VulcanDragon

I wouldn't go that far, C is light years easier to use than assembly. But regardless of ease of use, C is a portable language whereas assembly is processor specific. The trade-off was ease of use vs. performance of hand-crafted code.

And the same trend continues, obviously. The same trade-off occurs when you use VB instead of C: easier to write in because of all the things that VB "does for you", but performance is definitely going to drop compared to hand-crafted C code.

It's a fuzzy distinction to draw, but Python is usually considered a scripting language, I believe. What's the diff between scripting and programming? Everything or nothing, depending on who you ask.

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Vulcan Dragon
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MrSmiley

I should have thought before speaking, it is more midlevel then anything else, I was thinking of the evolved spaces... Hey wait a minute should you not be at work Xaimus?

Xaimus

Eheheh...

I'm on my lunch break right now, so I'm browsing the WEBTARWEB.
EDIT: By the way, Internet Explorer is the worst browser ever. I miss tabs and translucent PNGs. :(


True, true. I did go overboard with my comparing C to assembly.

Though, about ease of use versus execution speed:
Some LISP interpreters/compilers are extremely good, and produce machine code that executes more quickly than what the average equivalent C implementation would generate. I remember some test conducted a while back, where LISP, Java, and C were pitted against each other in a test to determine which language had the lowest average development time and which language had the lowest average execution time. Several programmers around the world would write a program according to the test's specifications and submit it to a central authority. The LISP results were very consistent--there was little deviation in both development time and execution time. C and Java, on the other hand, were much more variable. The fastest C program outpaced the fastest LISP program by a good margin, but the LISP programs were usually just as fast as the average C program. The Java programs were slowest of all, unsurprisingly.

I say nothing. hootyhoo.

MrSmiley

hehehehe, why am I not suprised, but everyone wants java dev. Grah KSU!

jared

My suggestion is to choose a couple projects you would like to tackle. They don't have to lofty goal like facial recognition. Just simple straigt forward projects. My first projects were things like, grocery lists, a family website, etc. Things that have a very simple premise. Once you choose a project or two, take the time to think them through. Try and develop a simple project plan. Write down your goals for each project. Once you have your projects in mind, look for samples online. Sometimes reviewing the code in working applications can help you understand how things are structured. Which ever language/platform you choose it is important to be persistant. You are not going to wake up tomorrow and be a pro. It is going to be a difficult, sometimes frustrating, process. After a while you'll realize things are starting to come easier.

I would also suggest a beginning programming book. (focused on which ever language you choose to learn.) There are some very important topics covered in these books. You will need to be exposed to object oriented programming theory and the software development lifecycle. Some more advanced books skim over these topics, since they expect a level of understanding from the reader.

Welcome aboard! Programming is both the most difficult and most rewarding thing I do. (i.e. it gets me a pay check twice a month)

If you need any help, you can msn im me (addy in profile) or smiley. (he and I have spoken at length and he seems to know what he is talking about)

btw, Hey Smiley.

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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human
stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-- Albert Einstein

***disclaimer
I apologize if I offended you, I assure you it was inadvertent.
90% of the time I am just kidding and the other 10% I don't know what I am talking about.

ENTERPRISE

Well urm how is that...if you dont grasp it once u should try again till you get it..i dont believe there is something out there that is impossible to learn

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