Programming language?? Which one?? :crazyeyes:

[Modelworks]

If you enjoy punishment and racking your brains when a program doesn't work, study Assembly language.

Theres big bucks in the embedded microprocessor industry for good assembly programmers. Used in everything from cell phones to missle defense.

I left the field professionaly a few years ago but still keep up with it as a hobby.
Some of it has moved on to C and C++ but the assembly programmers are still the ones that rake in the cash.

 

[911paramedic]

OK, now I am really confused and back to square one. According to this article, The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills most of the recommendations are on that list.

C and its variants being a few of them.

By my first post you should be able to get an idea of what I want to accomplish, but not sure how to get there... or where that is exactly. After that article I am even more confused.

Any insight from people in the real world that have rebuttals to that info? Or perhaps what I should be leaning towards as far as programming/scripting/IT based technology? Seems like there is always a demand for SQL people, is that the route?

Help!

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
OK, now I am really confused and back to square one. According to this article, The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills most of the recommendations are on that list.

If "most" means one out of like ten, sure.

Quote from the article:

As the Web takes over, C languages are also becoming less relevant, according to Padveen. "C++ and C Sharp are still alive and kicking, but try to find a basic C-only programmer today, and you'll likely find a guy that's unemployed and/or training for a new skill," he says. (see also: "Hot Skills, Cold Skills ")

 

[Cooler]

It depends on what you want to do and what system you will be working on. If you?re going to write system libraries then you will use some form of C. If you want to web programming it would be best to learn flash, php, or asp. If you are doing any scientific applications then it will be Fortran. There is not a single language that is best suited for all tasks.

 

[aCynic2]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: 911paramedic

C and its variants being a few of them.
</end quote></div>

Here is my recommendation:

C++ and/or Java as the back end. These languages do the actual process, carry out the requent, etc.

You'll want a web orientated language for front-end presentation and queries, such as php or C#. Some HTML wouldn't hurt and it's not that hard, being a markup language. These present it for the customer.

There is some validity to that article in that a lot of apps are trying to go web based since you can access and utilize it anywhere: work, home, hotel room, wired or wireless network, etc.

Databases, web servers, OSs, etc, are still largely developed using C/C++ or other compiled language.

 

[Noobsa44]

I think there is a second part to this question, if you do choose to go into .net land. The biggest problem with .net is it is HUGE. I don't mean the language is huge, but the framework is massy.

With that in mind you need to ask/answer a second question, "Do I want to do app or web development?" I'm mostly an app developer in VB.net (with a little C# on the side), and when I look at the web side I tend to get confused because the design is different. Worse yet, as best I understand, .net 1.x (at least in visual studios) does the web differently than .net 2.0+. That being the case, keep in mind that in 5 years you may still need to know .net, but what .net "is" may be completely different.

Like Ken_g6 and others have said, pretty much all languages follow the same theory, and there are only a few "styles" of languages (C, VB, Cobol, Lisp and maybe perl), so once you understand how C# works, Java, C++ or C aren't all that hard to learn. I'd suggest you learn either a C variant or a VB variant.

One last thing, last I read about 60 % of all .net programmers are VB.net developers, yet most of the ads seem to be for C# developers these days.

 

[Atheus]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>6. C programming

As the Web takes over, C languages are also becoming less relevant, according to Padveen. "C++ and C Sharp are still alive and kicking, but try to find a basic C-only programmer today, and you'll likely find a guy that's unemployed and/or training for a new skill," he says. (see also: "Hot Skills, Cold Skills ")</end quote></div>

What a load of shyte - try writing an operating system in web languages, or a compiler, or a virtual machine, an application for an embedded device, etc etc...

What's more, If you know C you know the inner working of a computer - I wouldn't want to hire a programmer who is incapable of understanding C or assembly.

