first language to learn

To make an Android app, the best language to learn is Java.

To make a website, the best language to learn is PHP.

You can start with a book, or use online tutorials such as those found on NewBoston.

You can do websites with Java servlets / JSP / JSTL too although PHP is easier to learn. Bear in mind that you'll also need to learn client side languages for website development, at least HTML and CSS.

SimonTemplar wrote: »

You can do websites with Java servlets / JSP / JSTL too although PHP is easier to learn. Bear in mind that you'll also need to learn client side languages for website development, at least HTML and CSS.

HTML is a markup language and CSS a stylesheet language meant to express presentation. Its not programming. Like i said you should learn javascript, its a client side and server side language. You should also learn the basic of CSS and HTML so you can put together functioning website. But if you not into design then leave the advanced CSS and HTML stuff to designers.

SimonTemplar wrote: »

The OP said he possibly wants to make a website. To do so, he'll need HTML and CSS. I never said they were programming.

My mistake, apologies

It really doesn't matter. Just get started, that's the main thing. Pick a language that allows you to create something that appeals to you. Websites? Javascript. Android apps? Java. iPhone apps? Objective C. Desktop games? C# etc.

The Corinthian wrote: »

I'd recommend Java as a first language to learn.

This is because, other than the range of tutorials available in Java out there, it's a pretty strict language, which means you're less likely to end up with bad habits, which is what will inevitably happen with something like PHP.

It also gets you into object oriented programming from the start, and it's a lot easier to go from that to more procedural languages than the reverse, in the long term.

It's also very simelar to C#, but while you could also start with that first, I'd still go for Java because it allows you, with greater ease, to compile using the command line from the beginning, rather than hiding everything behind a slick IDE, which I feel is good to be familiar with.

There is a huge ramp up to get the basics going, this is where things like PHP shine. Its a difficult experience for a new student trying to understand every word in a Java hello world programme.

The Corinthian wrote: »

True, but that extra effort with a language like Java will be a fraction of the effort needed to get rid of all those bad habits you'll pick up if you start with a language like PHP.

I'd be more of the view of getting them moved from PHP to a strongly typed language quickly, have a fast but gradual increase in complexity.

The Corinthian wrote: »

I'd recommend Java as a first language to learn.
This is because, other than the range of tutorials available in Java out there, it's a pretty strict language

Just on the academic point, if you'd said Pascal or Modula-2 I'd have agreed with you based on your argument, but Java? Nope. It's an industrial language (meaning, don't care how it gets done just do it) rather than a teaching language. The amount of ways you can do bad things in it if you don't know what you're doing is pretty huge.

Which isn't to say that there are no worse languages - I still think you deserve a custodial sentence for trying to teach programming using C++ or Perl for example - but there are better ones.

Personally, I'm a fan of languages that were designed for teaching if you're going to teach (so as mentioned, Pascal and Modula-2) with the next languages taught (because if you only learn one, you're not being taught properly) being things like C, Python, Erlang and the like (Python is by this stage established enough to have gotten away from questions about its longevity in terms of university courses, I think).



But, from the OP's post, I think that (a) they may not understand just how large a job learning to program is; (b) they may not actually need or want to become a developer; and (c) if I'm wrong about (a) and (b) and the OP is learning a new language to go get a job, then there's a lot of languages out there that you can get work doing - C++, Objective C, Java, Perl, PHP, C#, whatever. C++ is probably the most universal closely followed by Java; it's the esoteric and cool languages, and especially the new ones, that you'd have trouble finding work in (like Erlang, say. There *are* jobs there, but not as many as with the others).

But I think that I was right about (a) and (b) and perhaps something more like the lower end of web development would be something for the OP to be aiming at rather than writing apps and the like, so languages like PHP would be useful but learning how to set up websites using existing frameworks and tools like wordpress and others might be more helpful to them.

The Corinthian wrote: »

Sorry, I took the OP's question to be a practical one.

So did I, hence the note there at the start and the entire second half of my post :P

Python.

See these tutorials:

1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA175E8A1816CD64B (if you insist on java, he also has a phenomenal java series. Disclaimer, I have years of work in both and I think python will get you up to speed on programming concepts faster without some of java's required verbosity)
2. http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/
3. http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/thinkcspy/GeneralIntro/introduction.html#the-way-of-the-program
4. https://gettingstartedwithdjango.com (For your web development wishes)

Came across this thread again and I'd say have a look at html first.
It's the most basic website language I know of and pretty easy to learn.



Once you have fundamentals in html other web languages will be easier to understand.

I think PHP/MySQL is probably best if you want to go towards web.

Hi OP,

FWIW, I've started learning Java recently.

Started with the book "Head first Java". After some studying on that and practicing the exercises I am now studying a MOOC class which I think is very helpful in getting the head around coding and its logic.

http://mooc.cs.helsinki.fi/programming-part1

Getting about 2hrs a night on it and about 5 a day at weekends. The time flies though and learning a lot (I think :P)

I would agree with Biko that HTML is a great language to start off with.

It has the easiest set-up, notepad.exe and a web-browser is all that is needed.

It is easy to learn and teach.

Enter the following into notepad:

<html>
<head>
<title>My First Webpage</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello world.</h1>
</body>
</html>

Filename: helloworld.html
Save as type: All files(*.*)

Open in web browser.

Using HTML, one can learn about:

* best-practices, naming standards, syntax

* the importance of file-names, upper-case / lowercase, spaces etc.

* good project / folder structure, www/html, www/images etc.

* adding attributes (parameters) to elements (methods)

* including / importing components such as css

* moving on to more complex languages such as Javascript