I love Python for teaching somebody to program. It is great for the person trying to learn to program and they can go as simple or as complex as they want. From line coding to objects. Simple, to complex, to down and dirty. And they learn good coding technique because Python enforces a lot of it. It is also a great language for all types of projects. It is one of my personal favorites and great to have in you toolbox. It comes in real handy and is extremely powerful. It is quick and easy to learn. So it works out well for the person trying to learn how to program and it is just plain good for them to know.
That being said, Java is the language of Google choice for their apps and is a great cross platform language to know. Of course it might also be pointed out that sometimes knowing just one language is a hindrance because some languages are better suited for different projects than others are so it is good to know more than one. As an example it is hard to beat PERL for raw speed and power for parsing text data like logs and putting it in spreadsheets and other formats. Hell it is a text reporting language and that is what Larry Wall designed it as to begin with. It does the job great. So it is good to learn more than one language. I would advise your friend to learn good programming in Python, and then move into Java and learn that for the project he wants to do and others. Both are wonderful languages with their strong points and powerful as hell. They cant go wrong knowing them both. And maybe they wont become prejudicial programmers who swear that "Their" programming language of choice is the best language for ALL the programming jobs in the known universe. Then they can find the joy of all the other languages out there and just plain have programming fun instead of code drudgery. On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Otto Gvert <[email protected]> wrote: > Have a young convert to Linux. He has an idea for an app. He has > asked me for programming language suggestions. He does not have > a particular cell phone/pad in mind at this time. > > Any help would be appreciated. >
