[Bradford] Re-learning coding

[David Bolton]

As someone who's programming started in the 80's too (ZX81 basic!) and 
has mainly used it for mathematical/engineering stuff (hence mostly 
various flavours of Basic & some Fortran) , I've also pondered over this 
problem.

I've now jumped on the Python bandwagon - and am currently following 
this Coursera MOOC:
https://www.coursera.org/course/interactivepython  Its great fun, and 
far better than just learning from a book ;-)

I guess the best language to learn depends on what you intend using it 
for, and (say) whether you see it as a route to alternative employment.  
I'm viewing it as a hobby activity - and just want to be reasonably 
proficient in a modern language that is free, has a wide users-base, and 
has plenty of useful library functions/modules.  For me, Python seems to 
tick all the boxes. Being an interpreted multi-platform language, it is 
also quite popular for FOSS projects (no hidden source code!)

Dave B


On 16/11/13 10:38, Andrew Coulson wrote:
>
> Can anyone suggest a good language to update myself with, that could 
> be applied to the ideas above? Also any suggestions of good resources 
> to support the gaps in my knowledge?
>
> Thanks for your suggestions, and hopefully see you all after Christmas