I lean towards Python for several reasons:
1) It's a very clean, well documented and simple to learn language. I used to use Perl and found the code just got nasty quickly.
2) A very complete standard library means you can start writting useful apps quickly.
3) Very powerful and flexible. You can do desktop apps, web applications, network servers, games, etc, etc.
4) It's object oriented without being annoyingly so. It'll give you some practice with OOD that can't hurt when you look into Java. A lot of other concepts in Python will map over, at least partially, to Java.
5) Cross platform. I use Windows and Linux regularly and prefer to write software I can use on both platforms. Python makes this easy.
6) Python integrates with Java (see Jython) so if you do get involved in Java you may find uses for Jython as an extension in which case learning Python would be helpful.
I use Python daily for all manner of things. I've written complex web applications using it and it performs well. I've written arcade games, administrative scripts, etc. I find Python always lets me do what I need to do with minimal fuss.
A downside with Python is the syntax does not look like the usual C, C++, Java, PHP, C# thing.
Jeff
Cameron Nikitiuk wrote:
Hi All,
Was contemplating trying to learn a programming language and Jeff's offer of books kind of inspired a debate within...what language should I learn?
I am thinking of something related to web development. Keep in mind I am no programmer but I have worked a bit with SQL, JavaScript and HTML. I would eventually like to play with Java but I think that is a far way off yet. I would like something that ties into databases well, is fairly easy to learn and develop for and has a good grounding in the industry. If it is open source so much the better.
I have talked to a few people and they say perl or python or something similar is good. But asking someone the best programming language is liking asking them what the best beer is.
Any non-biased or "good case for" arguments or ideas anyone would care to share? You can contact me off list as well at: cameron dot nikitiuk at shaw dot ca
Cameron
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