| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 14913 | 2002-01-22 13:00:00 | New career: Visual basic or C++? | Guest (0) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 32427 | 2002-01-22 13:00:00 | I'm in my mid forties, been tinkering with computers for about a year and was thinking of doing some sort of course to learn programming. Have had no tertiary education to do with computers. Looked at some courses that cost about $12k but you seem to learn all sorts of things that dont seem relevant. I think I want to learn programming but am unsure whether to go Visual basic or C++. I saw an intro course advertised tonight for Visual that costs $75 and is on Saturdays for 2 hours for 8 weeks. Thought that might be a good way to have a look to see if thats the way to go. Any suggestions appreciated. Cheers. |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32428 | 2002-01-22 19:37:00 | As a programmer, should it be Visual Basic AND C++? I reckon you need a couple of lingo's to keep you busy. |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32429 | 2002-01-22 20:34:00 | Hello Graeme, I've been looking into the exact same subject myself, and what I've gathered so far, Visual basic 6.0 is where to start, C++ is part of advanced programming with visual basic. I found the Libarary, a great place to look for this information. cheers, Bob |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32430 | 2002-01-22 22:00:00 | C++ is advanced programming in Visual Basic?? C++ is a language in its own right. If you are wanting to learn a language so you can say you can program, then just go with Visual Basic, its easy enough to learn and will let you program small programs. However if you want to be a programmer, then learning only one language, no matter what the language is very limiting, as not every language is suitable for every task, its like being a builder who only knows how to use a hammer. I would suggest starting with something like C, because it is a very good language to learn if you have no prior programming or computer experience. Speaking from experience, once you have taken C, it is only a very easy step to pick up Java, Perl, Visual Basic, JavaScript, C++. If you have all of those languages under your belt then you would be about ready to start programming some serious applications. |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32431 | 2002-01-23 00:12:00 | The course you mentioned sounds like a good idea. There is not too much time involved and it will give you an indication concerning whats involved. You should come away not just with a few new skills but also some idea as to whether you really like programming or not, and whether you click with the whole programming mentality(!). Apart from needing a problem-solving mindset, one of the big factors affecting your decision will be time. For instance, C++ is a powerful and flexible language but it is also huge. It you want to understand all its capabilities, from those it has inherited from C to all its object-oriented features as well as templates, exception handling and the STL (etc.) then be prepared to put in a lot of hours. Also be prepared for a few late nights staring at the output from a debugger ruing even the thought to have taken this up! Having said that, there is nothing to compare to the feeling of seeing your creation run perfectly. | Guest (0) | ||
| 32432 | 2002-01-23 01:02:00 | If you're serious about programming as a career, pass on VB and Delphi (for the moment at least) and opt for those languages that are most likely to get you a job. I'd be looking at C++ at least, with Java and Perl as additional languages once you have the basics of C++ down. A good indicator of programming career prospects will be found in the employment section of IT journals such as PC World's sibling, ComputerWorld. I have nothing against VB and Delphi, by the way. I started my programming in VB and switched to Delphi when Windows 3.1 became Win95. They are both great to work in with my personal preference being Delphi. However, the employment ads feature few positions for Delphi programmers, and even VB, which is more commonly requested, is a relatively small part of the overall market. Also, I have a feeling that VB tends to get used for mundane stuff such as database front ends. I have been told by others that a good knowledge of C/C++ stands you in good stead for learning other languages. Hope that helps... :-) |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32433 | 2002-01-23 03:09:00 | I agree with Andy. If you are serious about programming, set VB and Delphi aside and take up something like C/C++. In Canterbury's Computer Science department, they use C as their major programming language (as many Unix/linux tools are built with it). since C++ is a OOP derivative of C, it is more useful than VB and Delphi, and will get you a job more easily as Andy has mentioned. I learnt VB by simply reading its reference helppages, but I was unable to learn VC++ this way. So take up a course in C++ (or VC++) is the way to go, Graeme. Hope this helps. ==James== |
Guest (0) | ||
| 32434 | 2002-01-26 10:17:00 | I floundered around learning programming by taking the basic route. While C++ is by far the superior language to VB, its also a *lot* harder to learn if you have no programming experience. My recommendation: Like others have suggested, learn an easier language first. Like Python(http://python.org). Its completely free, has dozens of easy self teaching tutorials available, is open source, clean, and object orientated. Its also powerful, and as well as being used by beginners, its used by professionals as a solid tool. But I doubt you'll need to take a course in it. After three days of going through the tutorial that comes with it (and there are even better ones out there), I knew enough to be able to build my own webserver. It is ideal for internet work. However, for program development, C++ is preferable, but Python gives you a solid grounding that makes learning C++ much easier. |
Guest (0) | ||
| 1 | |||||