best/easies language for interfacing with hardware and WINx OS?

[KrissKross]

first of I should mention that I have essentialy no coding skills in any programing language except for a very beginner level understanding of c. What I would like to know is what language would be the easiest to learn and also be capable of interfacing with hardware cpus and with windows, without too much hastle. This language also needs to be capable of being always synchronized with some sort of clock, and be able to record data input (input from the hardwares onboard controllers and from windows OS) and arrange it according to a timeline, in a format that doesnt take up to much hard disk space. It should be capable of running in the background and take up very little system resources as well.

[PeejAvery]

That which you have mentioned as requirements aren't really for people with "essentialy no coding skills." But, you could learn in time. Also, since you have a basic understanding of C, I would suggest C# or C++.

[KrissKross]

Any specific libraries or starting points that you could recomend for those languages? Im gonna read up on them and then decide which one is better for me. also is there any chance i could use visual basic or something similar to do this?

[PeejAvery]

Teach Sams Yourself C++ in 21 Days

EDIT: You will notice that one of the authors is our manager for CodeGuru (Brad Jones).

[SuperKoko]

Im gonna read up on them and then decide which one is better for me. also is there any chance i could use visual basic or something similar to do this?

C# and VB.NET have the same capacities for interfacing with the system. They use the same framework.
Moreover, their OOP features are similar. With both languages, you get approximatively the same power, maintainability and performances.

The choice is mainly a matter of preference or of transition path. It's easier to migrate from VB classic to VB.NET than from VB classic to C#.

[KrissKross]

I have not much knowledge of either the basic languages or the c languages. to me it only matters which is easier for a layman like me to learn, as long as I dont have to sacrifice effiency or functionality. After doing some reading it would seem that I have a choice between using OOP or not. Is OOP something that I will need for a project like this?

Thanx for the help

[Arjay]

Is OOP something that I will need for a project like this?
Thanx for the help

Only if you hope to finish in a reasonable timeframe. You have a large task ahead of you so ask yourself what do you want to focus on? The task of interacting with the hardware or figuring out how to display an edit box or button. Using a framework such as MFC, ATL, or C# Winforms can greatly reduce the amount of time spent to create the Windows (er, Windowing) portion of the overall application. Using the framework approach might be a great way to get a jumpstart in the overall project.

[KrissKross]

Arjay your suggestion sounds quite practical to me, My only concern is that the C# language will not support everything that I need this program to do. Is it possible that I coud write some parts of the program in C or C++ and then link them with other components that are written in C#? Would that even be practical for someone in my position. For all I know I may not even need C or C++.

The program I intend to build will measure the stress that certain programs, events,setting,actions etc place on the systems resources. It will be much like the task manager with graphs that show cpu and mem usage as well as the current usage of each process, only I intend for it to measure alot more than just those specific metircs.

[PeejAvery]

Just for the record...C# would be able to handle all that you have already stated.