[Nottingham] Which programming language (RE: O'Reilly Books)

[Duncan John Fyfe]

On Thu, 2007-08-02 at 07:56 +0100, Benjamin McLaughlin wrote:
> I take a more annoying logical approach to which langages I learn.
> So far done VB and java because we did them at college and university. Was 
> not a choice. In a few weeks however when I have got my life sorted out a 
> bit I am planning to learn C# (yes it is the devils language) purely on a 
> basis that at my new job I will have time to learn a language at night and 
> there are more jobs available for C# in Nottingham than any other.
> 
> Along those lines though, I see little point in learning a language if I am 
> not going to use it on a regular basis. I don't like the idea of learning 
> for learnings sake. Two years later you forget most of it if you dont use 
> it.

And there is your weakness.  Learning a new computer language is like
learning a new spoken language.  You will discover new and interesting
ways of thinking that were not necessarily obvious in your previous
language(s).  To me this is the most important part of learning a new
language - making you to think outside the box.  A change of syntax is
neither here nor there.

> 
> Hate to say it on a forum like this one though but VB is always a good place 
> to learn programming.
> 

Have you tried http://gambas.sourceforge.net ?
I'd be interested to know what a VBphile thinks of it.

Have fun,
Duncan