[wplug] Best programming language for beginner?

Brian Makin merimus at gmail.com
Thu Feb 21 14:33:02 EST 2013


In that case... what kind of open source projects would you like to work on?
That should narrow your choices quite rapidly.

Every programming language has its strengths and weaknesses.



On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:16 PM, <Justin at js-wordsmith.com> wrote:

> There are a lot of open source projects I'd like to contribute to. Sure, I
> can write documentation, but it's a thankless job, and prying details out
> of developers who are more fluent in code than English is sometimes easier
> said than done. If I write the code, I can articulate it much more easily.
>
> Jeff Atwood just started a software project called Discourse that is
> supposed to be a next-generation discussion platform: part mailing list,
> part message board, part chat room. Loomio is another new project that
> purports to be an online voting system. I'm very interested in both of them.
>
> Firefox has an extension for almost everything. Unfortunately, some of
> them are no longer maintained. I'd like to write a BugMeNot extension
> that's similar to the one available for Chrome.
>
> I am so, so sick of Microsoft Office. Microsoft intentionally crippled the
> license for standalone Office 2013 installations so that people are more or
> less forced to sign on to their subscription model. It wasn't bad enough
> that they charged so much for it; now they want to keep the spigot
> perpetually flowing. LibreOffice needs all the help it can get to break the
> stranglehold Microsoft has on productivity suites.
>
> But you know what? I think I'd just be satisfied to know that I could sit
> down and write a program if I had a bright idea. I'm a very independent
> person, and I don't like having to rely on others to do work for me. I also
> like to feel like I'm "in control" of the products I use.
>
> Justin Smith
> Vice chair/secretary, WPLUG Board of Directors
> http://www.wplug.org
>
>
>
> >---- Original Message ----
> >From: Brian Makin <merimus at gmail.com>
> >To: "General user list" <wplug at wplug.org>
> >Sent: Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 1:24 PM
> >Subject: Re: [wplug] Best programming language for beginner?
> &gt;
> >Second Ben Beige's point.
> >It depends on what you want to do.
> &gt;
> &gt;
> >On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:29 PM, Ben Beige <dariuscardren at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> &gt;
> >> I think this is dependent on your needs, what you want to be able to
> >> program, and how easy it is to find help for it. If you're looking just
> to
> >> learn fundamental stuff that could work as a gateway to multiple
> languages,
> >> or one platform to base all the work you plan on doing in. Also ease of
> >> learning may also be relative to the person learning it's mind set.  If
> you
> >> wanted to learn C/C++, you might was well start there. If you want a
> higher
> >> level language, Java/Ruby/python are also good choices. Its
> >> all dependent on what your ultimate goal is.
> >>
> >>
> >> Ben Beige
> >> dariuscardren at gmail.com
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:13 PM, terry mcintyre <
> terrymcintyre at yahoo.com
> >> >wrote:
> >>
> >> > I am a big fan of Python.
> >> >
> >> > Terry McIntyre <terrymcintyre at yahoo.com>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Unix/Linux Systems Administration
> >> > Taking time to do it right saves having to do it twice.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > >________________________________
> >> > > From: Mark Rauterkus <Mark at Rauterkus.com>
> >> > >To: angrygreg at gmail.com; General user list <wplug at wplug.org>
> >> > >Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:08 PM
> >> > >Subject: Re: [wplug] Best programming language for beginner?
> >> > >
> >> > >Hi,
> >> > >
> >> > >One quarter of all middle and high schools in Scotland are using Live
> >> > Code.
> >> > >With its Kickstarter program and going GPL, this is what many are
> going
> >> to
> >> > >be using in the years to come.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> >
> >>
> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1755283828/open-source-edition-of-livecode
> >> > >
> >> > >--
> >> > >Ta.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >Mark Rauterkus      Mark.Rauterkus at gmail.com
> >> > >Swimming and Water Polo Coach, Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA
> >> > >http://CLOH.wikia.com
> >> > >412 298 3432 = cell
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Greg Akins <angrygreg at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> > >
> >> > >> I think Ruby is a great choice, but Python would be my second.
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Either is good for beginning because of the environment.  Using a
> >> > console
> >> > >> makes it easier than having to deal with the JVM and
> write/compile/run
> >> > >> sequence.  There are some good online programming tools where you
> can
> >> > just
> >> > >> write ruby in a browser and run immediately
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Checkout tryruby.com  Not sure of a similar tool for Python.
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Greg Akins
> >> > >> http://twitter.com/akinsgre
> >> > >>
> >> > >>
> >> > >>
> >> > >> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:36 AM, <Justin at js-wordsmith.com> wrote:
> >> > >>
> >> > >> > I consider myself very knowledgeable about many aspects of using
> a
> >> > >> > computer, but programming, sadly, is not one of them. I took
> Java in
> >> > >> > college, but I wasn't very good at it.
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > I seem to keep running into situations where I wish I could code,
> >> > either
> >> > >> to
> >> > >> > edit existing programs or create something new. I'd really,
> really
> >> > like
> >> > >> to
> >> > >> > give programming another try. What would you recommend for a
> >> beginner
> >> > who
> >> > >> > wants to learn something simple - simpler than Java, I mean - yet
> >> > usable?
> >> > >> > Search results seem to suggest either Python or Ruby.
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > Justin Smith
> >> > >> > Vice chair/secretary, WPLUG Board of Directors
> >> > >> > http://www.wplug.com
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > >> > wplug mailing list
> >> > >> > wplug at wplug.org
> >> > >> > http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> _______________________________________________
> >> > >> wplug mailing list
> >> > >> wplug at wplug.org
> >> > >> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
> >> > >>
> >> > >_______________________________________________
> >> > >wplug mailing list
> >> > >wplug at wplug.org
> >> > >http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > wplug mailing list
> >> > wplug at wplug.org
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> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
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