Question

I am thinking about learning some software computer languages. Which one should I focus on first? Currently I know HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL and I am learning Javascript as I type this.

Some software languages I know about, but have no knowledge on how to use them are C#, C++, Erlang and Java.

Any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

Here's some advice from one of the best practicing computer scientists on the planet:
http://norvig.com/21-days.html
To quote one the bullet points:
"Learn at least a half dozen programming languages. Include one language that supports class abstractions (like Java or C++), one that supports functional abstraction (like Lisp or ML), one that supports syntactic abstraction (like Lisp), one that supports declarative specifications (like Prolog or C++ templates), one that supports coroutines (like Icon or Scheme), and one that supports parallelism (like Sisal)."

Answer 2

Alright, sounds good. Thanks for the reference. Just one last question though.
I am a Web Developer. So this is a different field than I am used to. When I type "Practice Code" how do you check it to see if you are right?

Answer 3

How do you know if practice code is any good? Does it do what you want it to do.

Or are you asking something else?

Answer 4

I am asking how do I test it? With PHP I had to use a server like WAMP/XAMP, how do I test software languages like these? Sorry if this isn't clear...

Answer 5

Oh, you mean how to get access to the interpreter/compiler for these languages?

Answer 6

Yea, kinda. I am probably asking a question I will learn once I actually start researching it, so I will leave that question for another day if I can't figure it out! Thanks for the help James.

Answer 7

ok .. happy programming.

Answer 8

You can test code on sites like http://ideone.com or with online interpreters like http://repl.it

If you want to build, run and test the code for languages like C, C++, C#, Erlang and Java on your own machine, then all you really need on your computer are the respective compiler and the debugger for the languages (and some kind of text editor).

Nice IDEs for most of the languages are out there that bundle those tools together, kinda like how Adobe Dreamweaver does for Web Development.

http://codeblocks.org is an okay one for C and C++ (download the one that has the mingw compiler if you're using windows).
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ is also a decent IDE for lots of languages, especially Java.
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/express visual studio supports tons of languages as well, such as C#, C, C++, and some more.

http://www.erlang.org/ for erlang. I don't know of a dedicated IDE for a language like Erlang, but there's a bunch of plugins available for text editors like emacs and IDEs like Eclipse that will give you Erlang support.

Answer 9

If you already know PHP, i'd suggest python, otherwise just start with C or/and C++.

Answer 10

someone told me to learn python first, what do you think about that?