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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 124 responses total. |
jp2
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response 25 of 124:
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Oct 2 16:12 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mynxcat
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response 26 of 124:
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Oct 2 16:20 UTC 2003 |
That I highly doubt.
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tod
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response 27 of 124:
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Oct 2 16:48 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mynxcat
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response 28 of 124:
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Oct 2 16:53 UTC 2003 |
lol
Now there's a skill that's really useful.
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albaugh
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response 29 of 124:
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Oct 2 17:07 UTC 2003 |
To get someone starting out with "programming" enthused, immediate
gratification is needed. BASIC is certainly good at that, however ancient
its programming constructs are. "Programming" a web page with html and
including javascript can also provide quick feedback. I would say to get him
hooked on the idea of software construction, before immersing in a disciplined
environment requiring compilation, packaging, etc.
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cross
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response 30 of 124:
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Oct 2 17:20 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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jp2
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response 31 of 124:
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Oct 2 17:36 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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cross
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response 32 of 124:
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Oct 2 17:36 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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cross
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response 33 of 124:
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Oct 2 17:37 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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dah
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response 34 of 124:
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Oct 2 18:02 UTC 2003 |
I recommend python.
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gull
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response 35 of 124:
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Oct 2 18:20 UTC 2003 |
Too much structure might be frustrating, but a language with at least
some is important. I originally learned to program in BASIC and aquired
a fair number of bad habits I had to unlearn. I think at some point
everyone should have to program in a language like Pascal that enforces
proper structure and strong typing, because when you switch to a
language like C that doesn't have those "guardrails" you can get in
trouble in a hurry if you're sloppy.
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murph
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response 36 of 124:
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Oct 2 18:24 UTC 2003 |
Kevin suggests html/javascript...I'd say skip straight over javascript to PHP.
Getting your brother into web-based stuff would have its advantages in
general, though. For one thing, learning programming for its intrinsic value
requires having an interest in programming's intrinsic value. Learning to
program so as to make a dynamic webpage allows you to motivate your learning
with something extrinsic. Your brother might not be interested in learning
to program but might be interested in learning to program for the sake of
making a cool dynamic webpage for one of his existing interests.
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gull
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response 37 of 124:
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Oct 2 18:32 UTC 2003 |
Good thought. PHP is likely to be more engaging than a command-line
script language because you can immediately do things a kid is likely to
find interesting. Dynamic web content is fun.
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flem
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response 38 of 124:
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Oct 2 21:06 UTC 2003 |
I'd recommend an OO language as well, such as Java or (less favored) C++.
I'd imagine python would do as well, but I'm not familiar enough with it to
recommend. Reasoning: in most of these languages, it's pretty easy to write
procedural code, then graduate to OO when you're ready. I think that starting
with a toy language like Basic (or even worse, Visual Basic) does no one any
favors, since they're addictive. They are watered down enough taht using them
for any length of time causes your understanding of the scope of what's
possible in a programming language to shrink. Yes, I say this from
experience: my day jobs for the last four years or so have involved Visual
Basic, and if I don't supplement work with some serious programming on my own
time, I start to become noticeably dumber.
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dolgr
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response 39 of 124:
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Oct 2 22:14 UTC 2003 |
I suggest COBOL. It has clear, English-like syntax and will be very useful
to know when all of these mainframers retire.
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asddsa
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response 40 of 124:
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Oct 2 23:26 UTC 2003 |
I recommended Turbo C
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dah
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response 41 of 124:
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Oct 3 01:06 UTC 2003 |
Listen, just listen to me. You once said I was the second most intelligent
person, jp2, on Grex, and that should have some sway. Python.
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cross
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response 42 of 124:
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Oct 3 01:56 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mdw
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response 43 of 124:
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Oct 3 06:06 UTC 2003 |
I think I'd have to know the kid a lot better to make any useful
suggestion. The best language to learn is whatever the kid is either
most interested in, or that best fits the interests he has. If he's not
willing to spend a lot of time obsessing about stuff, he's probably not
going to become a real hotshot programmer in any case.
Personally, I'd consider lisp, perl, C, assembler, or python to all be
potentially good choices. I wouldn't pick java; it creates as much
complexity as it solves, and I'm not at all convinced it's the right
paradigm. C++ instead of C might be useful if that's where you want to
end up, because yes, if you're switching from C to C++ there's stuff you
have to unlearn. But I don't think any of these count for anything
against what the kid wants to learn.
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mynxcat
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response 44 of 124:
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Oct 3 13:41 UTC 2003 |
COBOL. It'll be like he's taking English.
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gull
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response 45 of 124:
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Oct 3 14:51 UTC 2003 |
I've heard that in today's IT job market it's sometimes considered a
negative to have COBOL on your resume. Any truth to that?
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dolgr
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response 46 of 124:
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Oct 3 16:26 UTC 2003 |
Probably. But a 14 year old isnt interested in today's job market.
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albaugh
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response 47 of 124:
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Oct 3 17:16 UTC 2003 |
In <= 25 words, what be PHP?
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gull
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response 48 of 124:
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Oct 3 17:55 UTC 2003 |
PHP is a Perl-like scripting language designed for embedding in
webpages. Unlike JavaScript, however, it's executed on the server, not
in the browser.
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cross
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response 49 of 124:
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Oct 3 19:30 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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