Re: Programming Languages, "to C or not to C, that is the Q."

From: Rogério Brito (rbrito_at_ime.usp.br)
Date: 01/23/05

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    Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:31:56 -0200
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org

    On Jan 22 2005, Scotty Fitzgerald wrote:
    > So, I see like a billion languages available. I have a few
    > questions, but would any general opinions on "language to
    > learn" you may have. Please don't feel I am not interested
    > if you have thoughts don't directly relate to what I write below.

    Here is a reply that I think that you were not expecting to get: given that
    some languages provide at least some common functionality, they are all
    equally expressive, in terms of what one can compute in one language or
    another.

    This is a pretty theoretical point of view, indeed, but the true fact is
    that, once you already program (or learnt to program) something in Pascal,
    that is, once you're proficient enough with a given language, then learning
    another one is just a matter of little time to spend seeing what the
    library of the new language provides and what its syntactic differences are
    (related to the language that you already know well).

    In other words, the language should be your least worrying point and
    algorithms should be the core of the time you spend programming.

    And once you learn C, learning other languages is like a piece of cake,
    since many of them have borrowed syntax from C, or, at least, some
    inspiration on in.

    Oh, and one last point: whatever is the language that you choose, try to
    use the good practices of that language, seeing what other good programmers
    do. In other words, each language requires its own mindset shift and if you
    try to program *with* the language, it will be much easier than trying to
    *fight* against the language that you've chosen.

    In other words again, a language is just a tool. Use it to your own
    advantage.

    Hope this helps, Rogério. 

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