Resources - Programming Languages

[LewisWhaley]

Here are some Internet links for programming language resources
that might be very helpful:

Microsoft QBasic QuickBASIC programming language:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qbasic

http://www.qbasicnews.com/sections.php?id=4

More to come....

[hhemken]

With all due respect to Mr Whaley, I would recommend against the use of QBasic. It is a discontinued language that appears to depend on obsolete modules that may or may not play well on a specific windows system. It is also obsolete as a language, an old fashioned, stripped down, and cumbersome language with no object orientation, database access, or sophisticated graphical interface features, to name a few of many shortcomings. Also, since it is obsolete and unsupported, your code will be difficult to use on other computers or to share with other users.

There are several programming languages that are robust, actively maintained, free, and with modern features. Most of them are also cross-platform, and run on practically any operating system.

In no particular order:

Python
http://www.python.org
http://www.activestate.com

Perl
http://www.perl.org
http://www.cpan.org
http://www.activestate.com

Java
http://java.sun.com

C++
http://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html (use Dev-C++ 5.0)
http://www.trolltech.com/download/opensource.html (works well with Dev-C++ 5.0)

Tcl/Tk
http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/
http://www.activestate.com

Ruby
http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
http://www.activestate.com

If you are on a Windows computer, and an advanced user, you can install and use Cygwin, which provides a Linux-like interface at the command line. Most of the above languages can be installed for use with Cygwin:
http://www.cygwin.com

If you set up Linux on a PC, you will have access to all of the above languages and much, much more, all for free:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://fedora.redhat.com
http://www.us.debian.org/
[several others]

There are also BSD Unix variants available for free:
http://www.freebsd.org/
http://netbsd.org/
[others]

As you can see, the options available to you for free are enormous. There are quite a few I haven't even mentioned.

Important question: What is the "best" language for a newbie to learn? This is difficult to answer. I would recommend against C or C++. They are very powerful, but not easy for beginners to learn. Tcl/Tk is used quite a bit behind the scenes, but not so much for commonly used programs. Java, Python, and Perl are very widely used, powerful, and versatile. Of these three, I would say that Java and Python are the easiest to learn. There is a lot of free literature on the net, as well as tutorials, example code, tips, tricks, freebies, etc.

As if that weren't enough, there is also a huge body of program source code you can look at and use in your own programs. There are hundreds of useful programs: games, database tools, graphics tools, and a lot of stuff you have never heard of. Here are the two main repositories of open source code, available in many programming languages, and usable on Windows, Unix/Linux, and Macs:

http://freshmeat.net/
http://sourceforge.net/index.php

It is not at all an exaggeration to say that the above information can keep you busy full time for the next 20 years.