since the introduction to OOP in PHP, I recommend PHP. (;

 

Would it be worth it?

Well, It takes some(allot) of time to fully learn C++.

And to what extent, I would suggest C# if you don't want to take the road of PHP nor Perl.

[Aureole]

Ok if I decide to learn something new I'll take a look at C# first then, thanks a lot.

[obsidian]

You can't just directly go and learn C++, it will be very difficult, learn C# first.

 

I don't agree with this at all. C++ and C# are really completely different animals. There is nothing wrong with jumping straight in to C++ if you have some coding background already. C# is much closer to Java than C anyway. While learning C# is a great idea, I would be very cautious about telling someone that they can't just jump directly into C++. That's just not the case.

[Aureole]

Well out of all the seemingly numerous versions of C, where should I start? Also I'm just wondering which is best for creating Apps that interact with web apps i.e. mysql databases/php scripts (if that's possible)... or can they all do things like that?

[obsidian]

Well out of all the seemingly numerous versions of C, where should I start? Also I'm just wondering which is best for creating Apps that interact with web apps i.e. mysql databases/php scripts (if that's possible)... or can they all do things like that?

 

There are ways for all of them to interact with the web, databases, etc, but some are obviously more suited than others for particular jobs. If you're looking for primarily a desktop app that is communicating with web servers, I would tend to recommend Java or C# myself as well.

[Aureole]

Alright, C# is the Microsoft version of C, right? Thanks a lot anyway.

[trq]

Alright, C# is the Microsoft version of C, right?

 

Not really, it more like Java than C. C is a procedural language while Java, C# and C++ are all OOP.

[Aureole]

I know PHP has OOP but without the OOP what type of language is it, I think it's dubbed "structural language" but I'm not sure...

 

Ok well where would be the best logical starting point, I don't want to jump straight into C++ if it's more complicated than the other C Languages and if I can achieve the same things with less effort.

 

I'm still quite a novice at PHP but I think I can handle learning another Language at the same time, I can at least attempt it.

[trq]

[qutoe]I know PHP has OOP but without the OOP what type of language is it, I think it's dubbed "structural language" but I'm not sure...

 

Porcedural.

 

Ok well where would be the best logical starting point

 

As has been siad (I think), most (all) of the languages pointed out are capable of the same sorts of things, some are just more suited to others. Choose one and start learning. C has quite a steep learning curve IMO simply because it has no built in memory management, its nothing like learning (for instance) php.

 

C# is pretty popular on windows, while C++ is probably a better option for something more cross platform. Either way though, it really depends on what exactly it is you want to do.

[roopurt18]

I always come under fire for recommending this, but IMO c is still the best place to really learn how to program.  No other language comes close to teaching you as much about programming methodologies as c does.

 

Although not always the best language for the task, there isn't any program that can't be written in c.  As long as there is a c compiler for the intended platform, you can accomplish anything in c.

 

c will really teach you about computer memory.  A lot of people struggle with pointers in c, but if you get that concept down it builds a strong foundation IMO.  Also, you can't really appreciate references until you understand pointers; they're similar but there is a slight difference.

 

You will never truly appreciate how easy strings are in a language like PHP until you've dealt with them in c.  Want a good exercise in frustration?  Write a c function that reads an arbitrarily long string from a file.

 

Implementing abstract data types (linked lists, tree, hash tables, queues, etc.) in c will give you a great foundation for understanding how these work in other languages.  Or how other languages might be doing some things under the hood.  For example, if you think PHP's array_search() has to look at every element in an array to find a match, then you're way off the mark.

 

You won't ever truly appreciate (nor understand why) we have object-oriented languages until you write medium-sized c programs.  The same can be said for function overloading and to an extent, parameter defaults.

 

Seriously, even though I haven't used c in probably 4 years, I still think it is the best all-around programming language.

 

Now I'm not saying to dedicate your life to c. If you spent a few hours a week for a few months on it, that would probably be sufficient.  Honestly all you need from c is a good understanding of strings, memory management, and then to create a few ADTs (abstract data types) like a linked list, queue, hash-table, and probably binary search tree.  After that, write a couple algorithms that sort long lists of strings.  It's not as hard as it sounds.  You'll be much better off for it.

 

Just my $.02