Hey, Jim: If K&R is a bad way to learn C, what's a better way? I've had K&R on my bookshelf on a 3.5 floppy for years! Even used it in class once. On Mon, 11 Mar 2002 jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov wrote: > Hi Greg, > I definitely disagree. BASIC teaches bad programming habits like > FORTRAN i.e. non-structured programming. The problem with C is not the > language, but that most people learning C start by reading Kernighan and > Richie. I have been programming in C since 1986 but it took me almost > half of that time to unlearn bad habits I picked up from BASIC and > FORTRAN. Now, one could make a case for Pascal as your first language > but I really think BASIC is a bad idea. Sure, you might be able to > accomplish certain tasks easier in BASIC than in C, but the time you > spend in learning C will make you a much better programmer in the long > run. > Jim Wantz > On Sun, 10 Mar 2002, Gregory Nowak wrote: > > > Since we're on opinions, in my opinion c or c++ are not good languages to begin with. I believe from personal experience that it is best to start with something like basic, and then move on to languages like c or c++ where the concepts you learned from BASIC will help you advance in higher languages faster. > > Greg > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 10, 2002 at 06:48:35PM -0500, jwantz at hpcc2.hpcc.noaa.gov wrote: > > > Hi Alex, > > > While BASIC sounds like a good starting language in my opinion it is > > > not. First, it is very non-standard (no two BASIC interpreters or > > > compilers are alike). Second, file i/o in most BASICs is really rather > > > painful. As far as I know, the only BASIC widely used in WINDOWS is > > > Visual BASIC which is hardly free! > > > > > > Jim Wantz > > > n Sun, 10 Mar 2002, Alex Snow wrote: > > > > > > > I would use, and want to learn, basic, if there was a free Compiler and/or > > > > IDE for basic under winblows. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > From: "Gregory Nowak" <gnowak1 at uic.edu> > > > > To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca> > > > > Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 2:56 PM > > > > Subject: Re: free programming language > > > > > > > > > > > > > How about BASIC? > > > > > Greg > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 10, 2002 at 01:25:38PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote: > > > > > > Hi. > > > > > > I am looking for a programming language for windows that is both free > > > > and easy to learn for a beginning programmer. Does such a language exist? > > > > > > > > > > > > --- > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > Speakup mailing list > > > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Speakup mailing list > > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Speakup mailing list > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Speakup mailing list > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 Chair, Accessibility SIG Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) http://www.openebook.org
