free programming language

[jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov]

Hi Janina,
K&R is an excellent book--just not a beginner's book.  Something like C 
Primer Plus is much easier for a beginner.     Jim
On Mon, 11 Mar 2002, 
Janina Sajka wrote:

> Hey, Jim:
> 
> If K&R is a bad way to learn C, what's a better way?
> 
> I've had K&R on my bookshelf on a 3.5 floppy for years! Even used it in 
> class once.
> 
> On Mon, 11 Mar 2002 jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov wrote:
> 
> > Hi Greg,
> > I definitely disagree.  BASIC teaches bad programming habits like 
> > FORTRAN i.e. non-structured programming.  The problem with C is not the 
> > language, but that most people learning C start by reading Kernighan and 
> > Richie.  I have been programming in C since 1986 but it took me almost 
> > half of that time to unlearn bad habits I picked up from BASIC and 
> > FORTRAN.  Now, one could make a case for Pascal as your first language 
> > but I really think BASIC is a bad idea.  Sure, you might be able to 
> > accomplish certain tasks easier in BASIC than in C, but the time you 
> > spend in learning C will make you a much better programmer in the long 
> > run.
> >      Jim Wantz
> > On Sun, 10 Mar 2002, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> > 
> > > Since we're on opinions, in my opinion c or c++ are not good languages to begin with. I believe from personal experience that it is best to start with something like basic, and then move on to languages like c or c++ where the concepts you learned from BASIC will help you advance in higher languages faster.
> > > Greg
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On Sun, Mar 10, 2002 at 06:48:35PM -0500, jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov wrote:
> > > > Hi Alex,
> > > > While BASIC sounds like a good starting language in my opinion it is 
> > > > not.  First, it is very non-standard (no two BASIC interpreters or 
> > > > compilers are alike).  Second, file i/o in most BASICs is really rather 
> > > > painful.  As far as I know, the only BASIC widely used in WINDOWS is 
> > > > Visual BASIC which is hardly free!
> > > > 
> > > >      Jim Wantz
> > > > n Sun, 10 Mar 2002, Alex Snow wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > I would use, and want to learn, basic, if there was a free Compiler and/or
> > > > > IDE for basic under winblows.
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Gregory Nowak" <gnowak1 at uic.edu>
> > > > > To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> > > > > Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 2:56 PM
> > > > > Subject: Re: free programming language
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > > How about BASIC?
> > > > > > Greg
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Sun, Mar 10, 2002 at 01:25:38PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> > > > > > > Hi.
> > > > > > > I am looking for a programming language for windows that is both free
> > > > > and easy to learn for a beginning programmer.  Does such a language exist?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ---
> > > > > >
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