I am wanting to dive into programming but I have a hard time considering what is really best, help me out.

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Questions:

Is Python a good launguage for begginers?
Is Python a good launguage at all, can it do what VB and C do?
How do I get VB 6.0 for free?
What do you recommend I do for learning the basics?

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Any help would be nice. Thanks.

if i remember VB is on microsofts webpage somewhere but dosen't compile your code to an exe, and there was a poll for suggestions of where to start >here<.

Java can be found here and is my language of preference.

Express versions of the Microsoft.NET platform are freely available here. I would suggest possibly starting out with C# because it is object oriented, syntactically similar to C/C++, and fairly easy to learn. From there moving onto C/C++ shouldn’t be too hard, or you could just dive right into C/C++.

GCC is a good collection of free compilers (C/C++/Fortran/Java/Etc..) and can be found here.

There have been quite a few discussions on what languages to start with, and dragon gave you a good one. Search around for more information, make a decision, do something based on that decision, and change your mind if you find you don't like your decision.

HTH :)

Is Python a good launguage for begginers?

Yes. It has clean syntax, supports advanced concepts such as OOP without forcing them on you, it's free, portable to many platforms, and has an excellent online resource: www.diveintopython.org. It's easy, concise, but doesn't dumb you down.

Is Python a good launguage at all, can it do what VB and C do?

Yes, it's a great language. From a syntax point of view, many consider it to be vastly superior to all of its competitors. And it can do most of what VB and C can do. You can call ActiveX/COM and win32 API using the win32all library, and also write C extensions, if you need them. Fortunately, there's a huge collection of premade libraries that let you do everything from GUIs to connect to AOL instant messenger.

Links:
http://www.diveintopython.org - READ THIS FIRST!!!! It'll hold your hand and make it easy, and let you save face on the vL forums :)
http://www.python.org - download it here
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/ - win32all extensions, you will want this if you're on windows.
http://psyco.sf.net/ - helpful for speeding up your programs; you don't need it immediately
http://www.wxpython.org/ - the proper way to make GUIs in python

How do I get VB 6.0 for free?

You steal it.

What do you recommend I do for learning the basics?

I recommend you first do a hello, world sort of program. Then, write something useful, maybe a daily planner, MP3 organizer, or something like that. Finally, you should write a program that sorts a list of numbers ascending and descending.

Not a useful post but how many off these posts have there been. There should be a forum specifically for these.

[quote author=$t0rm link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69287 date=1089320462]
Is Python a good launguage for begginers?

Yes. It has clean syntax, supports advanced concepts such as OOP without forcing them on you, it's free, portable to many platforms, and has an excellent online resource: www.diveintopython.org. It's easy, concise, but doesn't dumb you down.

Is Python a good launguage at all, can it do what VB and C do?

Yes, it's a great language. From a syntax point of view, many consider it to be vastly superior to all of its competitors. And it can do most of what VB and C can do. You can call ActiveX/COM and win32 API using the win32all library, and also write C extensions, if you need them. Fortunately, there's a huge collection of premade libraries that let you do everything from GUIs to connect to AOL instant messenger.

Links:
http://www.diveintopython.org - READ THIS FIRST!!!! It'll hold your hand and make it easy, and let you save face on the vL forums :)
http://www.python.org - download it here
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/ - win32all extensions, you will want this if you're on windows.
http://psyco.sf.net/ - helpful for speeding up your programs; you don't need it immediately
http://www.wxpython.org/ - the proper way to make GUIs in python

How do I get VB 6.0 for free?

You steal it.

What do you recommend I do for learning the basics?

I recommend you first do a hello, world sort of program. Then, write something useful, maybe a daily planner, MP3 organizer, or something like that. Finally, you should write a program that sorts a list of numbers ascending and descending.
[/quote]

Thanks for that.

[quote author=Meh link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69293 date=1089321420]
Not a useful post but how many off these posts have there been. There should be a forum specifically for these.
[/quote]

So true lol.

[quote author=Tuberload link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69283 date=1089320016]
Java can be found here and is my language of preference.

Express versions of the Microsoft.NET platform are freely available here. I would suggest possibly starting out with C# because it is object oriented, syntactically similar to C/C++, and fairly easy to learn. From there moving onto C/C++ shouldn’t be too hard, or you could just dive right into C/C++.

GCC is a good collection of free compilers (C/C++/Fortran/Java/Etc..) and can be found here.

There have been quite a few discussions on what languages to start with, and dragon gave you a good one. Search around for more information, make a decision, do something based on that decision, and change your mind if you find you don't like your decision.

HTH :)
[/quote]

Are those actual programming launguages and compilers on that site? Could I write in VB or C with the correct one?

[quote author=idoL link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69306 date=1089327798]Are those actual programming launguages and compilers on that site? Could I write in VB or C with the correct one?
[/quote]

Yes the express products will allow you to write programs in VB and C++, as well as C# and J#.

Bare in mind that Storm is totally biased :)

[quote author=Arta[vL] link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69368 date=1089375470]
Bare in mind that Storm is totally biased :)
[/quote]

Yes he is biased towards a different language every week it seems. :)

[quote author=Arta[vL] link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69368 date=1089375470]
Bare in mind that Storm is totally biased :)
[/quote]

wtf are you talking about; I'm right. I think I know what he wants to do, and I think that Python is best for what he wants to do.

Just because I don't swear by C doesn't make me biased.

[quote author=$t0rm link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69473 date=1089426065]
wtf are you talking about; I'm right. I think I know what he wants to do, and I think that Python is best for what he wants to do.

Just because I don't swear by C doesn't make me biased.
[/quote]

You seem to have a very strong opinion for or against things, but it seems that your opinion changes over time.

Not really; only big change was switching from loving Java to hating Java and loving Python...but taht's just because I found a better alternative...

[quote author=Adron link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69504 date=1089451395]You seem to have a very strong opinion for or against things, but it seems that your opinion changes over time. [/quote]

[quote author=$t0rm link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69875 date=1089597588]Not really; only big change was switching from loving Java to hating Java and loving Python...but taht's just because I found a better alternative...[/quote]

Not really what? You just confirmed Adron's statement in totality.

[quote author=$t0rm link=board=5;threadid=7624;start=0#msg69287 date=1089320462]
How do I get VB 6.0 for free?

You steal it.

[/quote]

Hehe - pretty much the entire CS department of the University I attend got a shitload of free Microsoft products - legally!

After evaluating express, C# isn't as good as Python, but it's better than Java. The IDE rules.