 

[zerocool1]

Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
Might want to look into silverlight as well if you're gonna go .NET. Seems like that's microsoft going after macromedia.

that's the microsoft thinger that the OP was talking about

 

[Gunslinger08]

.NET will be around for a while. I'd suggest C# because it's really the language MS pushes people towards. You will find many, many more good code snippets in C# than in VB.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Don't be tied to one language. Learn the concepts that transcend languages.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Do you really think it's possible to even understand one language without learning the concepts that transcend language? They pretty much beat the fundamentals into you with a stick at college, and even if they didn't, it would seem impossible to program much beyond hello world without knowing those things.

 

[911paramedic]

Well, html is cake, has been for many years... but that is just a markup language. I knew about CSS and was using it for years in the basic sense, like for setting fonts and general attributes, only recently have I been creating drop-down menus with it, entire page layouts, etc.

I am 41. I was using Basic when you had to number each line, 10, 20, 30, 40, etc., and I still remember what that was all about. (if-then, for-else, goto, loop, etc.)

For the last 5-6 years I have been delving into php and sql use, I understand it but wouldn't be able to code an operating site from scratch without pulling out some reference materials. In other words, I have been on the "surface" of web design and creating sites for a long time. Now that the content can be so rich, and we are able to do more and more with it, I need to know which way to head.

Recently I have spent a lot of time on http://www.tizag.com/ and the w3schools websites reading through the tutorials/guides of all the languages to get a better understanding of them and what they offer. Is there something else I should read when it comes to C# and .NET that you guys can recommend? I want to be very well informed before delving into this.

Thanks again, great info and comments so far.

 

[lousydood]

Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
They pretty much beat the fundamentals into you with a stick at college, and even if they didn't, it would seem impossible to program much beyond hello world without knowing those things.

Sadly, that's not the case. Most colleges these days have turned into "Java-tradeschools", because real Computer Science is hard, and they don't want to lose students.

 

[Modelworks]

I ran into a "graduate" that couldn't work with a in house compiler because it was command line only. He kept complaining there was no wizard, ide or project manager.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Well, html is cake, has been for many years... but that is just a markup language. I knew about CSS and was using it for years in the basic sense, like for setting fonts and general attributes, only recently have I been creating drop-down menus with it, entire page layouts, etc.

Well those aren't actually programming languages at all...

I am 41. I was using Basic when you had to number each line, 10, 20, 30, 40, etc., and I still remember what that was all about. (if-then, for-else, goto, loop, etc.)

That's a programming language, sure, but it bears no reseblence to actual useful languages.

For the last 5-6 years I have been delving into php and sql use, I understand it but wouldn't be able to code an operating site from scratch without pulling out some reference materials.

Hey, very few people can write a large amount of code without looking anything up - that's not the objective.

Let me try to clarify what people mean by 'the concepts that transcend languages':

The other day I wrote a collapsable tree which builds itself up from a database - I might (given time) have been able to do it without any knowlege of computer science, but because I understand the concept of recursion, it was accomplished easily.

There are loads of concepts and mathematical hocus pocus like this which you really *need to know* to be a proper programmer.

 

[JavaMomma]

As a programmer you have to be continually learning. So expect and be willing to put in the time to switch to another language at any time.

At this moment C# is probably a great language to know -- I've been using it for a couple years now, I personally like it a lot. Another nice thing about learning C# is that once you learn it, it should be very easy to move to any other .NET language in the future.

I've done programming in Java, VB6 and Perl (plus a few others used while in University). Today I use C# and T-SQL at work and in my own time I'm learning F# just for fun.

 

[replicator]

If you haven't entered the business yet - my advice is don't! The rates for programmers is just not that great with all the offshoring that is happening.

I work with enterprise systems as a SAP technical consultant, and most of my colleagues are trying to get into the functional business side due to the declining rates due to outsourcing of technical roles. Yes, you can survive outsourcing, but it is pretty tough and you need to be in the right size organization where they don't farm out the entire IT division, or need to be valued for client-facing work....

For generic back office programmers that are not client-facing, it is not looking too good.