[Tutor] Which programming language is better to start with

[Kojo Idrissa]

First,
At 06:54 PM 3/26/2002 -0800, Sean 'Shaleh' Perry wrote:
>My other suggestion is to find books on the act of programming, not the
>language.  Learn about fundamental algorithms.  Why is one sort better than
>another?  Is this function wortyh optimizing?  What is this "big O notation" I
>keep hearing about?  What does "takes logarithmic time" mean to me?  This is
>the only thing I kept from college classes.  The art of programming I learned
>there, the choice of a hammer or a screw driver I learned in life.

Then...

At 09:59 PM 3/26/2002 -0600, dman wrote:
>As Sean said, knowing data structures and algorithms is more useful
>than knowing a plethora of languages.  Definitely go get "The Practice
>of Programming" by Kernighan and Pike.  It will help you in both areas
>at once!  It is a highly recommended book, kind of a classic.  I have
>it, but haven't gotten very far with it yet.  The book discusses how
>to program; how to develop software.  It doesn't focus on any given
>technology or library, but rather the process.

So, I thought I'd add my $.0002 to this line of thought, late though I may be.

I told a friend who's trying to learn Python (Hi Peter!) something similar 
(although without as much erudition as the previous responses).  He's new 
to programming altogether, so I suggested he read "Simple Program Design"
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/061901590X/qid=1017207840/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2743688-6192040>
A good, small (288 pages) book on how to think about creating programs for 
a non-programmer.  Almost all PseudoCode.  Later chapters deal with making 
your code modular, OO, Flowcharts, but it starts out very simply.  How do 
you THINK about how to make a program?  Great for someone new to 
programming.  I started with Basic at 12, (but haven't been consistent 
since then) so I've spent enough time thinking about how to program that 
learning a new language is a matter of learning the syntax.  I'm not 
expert...not even too talented of a novice...but I know how to learn a 
programming lanuage and what I can do with it.

I'd recommend this book to all the people who are worried about their lack 
of "formal" training, and/or to the people who've never programmed 
before.  No matter what languge you start with (of course, I'd say 
Python...), I think this book is a good way to get started, especially if 
you've never programmed before or are worried about no "formal" 
foundation.   YMMV.

Anyone else have any opinions on the book?  Anyone else familiar with it?

****************************
Kojo Idrissa

kojo@hal-pc.org
http://www.hal-pc.org/~kojo/
****************************