10 replies to this topic

[alexei777]

Hi guys ,

This is my first post on this forum and i hope you will be able to help me with this simple newbie question ...

Firstly , i am currently a web programmer in PHP,MySQL,Javascript,HTML,CSS and i've been doing this for a few years now ... enough with the boring background

What i would like is to move to a DESKTOP programming language which would offer me
a new perspective towards programming apart from the web programming ...

So , my question would be which desktop programming language do you recommend ?
Which of them offers the best learning curve and also the best features ?

I must specify i've had some attempts to learn C++ in school , but it seems to me there should be some better options out there ... maybe visual basic ? i don't know , but i would like it to be a complete language from the features point of view ...

Please give me some details too ...
Thanks to all and i am anxiously waiting for your answers ...

Regards,
Alex.

[Jynxis]

VB.NET, Perl, C++, Java are all good languages to start in....

Tho you would prolly also be better off learning ASP.NET(Web Programming Language*you prolly already knew*) aswell

[kschembri]

My favourites include
VB.NET and C++, Java is also good to start out with.

[Hacker-X]

try Python, pretty basic code language, then start VB and then C++, i haven't a clue about any of these languages except some VB

[ronson]

Personally, i'd start off in and learn Visual Basic .NET, as Visual Basic 6 is a dead language, it won't be before long until it's not supported by Microsoft and there will be no companies that accept it. After VB.NET has been learnt, move onto C#/Java, then C++. I wouldn't bother with Python that's a dead language aswell, not many people use it nowadays unless they intend to make codecs.

[NGPixel]

VB6 is not a dead language, actually there's more use of VB6 than VB.Net

It's even better to start with VB6 since the Shape object is not even in VB.Net at start. VB6 is easier to start.

[Riskmanager]

If your are not too disturbed using a french product, I would advice having a look at the Windev/Webdev/Windev Mobile case tool (see http://www.windev.com/).

[badrepent]

My advice is to start with the whole .net framework. It includes every aspect of programming and is not so difficult.

[ronson]

Microsoft doesn't support VB6 anymore. VB.NET has a wider community, supported by more companies, and becoming recongized in more working places than VB6. Not to mention that VB.NET is updated and more stable than VB6...

[reZo]

To me, as you can see. There are many different programming languages for 'desktop programming'.

To start off.

VB.NET is a programming language for the Windows .NET Workframe. Visual Basics (VB) is a window programming language. Meaning, you start off with a simple window. From there, you can add buttons, rename things, and add code you wish to the buttons.

C++ however, is a different language. Its much harder to learn, but for people with knowledge in such lanugages as PHP, Java, C, VB, Python and more, it will be a lot easyer to learn.

Continuing on C++. The reason it is a hard language to learn, for some, is you have to program everything yourself. This includes programming a simple window, in which you are just given to you in VB with out any knowledge in programming. This is called Win32 API.

You should however, start off with Console programming in C++ if you want to take the C++ road of programming. By saying this, I do not mean Game Consoles, I mean, DOS command line. That type of console. From there, once you have learnt all there is to know about Console programming in C++, you can move to Win32 API, from there, where ever you wish. You should know where to go from Win32 API if you have made it that far.

There are a few roads however, such as Game Programming, Network Programming, and more. For Game Programming, you should learn OpenGL and/or DirectX. For network programming, you will need to learn TCP/IP and Winsock.

Hope that helped.

I might add to that with other programming languages later on. But for know, thats it.

Of cause, its your choice in which programming language you want to learn, all people can do is suggest what they like, and don't like. Or have had personal experience in and such. As you might be able to tell, C++ is my experience. Just because someone else is doing it, don't feel presured into learning it. Learn what you want.

C++ and VB are both Desktop Programming Languages. Or Win32 API and GTK+ (Linux Programming).

[Indigo]

If you allready know PHP and stuff like that, I would advice you to start with C or C++! They're pretty much the same, but you do not have to learn one of them before the other (though many people would say you should learn C first, but... You really don't have 2, trust me!)

If you do find these too difficult, try Java or VB, maybe some batch/DOS programming. There are several links in the forum and on the main page for tutorial sites and tutorials in all of these languages.

PS: If you don't know any programming languages (except HTML/CSS or something), you can also start with C or C++. I started with C++, without any other knowledge than HTML, and found PHP, CSS and other MUCH easier to learn when I first knew the basics of C++.