# New language for me?



## <<Onafets>> (Dec 9, 2010)

Hey guys again, Ive been sorta nailed to this side of the boards

As I sorta want to continue doing VB .net i think its time for a change and am looking to learn a new language. I was really looking for something that is fairly good with games as my next project will probably be a 2D sandbox  I will be sticking with .NEt but which language would you recommend. I have tried Learning the c++  but my tiny brain is having spasms  Vote above please!

Oh yeah and post reasons PLz


----------



## Completely Bonkers (Dec 9, 2010)

Learn Russian. You'll meet more women than any of your options above


----------



## <<Onafets>> (Dec 9, 2010)

Believe it or not I'm actually learning Russian atm!


----------



## Fourstaff (Dec 9, 2010)

C#, because I believe that is closest to VB, (.net framework) and you can transition to C++ after that, a nice progression IMHO.


----------



## Kreij (Dec 9, 2010)

I voted C# too. You fill find it quite similar to VB, and you can also make use of XNA Studio (Free) for writing games for either the PC or the XBox360. If you ever decide to really get into the nuts and bolts of game programming, you will have to learn C++ too.

Oh ... and don't forget you are going to have to learn HLSL too.


----------



## Arel3 (Dec 14, 2010)

Completely Bonkers said:


> Learn Russian. You'll meet more women than any of your options above



LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I voted for Java. Reason being that I'm passionate about coding and java is not one of my strong points however there seems to be a huge influx of job opportunities for java programmers. Right now anyway...I believe .NET is the future. Trend shows that .NET has been and will continue to be the future. You didn't have that in the poll or I would have chosen .NET.

Also not one of my strong points...ha!
My strong points are HTML, PHP, and Flash. I wish I had the drive to learn java the way I did with the languages I am strong with. I guess I'm getting old because the drive is just not there. lol


----------



## mlee49 (Dec 14, 2010)

I voted C++, it's pretty basic and has a logical progression.  Java is similar to C++ in some regards and can be easily picked up there after.  C# is a wholenother beast.


----------



## char[] rager (Dec 15, 2010)

I voted C#, because I absolutely love it. The ease in developing Windows applications is amazing. The number of preprogrammed classes and functions is amazing, if you are lazy like I am.


----------



## de.das.dude (Dec 15, 2010)

i voted C++, as you can pick up java easily after that. they are a lot similiar, and also i love the OOP concept in C++


----------



## A Cheese Danish (Dec 15, 2010)

Arel3 said:


> My strong points are HTML, PHP, and Flash. I wish I had the drive to learn java the way I did with the languages I am strong with. I guess I'm getting old because the drive is just not there. lol



HTML isn't really a programming language, IMO.

I voted C++ as it is closely related to VB.Net, however I have not taken it. I've taken VB.Net, Perl, Java and SQL.
And quite frankly, C# or C++ would be good for you.
Best of luck in whichever you choose 
And remember! We are here if you need assistance


----------



## PopcornMachine (Dec 15, 2010)

Anything but Java.  

Why isn't Perl on your list?


----------



## <<Onafets>> (Dec 15, 2010)

I thought Perl was more linux orientated?


----------



## PopcornMachine (Dec 15, 2010)

<<Onafets>> said:


> I thought Perl was more linux orientated?



There are a couple of Perl for Windows distributions, but you should probably stick with C.


----------



## Kreij (Dec 16, 2010)

Here's the definitive answer ...

Just pick any object oriented language and start working with it.
It's more important to fully understand OOP than any particular language.
Once you know OOP, the language is just syntactical details and you will be able to bounce between languages without too much anguish.

My personal feelings ...
C# : A cake walk. A RAD (Rapid Application Development) language that is fast, type safe amd with VS is a joy to work with.
VB : Same as C# if you like working in the BASIC language.
C++ : More esoteric, but faster for certain things. Not type safe (ie. freedom to use pointers however you want), Longer learning curve for the APIs, but you are free to do just about anything you want. (Note: You can do the same things in C#, but you have to use unsafe code flags and call Win32 APIs directly (pInvoke))
Java : Nice cross-platorm language. Kinda slow doing some things. Seems to work better with open-source databases than MS SQL Server. IMO
F# (or any functional language) : Can't find a use for them as opossed to OOP languages. 
Pascal : No. Too old. Nobody writes anything new in it anymore.
COBOL : Absolutely not, unless someone will pay you a lot of money to learn it. You will most likely be maintaining some kind of legacy app. Ugh.
Any web related language (HTML, ASP.NET, JavaScript, JScript, Php, etc.) : Sure, learn them all. There are always jobs for web programmers.
LISP : An obscure AI language. Kinda fun to dink around with. Good for impressing other geeks. lol
C (regular) : I woudn't bother unless you have a real need.
BASIC (regular) : Gak. GOTOs are bad. Always remember that. 

As always, just my opinions. 
I spend almost 12 hours re-coding a database app today and my brain hurts, so keep that in mind.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Dec 16, 2010)

I had a computer science class that taught the functional language, J.  Yes, just called "J".  This is a functional language that uses unique characters are the functions.  After using this language, I really hate having to code in C.  In J you have extremely awesome higher level language functions that are so powerful that you can write 24 character (yes character!) code that is more powerful that a 240 line C program.  It is a steep learning curve, and half the class was failing till the midterm, but not everyone loves it.  I just took the final in that class and felt pretty good.  J is one powerful language, but not for everyone.  Enjoy not being able to read code for the first few months!


----------



## Kreij (Dec 16, 2010)

Yeah, functional language are powerful (and a quite obscure in their syntax). It's just that almost everything I write has a better fit in a OO language.

I forgot to add FORTRAN : Still used for high-level mathematics. It's fast but not real friendly for n00bs.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Dec 16, 2010)

Kreij said:


> Yeah, functional language are powerful (and a quite obscure in their syntax). It's just that almost everything I write has a better fit in a OO language.




The syntax is quite obscure!  PS:  Functional languages can structured to be object oriented.


----------



## ste2425 (Dec 16, 2010)

i voted c++ my reason being im doing an audio programming course at uni and were learning c++ and Matlab id like to think they wouldn't teach us a language that isn't up-to-date and current in the industry so based on that logic id say c++, plus every game needs audio


----------

