[Baez]

It is to learn the syntax before learning object oriented properties of C++ like encapsulation.

[aaronkupen]

It can be very awkward for some people to transition to Object Oriented programming, or from it for that matter.

[Baez]

They wouldn't do it in colleges if it didn't work .

[kmote]

Originally Posted by Baez

He said he wanted to either learn C++ or Java. So I told him to start with C. Read the previous posts first before commenting.

I did read the previous posts. I suppose I was thrown off a bit when you said "better off to start learning with C". It was just a misunderstanding.

[jaeusm]

They wouldn't do it in colleges if it didn't work

Unfortunately, you're probably serious about that implication. However, that's another discussion for another time. More to the point, many universities begin by teaching an object-oriented language, like Java, and continue to use it throughout the curriculum. There is not necessarily a right or wrong way to learn programming. The first language I learned was C, but I don't really see any advantage in learning that language before learning a language that has better support for object orientation.

[office politics]

ran across this blog today; it made me think of this post.

Coding Horror: Everything I Needed to Know About Programming I Learned from BASIC

Too funny. The 2600 basic programming cartridge to Atari 800 basic constituted my entry into the world of programming as well. At first, I had no tape drive and no disk drive, so you'd type in a program (usually from a magazine), play with it for a while and then press the reset button and start all over again. The best would be when a program listing had a whole bunch of assembly code that you would 'poke' into some address. You'd be typing in a huge string of gibberish and if there was one typo, nothing would happen when you ran program. Or if you were really lucky, you'd get some garbage displayed on the screen.

I wouldn't trade that early experience for anything.

Skinner on April 21, 2008 04:04 PM

[carlitos]

qbasic is dead, learn other languages like visual basic which is based on qbasic (easy to learn and use) or start with harder languages like c++,C# or .net (also based on BASIC)