So, you write CGI in C or Ruby Even if you can't write programs in Perl, it is good if you can read what other programmer wrote in perl. It will come handy for large text-formatting programs. Perl is by far the best text-formatting language...the regex engine is damn good. perl is worth learning for a lot of practical reasons. And I don't give a damn about python 'cos i never use it...I learned it because I was having way too much free time during my summer hols.

C is the best language to begin with....coz every other language more or less like C . Once u have a proper grip on C then other languages do become damn easy

Hmm, there's a lot of widely used languages that are really nothing like C (e.g. Python, Ruby). Still, knowing C is very useful if you're going to be programming on a *NIX system.

Alex

i fail to see the likeness between C and lisp or C and haskell or C and sql

Most programming languages are alike in the way you have to think about/approach problems. Some are just better at certain things.

I have only ever used Python so that's where I voted. Thus far I have only ever used it for games implementing some libraries the some of the leaders of a programming camp I used to go on had written (www.livewires.org.uk, some really intuitive tutorials for Python there). I'm just beginning to start developing my 'unassisted' Python programming skills, by writing loads of random programs which would probably work better in other languages or are totally useless. Then again, I'm 15 so none of this is career-based.

In summary, go Python.

Dan

i think c++ is good to begin with.
and if u learn c++ u come to know c by default.

Well hitler it isn't that easy to learn OOP direct ... I would prefer learning C or any other basic language before stepping into the world of classes n constructors n so on....

satan
i mean to say u need not directly to jump to the oop concepts in c++,u can learn the initial concepts of functins(leave overloaded finctions),arrays ,etc etc and then jump to oops and other
concepts .

Then u mean to say learn C first then learn C++ ;;;

coz wat u want people to learn is

( C++ ) - ( OOPS )

which is == C

Then u mean to say learn C first then learn C++ ;;;

coz wat u want people to learn is

( C++ ) - ( OOPS )

which is almost == C

ok u can take it that way but still there r sime differences like
cout ,cin, header files,namespaces............etcetc

ok u can take it that way but still there r sime differences like
cout ,cin, some diff header files,namespaces............etc etc

perl is my choice. scripting languages r the easiest to learn 1st.
3mp3r0r

At college I took a module last semester in basic programming concepts. We learned to program in VB!! ....but i learned that the most important parts of developing useful applications are language independant anyway. Once you have worked out the requirements & designed the different parts of a program to meet the requirements, the coding part is not too bad.

But my favorite language is C++ it seems to have so much more to offer than VB6!!

I'm starting to like shell scripts, somewhat easy, can get more complex, and very powerful.