As a beginner in programming some years ago, the question I was always asking was “What language should I learn? What language should I specialize on and what language will allow me develop the kind of apps I love..which as at the time was mobile development.
Today, I have written programs in javascript, c#, java, php, basic, and even C. and as I worked with more languages, it began to occur to me that the languages were actually all the same. Using a loop in C#, Javascript, Java, C, C++, and python are basically the same syntax. Declaring variables, is something that is quite applicable in all these languages. Performing basic arithmetic requires the same operators. Most of these languages are just specialized versions of C – written to perform a particular aspect of programming better.

Now, I know many programmers will argue that Console.writeLine(“Hi, Loveg”), and system.println(“Hi, Love”) are rather different. But then is this difference not simply because of the fact that Console is an object, and System is another object? Do we really know all the objects in a language? Do we not begin to learn new objects everytime we want to write a different application? If you want to write a finger Biometric application, will you not first look out for the libraries involved in that area and begin to learn all those keywords all over again whether its java or python- and whether you have been programming java for decades? Hence knowing objects and classes which usually make up the different libraries we use in writing new applications cannot rightly be interpreted as knowing the language – since there’s usually an endless list of them…and there’s more being written as you are reading this.
Another argument of course will be that there are functional, procedural, and object oriented languages, but the truth is; so long as you are not going into advanced stuff like writing lean, efficient, and absolutely mature code ( the type you will require in an operating system perhaps), You can replace each language with the other and heavens will not fall. For instance, you can forget about objects in java and, by so doing, write code that is procedural. I know many java programmers that still don’t use classes…and they still get called “gurus”.

To cap it all, you can hardly write a program worth its candle that does not require at least 3 languages. Lets say you want to write a chat app for android, you will need to use mysql and php on your server, use java and xml on the phone. And JSON might come in to facilitate the communication between these two depending on how its structured.
From these, its reasonable to assume that programming is programming. The language you are using is merely a question of the application you are writing. Once you learn your first three languages, learning the rest is not that difficult.
Hence, newbies should learn by building apps they love…not reading some 5,000 pages book (I have seen one) on java or C.

bros,i'm still a beginner in programming,just started python not quite long.can u share ur xperience on hw u get started frm d scratch 2 a gurus(Programming)

nice one bro

dtermined: bros,i'm still a beginner in programming,just started python not quite long.can u share ur xperience on hw u get started frm d scratch 2 a gurus(Programming)

pls oh... am not a guru. I only said I have written programs in many languages.


as to your question I think one gets better with programming by ....programming. Write as many apps as you can imagine and let them be your own ideas (that way you won't give up easily or melt under pressure). in the process, you will always get stuck somewhere and With each obstacle you overcome, you become a better developer.

I don't think reading books from cover to cover does it.

Programming Languages are Like Tools to me. I choose to use any one that best fit My Current Project !

^that is what I would have said too, I had to check to make sure I did not post that.

All programming languages aint d same. Though, many share similarities tht makes learng those within d same family easier.
Functional languages are different enough to mess with your head.
Stack based languages are even wierder.
Logic based languages are in a class of their own.
The nearest a nigerian company will go in innovation is to adopt a popular functional language or hybrid. Tht's y oop rules the roost here. Anything too far out and it cud b like moon walking.
Try this languages out:

Functional/concurrent:
Erlang
Clojure
scala
haskell
lisp
scheme
F#
caml
ocaml

Logic:
prolog

stack-based/concatenative:
Factor
Forth
Retro
joy

asalimpo: All programming languages aint d same. Though, many share similarities tht makes learng those within d same family easier.
Functional languages are different enough to mess with your head.
Stack based languages are even wierder.
Logic based languages are in a class of their own.
The nearest a nigerian company will go in innovation is to adopt a popular functional language or hybrid. Tht's y oop rules the roost here. Anything too far out and it cud b like moon walking.
Try this languages out:

Functional/concurrent:
Erlang
Clojure
scala
haskell
lisp
scheme
F#
caml
ocaml

Logic:
prolog

stack-based/concatenative:
Factor
Forth
Retro
joy

I sense a veteran in your statement.... but then again....a programmer who hasn't messed with these languages...just has not had cause to.

Just get the syntax...the basic APIs...and kaboom...you re clicking away like there's no tommorrow...until it's time to debug shaa

I would get started on any of these languages if you had said try " building this"...and there's no other tool for the job but one of them

^^^
not a veteran,just a dabbler.
You dont need to hav somthng to build b4 branchng out, you may branch out then find one paradigm more conducive for solvg certain kinds of problems,but you gat to branch out first. Learning erlang from a java background was a very unfamilier experience . Learning python was nt so strange.
It was easy to approach clojure because years earlier ,i'd tried my hands on lisp! Factor was wierd!
From my experience,blind learning precedes flash of insight.
So if a programmer learns odd technology, one day he'll see where to use it.

Weirdos

Chai, this argument no make sense at all.

Imho, this is a Non-Technical argument.

i'm sorry if i sound rude o.

Laryokeke:


pls oh... am not a guru. I only said I have written programs in many languages.


as to your question I think one gets better with programming by ....programming. Write as many apps as you can imagine and let them be your own ideas (that way you won't give up easily or melt under pressure). in the process, you will always get stuck somewhere and With each obstacle you overcome, you become a better developer.

I don't think reading books from cover to cover does it.

u really get experience.... before i was scared of saying that am a programmer... not until i took challenge to write software used to issue tools... mhen inventory and detecting soft fused together.... i never knew how to play with some libraries until i got deeper nd deeper into this project... nw i can speak at least c# infornt of any obstacle...

This is an argument for weirdos (namely programmers wey don dey madt).

Raypawer:

u really get experience.... before i was scared of saying that am a programmer... not until i took challenge to write software used to issue tools... mhen inventory and detecting soft fused together.... i never knew how to play with some libraries until i got deeper nd deeper into this project... nw i can speak at least c# infornt of any obstacle...

my dear na so oh...the minute you think you are getting comfortable, that's when you realise you have to work with an entirely new library. ..and then you start googling, reading, and asking questions again....like a green newbie......