[Wolves] Basic programming language for linux

Alan Pope alan at popey.com
Fri Aug 18 08:05:00 BST 2006


On Fri, Aug 18, 2006 at 12:25:39AM +0100, Baza wrote:
> 
> On 18 Aug 2006, at 00:08, Andy Wootton wrote:
> >I'd suggest Python as a good, clean, simple, morally right  
> >beginner's language, which will enable you to get simple programs  
> >up and running fast without permanently stunting your programming  
> >skills."
> >
> I disagree. 

You're entitled to your opinion..

> BASIC is so simple to program in, you can get the classic  
> hello world, what is your name' things running in a few minutes.
> 

Python is easy to get up and running too.

alan at hactar:~$ python
Python 2.4.3 (#2, Apr 27 2006, 14:43:58)
[GCC 4.0.3 (Ubuntu 4.0.3-1ubuntu5)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print "hello world"
hello world
>>>

That took seconds.

The fact that BASIC isn't "current" where python is also means there's lots
of up to date documentation. If my daughter wants to learn a language,
python is likely what she'll get. 

> This inspires you to learn 'better' programming languages as you have  
> the confidence that you can do it. My first programs were written in  
> MS Basic and 6502 assembler and it never did me any harm.
> 

Or it makes you stick in old bad habits that are very difficult to undo, and
have no real grasp of what's required in a modern language.

Cheers,
Al.



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