Lots of general questions about programming languages.

[JamesDonnelly]

Hello,
I'm relatively new to programming - I've only been studying it about a year - and I've barely ventured further than Pascal in lessons. Recently, I've been getting more and more into it learning Objective-C to make OS X and iOS apps.

What I was wondering though - because I intend to learn most languages - is which languages are which and what programs are used?
For instance, Objective-C*is used to make OS X and iOS apps and are created in Xcode.
What language and program are used to make -
Microsoft Applications and games?
Android applications and games?
Websites and applets?

and what order should I learn them, if at all?


Thank you.

[nuzzle]

because I intend to learn most languages

He knew seven languages but had nothing to say in any of them.

Much of programming transcends programming languages. It's skills you apply regardless of what language you're coding in. And programming languages have lots in common. You don't have to learn them all up front. It's an inefficient strategy. It's better to concentrate on a few and become truely fluent. It will take you 10-15 years. And it helps to have a college degree.

http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/conte...pci/index.html

http://www.lextrait.com/Vincent/implementations.html

[Brad Jones]

I agree with Nuzzle in that you are better to focus on learning programming concepts and structure more than worrying about specific programming language syntaxes. If you understand the concepts behind interpreted languages, compiled languages, functional languages, etc., and if you understand the concepts around good program structure, application design, problem/project/systems analysis, then you'll find that different programming languages are just different syntaxes to do the same things.


Having said that, the more popular langauges on the market are Java, C#, C++, Visual Basic, and JavaScript. There are also the ASP.NET and PHP used for WebDevelopment. Understanding markup is also valuable, especially HTML.

In addition to understanding programming languages, having an understanding of data and data structures can also go a long way in helping you as a developer.

I didn't mention other languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby, F#, etc. These are used as well; however, if you were looking for a job, you'd likely find that Java and C# will get you hired fastest, and C++ and Visual Basic would likely follow those.