On Tue, 19 May 2009 06:36:01 -0700
Gerald Thurman <
nanofoo@gmail.com> wrote:
> Learn to use a Unix system at the command-line along with a text editor and
> start writing BASH program. The command-line provides exposure to the Unix
> philosophy, files/directories, options/arguments, variables (environment),
> I/O, meta-characters and documentation (via manpages). First programs are
> written in BASH. BASH supports structured programming (sequence, if, while,
> functions) and an introduction to data structures/algorithms via arrays.
> After BASH I'd move onto C (using Ritchie and Kernighan for the text) with
> extensive coverage of the STDC Library. From this point there are numerous
> forks in the road.
>
> The "hello, world" program writtin in BASH.
>
> $ echo hello, world <ENTER>
I've been a bash/ksh developer for a lot of years, also a perl programmer for
11 years, and recently am relearning C++ again (after not having used it
[ actually C not C++ ] since 1986). I've done pascal and ada too. I cut my
teeth on Fortran IV, and various PDP-11 assembly languages.
I would say that the best "first language" to get the hang of programming, would
be python or perl. They are easy to program in, much more powerful than bash,
and give you fairly instant results. Perl is easy to debug, but I think python
for a "first" language has the edge. Once he can program in python, then he
can branch out into other languages. He needs to learn the basics, and get to
"think" in terms of algorithms, not get bogged down in syntax.
This is all IMHO, of course.
--
Hobbit Name: Pimpernel Loamsdown
Registered Linux User: 275424
K7AZJ
This email's Fortune:
arachnoleptic fit, n.:
The frantic dance performed just after you've
accidentally walked
through a spider web.
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