[wplug] Best programming language for beginner?

[James O'Kane]

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:07 PM,  <Justin at js-wordsmith.com> wrote:
> Probably Web applications, I guess. I feel like that's where development is headed.

If this is the direction you decide, one option is to create an app
engine account, start with a sample application, and try to modify it
to do something new.
http://code.google.com/p/google-app-engine-samples/
The downside is the trade off between future scalability and platform
lock-in. In other words, if you write specifically for appengine
(without using one of the middleware options that creates an
abstraction), then your code won't be as portable, but you should be
able to scale as large as needed.

Disclaimers:
1. I work for Google, so I might be bias.
2. I'm using python appengine for some personal projects, but I didn't
do a full comparison between the various PaaS options. I just wanted
to see what appengine offered and I kept using it.

> Oh, and I'd love for programming to be a fun experience. Working with Java was about as much fun as sticking my head in an oven. The Wikipedia article about Ruby got me thinking...
>
> "Matsumoto has said that Ruby is designed for programmer productivity and fun, following the principles of good user interface design.[28] He stresses that systems design needs to emphasize human, rather than computer, needs:[29]
>
>     Often people, especially computer engineers, focus on the machines. They think, "By doing this, the machine will run faster. By doing this, the machine will run more effectively. By doing this, the machine will something something something." They are focusing on machines. But in fact we need to focus on humans, on how humans care about doing programming or operating the application of the machines. We are the masters. They are the slaves."
>
> That sounds about right. Is this how the Ruby community thinks? That tutorial Vikram linked to is HILARIOUS, and I really like how easy it is to understand the code.
>
> 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, 2:33 PM
>>Subject: Re: [wplug] Best programming language for beginner?
> &gt;
>>In that case... what kind of open source projects would you like to work on?
>>That should narrow your choices quite rapidly.
> &gt;
>>Every programming language has its strengths and weaknesses.
>
> _______________________________________________
> wplug mailing list
> wplug at wplug.org
> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug