You should have linked him to this instead

He's annoying; we don't want him here (kind of harsh, but you would agree if you met him)

You might not have noticed the hyperlink in "this"

It goes to a page about programming in ten years.

Oh... I did miss that <.<. I definitely should have linked him to that, and I probably will when he asks again.

HAHA. Reading this thread, I see that the most recommended languages are C, C++, C#, Python, Java, and the less-supported Lua and Perl.
Having not learned any of these languages, I could not say which is better. But, if all you've done is calculator programming, I would greatly recommend Visual Basic, because there are some parts very similar to TI-BASIC. If-Then loops are almost identical. After you learn the syntax and commands, it is pretty easy. I'm learning the 2010 .NET variant right now I hope you consider it, I have a great tutorial book I could recommend if you're interested.

Nobody recommended VB because VB isn't a programming language, it's more of a Fischer Price toy for overpaid managers who couldn't logically think their way out of a paper bag. That's like saying you know how to program in HTML - you just sound stupid.

In short, admitting you know it is admitting you are a failure at life. Hurry up and edit your post before more people see it.

And nobody is recommending C/C++ for a first language, or rather nobody who has the slightest clue what they are talking about is.

I agree, VB has awful syntax and is a chore to work in. Nobody recommended it because it absolutely sucks, and I couldn't agree more with Kllr's description. I am going to have to learn VB next school year in my Software Design class, and I'm already dreading it. (I will, of course, see if I can do it in C# instead).

Like most other people, I'd recommend Python.

Having said that... there's a difference between original VB and VB .NET. VB .NET is C# with Basic syntax and support for some legacy libraries from the old VB. As far as I can tell, usage of C# over VB .NET or vice versa (and, I suppose, usage of one .NET language over the other) is really down to personal (so, syntactical) preference.

VB and VB.NET's Syntax is terrible, I refuse to do any work in it unless I am being paid. It is stupidly verbose with nothing gained from that verbosity. If you prefer to type twice as much to say the same thing sure use VB.NET else stick to C#.NET.

Hey, stupid. Why don't you read the entire a post before talking crap? I didn't say I knew it, I said I was currently learning it. And I'm not arguing with anyone, I was making a suggestion. Go to a mental institution if you can't control your anger.

Touchy, are we? He said nothing about you knowing it, just stating a personal opinion (one I happen to largely agree with, although I may not have said it in the same way).

Many languages are regular enough that I can hack something up with a bit of reference even if I haven't worked with them before, but VB manages to be inconsistent with nearly everything else (using ' to delimit comments is one of the things I particularly dislike).

It was definitely a suggestion, but not a good one IMO. Also, no one was angry, they were just stating their opinions.

Here's a snippet from a program I wrote to generate documents using Microsoft Word:


Code:


Fortunately, C# 4 (finally!) brought C# in line with VB.NET when it came to COM interop.

Whilst I'd agree that C# is generally terser and more pleasant to work with VB.NET is a mostly competent language and there's nothing inherently wrong with it. The use of keywords rather than symbols can be beneficial to beginners.

Hey calm down a bit, Killer John is our bitter techie here (from what Kerm said I do beleive), just as nikky is our source of funny trolling.... you will have to put up with them, even if you don't like how they put their arguments..... or even their arguments themselves.

btw, I am surprised that VB.NET has a bad rap... my friend made a few cool applications with it when he used it. I wondered why he refused to use it anymore....

Visual BASIC in general has a very bad rap among serious programmers, Qazz, sorry to say. And you're absolutely right, John is our bitter, 80-year-old twentysomething Google coder. I'd say he's a good argument against going to work there.

But of course we all know you'd be lying and would love to come work at Google

Obviously. But that's neither here nor there; let's try to keep this in the realm of ontopicness. I'm curious what the OP thinks of all this discussion.