Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[GlyphGryph]

Wow, alway, that's some nice stuff.

[Putnam]

What would you guys recommend as a good programming language to learn (the general tenets of) object-oriented programming?

[Skyrunner]

They say Python is an easy introduction to modern programming.

[GlyphGryph]

I think Ruby is easier, honestly. Especially for learning OO stuff - it is an object/message language, so OO is at it's core, and the syntax is consistent and easy enough to learn.

Python isn't bad though.

[Levi]

Ruby also has a strange habit of just working.  Sometimes I just smash my face into the keyboard a few times and it just happens to have produce whatever I happen to need at the time.

[MadocComadrin]

Java tends to be taught in the university setting to teach OOP.

Edit: and I'd stay away from anything that doesn't have strict encapsulation until you have a solid understanding of OOP. (So no Python) It takes away the temptation to do something not OO.

[darkrider2]

I just started my Computer Science major this semester. Its a start, but it will still be a while till I'm programming dwarf fortress XII: dwarves in space or anything.

We're using C++ btw, my friend got stuck in "intro to CS" and they have to use python for some reason.

[MadocComadrin]

They're probably using it because it's easier to pick up for a person who would take Intro to CS as a general education credit or a non-major elective.

[darkrider2]

Huh, I don't know C++ doesn't really feel too hard to learn, though maybe we're not deep enough in yet.

[GlyphGryph]

Java is taught because its one of easiest to teach on an administrative decision making level, not because it's the best to learn.

[MadocComadrin]

Huh, I don't know C++ doesn't really feel too hard to learn, though maybe we're not deep enough in yet.

Think about variables: a relatively simple CS concept. Do you understand them well? Most likely yes. However, many people in the intro class will have a hard time with them. Intro classes tend to cover very basic programming concepts. Most CS majors will either already know these or pick them up with little effort, while non-CS majors or CS majors extremely new to CS might not.

Java is taught because its one of easiest to teach on an administrative decision making level, not because it's the best to learn.

Never said it was. 

[GlyphGryph]

Never said it was. 

I know, just wanted to clarify before there were any misunderstandings. Having looked into it, Java is actually still a REALLY great choice for Universities to choose as their intro languages - but many of the reasons don't apply on a personal level, for someone wanting to learn, so I wanted to make sure that was understood.

Huh, I don't know C++ doesn't really feel too hard to learn, though maybe we're not deep enough in yet.

Think about variables: a relatively simple CS concept. Do you understand them well? Most likely yes.

Are we talking about C++ style variables, Java style variables, or Ruby style variables?

To be honest, this is one of the reasons I prefer Ruby - it's "variable" is much simpler and easier to understand for novices, while the C++ "variable" is actually quite complex. Taking up C++, I was constantly getting tripped up by the fact that C++ variables were very different animals, and it took me a while to actually understand them. And there are still a few things about them that catch me up sometimes.

[MadocComadrin]

Are we talking about C++ style variables, Java style variables, or Ruby style variables?

All of them; none of them. Rather, I'm saying some people will have trouble with the procedural programming concept of a chunk of memory holding a value than can be accessed/modified via an identifier--all typing styles and implementations aside.

[Putnam]

Are we talking about C++ style variables, Java style variables, or Ruby style variables?

All of them; none of them. Rather, I'm saying some people will have trouble with the procedural programming concept of a chunk of memory holding a value than can be accessed/modified via an identifier--all typing styles and implementations aside.

TBH... that's kind of weird >_>

[GlyphGryph]

A coworker, our current senior-most-programmer, has decided the new system he's going to be working on will use "~" to represent the not symbol (and "~=" to represent not equals) instead of the more tradition ruby "!" and "!=".

His reason is that "I don't like how bangs look, the tilde looks much better."

This explains why he previously created his own "Not" method and used that almost exclusively up until this point, I suppose.

In other news, I'm now officially hunting for a new job.