Java = Good first language?

mick44c

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Dec 30, 2013
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Hi, I'm currently following a set of tutorials by the wonderful YouTuber, and all round science-y guy Bucky (TheNewBoston).

http://thenewboston.org/

I was wondering if Java would be a good first programming language for me. Keep in mind, I am only 14, so I don't know things like calculus, but I do have a good solid understanding of things like trigonometry and algebra.

In your answer, I want to know if Java is a good programming language to apply to other languages later on like C and C++ or If I should just swap to different language entirely.

P.S. I don't really have an end goal in mind for what I want to do with programming, but I would like to design a simple game within the next year or so (maybe a platformer with more complex mechanics than your average platformer), or even just a calculator app with a slick UI.

Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
It's awesome that you're starting programming early. Java is a good language to start with and you can do a lot with it. But a good programmer should know a variety of different languages, libraries, and APIs and always keep up to date with new technologies. But then again you're only starting, so just learn something!

Once you've gotten a solid base on Java, transitioning to C or C++ is relatively painless because of their similar syntax. However, you then need to worry about memory management, pointers, and other low level details that you previously didn't need to worry about in Java.

Lastly, doing solo projects out of your own interest is probably the best way to learn. It really makes you appreciate just how much work goes into...

ubertome

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Jan 17, 2014
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It's awesome that you're starting programming early. Java is a good language to start with and you can do a lot with it. But a good programmer should know a variety of different languages, libraries, and APIs and always keep up to date with new technologies. But then again you're only starting, so just learn something!

Once you've gotten a solid base on Java, transitioning to C or C++ is relatively painless because of their similar syntax. However, you then need to worry about memory management, pointers, and other low level details that you previously didn't need to worry about in Java.

Lastly, doing solo projects out of your own interest is probably the best way to learn. It really makes you appreciate just how much work goes into making a good app or game.

Hope you enjoy programming and good luck!
 
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DarkDubzs

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Jun 10, 2013
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Any good recommendations on how to learn? Any links, videos, articles, etc. etc.? Im 17 and want to learn about coding too, just for fun, dont really plan on making anything with it, just figure it will be handy to know how to code in the IT/Networking industry which i plan to pursue for a career.
 

mick44c

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Dec 30, 2013
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Thanks :D.

I was thinking that the braces and semi colons type syntax in java would be useful for C and C++, so I think I made the right choice.

 

mick44c

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Dec 30, 2013
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I learned quite a bit of HTML from this website,

http://www.w3schools.com/

And I'm learning Java from these videos here, which are very useful because they're only about 5 mins long each, and at the start he teaches you how to set up the Eclipse IDE,

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFE2CE09D83EE3E28

He also has tutorials for Ruby, JQuery, HTML5, XHTML, CSS, Virtual Basic, C#, C++, PHP, JavaScript, Objective C, Python and C.

And if you're looking for which programming languages are best at doing what, look no further:

•Assembly and C: embedded programming, OS programming
•C++: OS programming, native GUI apps, games
•Objective-C: Mac OS programming, iPhone apps
•Java and C#: enterprise web services and web apps
•PHP: web apps
•Ruby/Python/Perl: scripting, web apps
•Fortran/Matlab: mathematical and scientific apps
•Erlang: high-concurrency network and telecom apps
•Scala/F#/Clojure: functional languages, some initial attempts made for business and web apps
•COBOL: business apps (yeah, still to this day...)
•Prolog: artificial intelligence
•Lisp: artificial intelligence (and according to some fans of the language, all of the above)

Source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1912408/appropriate-programming-languages-for-different-problems

Even though I'm no expert myself, I do hope this helped!


 

DarkDubzs

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Jun 10, 2013
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Wow, thanks for all the info and help. Ill definitely look into these languages and codes. Thanks! Good luck on your own endeavors!