Thread: Where do I start? Learning computer language

Originally Posted by Pyrofan1

avoid assembly unless you want to go into really hardcore hacking, device drivers, os creation or intense game engines. while assembly is easy to learn it takes a lot more code than any other language.
for example
this C code

Code:

aFunction((a*b/c),c*c);

would look like this in assembly

Code:

mul $c, $c
push $c
mul $a, $b
mov $a, %eax
idiv %eax, $c
push %eax
call aFunction

Assembly is one of the best languages you can learn. Even if you dont program in it, you learn more from assembly than any other language.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

Interpreted languages are known for their slowness. Just look at BASIC. Python is only different in that it can be used for large projects, but is still highly inferior to it's lower-level ancestors.

Actually speed is rarely an issue today except in the most intensive programs. Most applications are a breeze for modern processors to run. That's why languages like Python, which are easy to use, are becoming more favourable.

Originally Posted by M-Cat

Assembly is one of the best languages you can learn. Even if you dont program in it, you learn more from assembly than any other language.

Agreed. It also helps with CG since [good] assembly is always the fastest, if you do really low level stuff then you will be using inline assembly.


You must be writing some huge programs if it takes hours to compiler. I have all optimizations turned on and I've never had a program compile for more than a few minutes.

Now I'm not writing full-size apps, but full-size apps are modulated and the modules can be compiled and tested individually, so most of the bugs are out of the system (especially something simple like syntax errors,) by the time that the modules are put together.

How does not having an IDE slow people down?

XCode does syntax and semantic checking on the fly so if I miss a semicolon or parenthesis it automatically yells at me. It also does debugging without writing tons of tests and can show me all of the variables when an error is encountered, which definitely speeds things up. As far as I know Eclipse, .NET, and Bloodshed all do the same. For apps with a GUI it also does drag and drop of buttons and such.


If you're planning to go to college for CS then you should learn what is taught there. Most colleges teach C/C++/Java and sometimes VB. If you're planning on concentrating in CG then C is what will probably be used. Checking out the OpenGL Red Book might also be a nice idea, the format is the same in every language (for the most part.)

Originally Posted by ninja9578

[good] assembly is always the fastest

Yes, and the best assembly is written by GCC et al.

I've done a course on compiler optimization and some of the techniques are astounding. Much of the code now generated by compilers is fantastic in its efficiency.

Assembly is one of the best languages you can learn. Even if you dont program in it, you learn more from assembly than any other language.

i'm not bashing assembly, in fact it's my favorite language. i'm just saying it's not too useful today and if you want to get a programming job most companies won't ask you if you know assembly.

Well you shouldn't do something just so it looks good on your resume. Even if companies don't want it, hell, even if it's not useful at all, learning assembly will help you with in a lot of other aspects of computer science.

As a follow-up, I'm now taking a course in Java, and what I've learned in C is helping. I like this stuff. Anyone know where to get me started on making shweet pixel graphics? Once we get to loops and what I like to call "getkey," I want to make me a simple game of some sort.

SDL is a pretty easy way to go: http://libsdl.org

Cross-platform, too!