[Wolves] Programming

Sun Dec 14 08:49:34 GMT 2003

Hi

Thanks James and Jono

Your advice is most helpful. I don't intend to do web programming so this rules out the likes of Python, PERL etc. My aim is to do apps for Linux. Therefore I will go with C++. I have done some programming with VB6 and can get my head around variables, loops, etc. and I am quite good a picking info from books, tutorials etc. Where I think I will get stuck is in getting to know how to code and make use of some of the advanced functions in C++. 

As far as programming Linux itself, do I need that expertise? What I mean is if I want to trouble shoot a hardware configuration problem, or if I want to tweak functionalities will I need to know C?  Another angle is that for  me to understand and use the  command line and get the most out of Linux do I need to know C? Or is it just a case of getting to know the command line syntax?

Cheers

Mo

Jono Bacon <jonobacon at yahoo.com> wrote:
Heya,

Great well reasoned response James.

I think the choice of language is largely dependent on
what you want to do and how much you know. If you are
new to programming, I recommend that you don't go feet
first at C or C++. You can do, and if you are up for
the challenge it can be worthwhile, but for a beginner
they are quite heavy going. Python is certainly a
popular choice as a higher level language and you can
find out more about Python from Aq.

>From my understanding, you are interested in writing
KDE and Qt apps. Firstly, I can wholehearted recommend
Qt as a GUI toolkit, and KDE does add some useful
extensions that merge your application into the KDE
desktop. If this is the route you want to take, C++ is
the language of choice. Like James said, C and C++ are
quite similar but very different. I don't recommend
learning C and then C++ second as you will have to
"unlearn" a lot of stuff. If Qt/KDE apps are your aim,
C++ is a good starting block as Qt and KDE are coded
in C++ (although there are some other bindings fore
languages, C++ is by far the most commonly used and
officially supported language).

If you want to do web programming, there are a number
of options. I recommend PHP as it is simple and
productive and works very well. Python can also be
used, as can Perl and countless others.

There are plenty of tutorials out there for all of
these languages. Good luck.

Jono

--- James Turner wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Dec 2003, Mo Awkati wrote:
> 
> > Hi Folk
> > 
> > Before I go and spend my hard earned money at
> Waterstones on a book 
> > to read over Xmas, I could with some advice
> please.
> >
> > I want to start learning to programme under Linux.
> They way I 
> > understand it is that if I want to programme Linux
> itself so that it 
> > runs tasks, then I need to know C?
> 
> Not necessarily - there are lots of programming
> languages available on 
> Linux. C is still the prefered language for writing
> low-level code such as 
> the kernel or server applications, but you may find
> a higher level 
> language less heavy going and more productive. Do
> you have any previous 
> programming experience?
> 
> (cue recommendations by the various language
> advocates on the list)
> 
> > I got a book out of the library 
> > called Programming Linux in 24 Hours (in my case
> 12 months) by SAMS. 
> > This particular book uses Red Hat. From my very
> little knowledge it uses 
> > gcc. Is this a Gentoo thing?
> 
> gcc stands for GNU Compiler Collection, a set of
> compilers including C, 
> C++, Objective C, ADA, Fortran, Java, etc. The term
> is also used to refer 
> specifically to the GNU C Compiler, which is invoked
> using the command 
> gcc. The GNU Compiler Collection should be available
> for most/all Linux 
> distributions.
> 
> > Do I need to look for another book if I use KDE as
> I will probably 
> > migrate to SUSE?
> 
> Well, does "Programming Linux in 24 Hours" include
> material on KDE at a 
> level you find understandable, in conjunction with a
> programming language 
> you would like to learn/use? For KDE development it
> shouldn't matter what 
> distro you use.
> 
> > I think I am clear that if I want to creat
> applications that will run 
> > under Linux I can use KDevelop and Qt.For this I
> will need to learn to 
> > programme with C++.
> 
> You may like to have a go at developing with Qt
> Designer, which lets you 
> implement the user interface using a fairly
> streightforward "point and 
> click" interface, then add C++ code to turn it into
> a working application.
> 
> > Top save myself the headache, I know that C and
> C++ are related but 
> > there are differences, do I need to learn both C
> and C++?
> 
> C++ was originally a set of extensions to C,
> introduced primarily to 
> provide better support for object oriented
> programming (OOP). The language 
> also introduced several other non-OOP features, many
> of which were later 
> added to C.
> 
> Which of these you learn (if any) depends on what
> sort of programming you 
> would like to do. The object-oriented features of
> C++ make it the more 
> suitable for writing GUI applications such as those
> commonly found on KDE 
> or GNOME desktops, while C may be more appropriate
> for writing 
> certain low-level utilities, tools or contributing
> to the kernel.
> 
> With several minor exceptions, all the features of C
> are also available in 
> C++, so if you have cause to learn C first you can
> then continue to C++ 
> more easily. However, neither are particularly easy
> "first languages" if 
> you're just starting to learn how to program.
> 
> I also suggest taking a look at Python, or (if
> you're interested in 
> server-side web programming) PHP.
> 
> Does anyone else on the list have any suggestions?
> 
> James
> 
> 
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=====
Jono Bacon - http://www.jonobacon.org/
Professional Writer / Web Developer / Musician

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