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  From: Alan Kennington <akenning@topology.org>
  To  : LinuxSA <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 11:42:39 +0930

Re: Learning how to programme in Linux

On Fri, Jun 08, 2001 at 08:17:06AM +1000, Adam W wrote:
> I've only actually got two proper replies to this subject :P
> 
> Can anyone else suggest another approach rather than going and buying a book
> (which i dont mind at all)
> 

I think it's difficult for people who live and breathe
programming to even imagine what it is like to start programming
from scratch, and maybe this is why you didn't get many
serious replies.

If you really don't want to buy a book, then your principal option
has to be Perl, because it is fairly comprehensive, and the 
man-manuals are fairly comprehensive.
But in my experience, after about 2000 lines, Perl programs
become clumsy and incomprehensible. And they definitely lack
speed for serious applications.
Perl is not really a programming language. It's an
interpreter language. I.e. it's just a script language.

If you're prepared to buy a book, then C is the best place to
start, because that is the language which is closest to the
machine without being unportable assembly language.
C was originally welcomed by programmers as a portable
form of assembly language for writing compilers and
operating systems, but now is used for most purposes.

I once recommended to an unemployed guy who knew little
about computers that he learn C, and in 6 months he got
a good job, and now he makes a good living and is in demand.
Once you learn C, everything else starts to make sense.
By far the best book on C, in my opinion, is the
Kernighan and Ritchie C book, because it contains no waffle.
It's intended for the adult mind. And it's comprehensive.

Then you should progress to Perl, which is a good all-round
hack language. The best book for people who know all about
software development is the O'Reilly camel book by
Larry Wall et alia, but this book is a bit of a
brain teaser really. I don't know of any really books on
plain Perl.

Then if you want to go further than this, you can extend C
by using C++, which permits you to go from 10,000 line programs
to 500,000 line programs without losing complete track of
what you're doing, and you can extend Perl with the zillion
modules - in particular Perl/Tk is a stunning GUI programming
language because it is so extremely reliable and easy.

I don't think any really good books have been written on C++,
but I would still recommend the Stroustrup book for starters
(which has too many long examples) and the Ellis and Stroustrup
book for serious professional use, and for Perl/Tk I recommend
the O'Reilly book by Nancy Walsh, which is amazingly well written.

So with no book:
Perl, then Perl/Tk.

If you're willing to buy books:
C, then Perl, then Perl/Tk, then C++.

After that, all other languages will seem like they're
"just another language".

Cheers,
Alan Kennington.

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