Which one is most fitting for a newbie?  From what I've heard, the VB languages are basically dying out.  So I'm currently interested in Java and Python, both of which people say have the "brightest future" of the ones mentioned above.

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Read what's up there ^, not here!

I haven't tried Python though, I've only read articles and stuff.. =/

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http://www.last.fm/user/fireflyyy

Forget about the Visual whatevers, forget C#, and probably forget Java.

Judging by that Finder icon in your avatar, you're a Mac user. Therefore, I suggest Objective-C, C or C++.

They're very widely supported, loads of online tutorials.

Python? I don't think it's got *that* bright a future, but it's very popular and widespread. Damn powerful too - Bittorrent was originally written in Python (I don't know if they've ported it).

Eh, take your pick.

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"i've, funnily, never really taken up anything to impress people.
i didn't take up smoking to fit in. i am who i am, it's as simple as that,
appearance-wise and with my personality
if people hated that much then nobody would talk to me."[

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Ok, since everyone else has missed this so far, JAVA SUCKS THE BIG ONE. It's sluggish, and relies on the user having installed the package - which believe me, is not as common as you may think.

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lolz.

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http://www.last.fm/user/fireflyyy

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Quote: from dimebagmatt at 8:04 am on Nov. 8, 2007

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Ok, since everyone else has missed this so far, JAVA SUCKS THE BIG ONE. It's sluggish, and relies on the user having installed the package - which believe me, is not as common as you may think.

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You honestly measure a programming language's power by whether or not you have to install it?

lolz.

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Obviously not, I measure it's usefulness.

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"i've, funnily, never really taken up anything to impress people.
i didn't take up smoking to fit in. i am who i am, it's as simple as that,
appearance-wise and with my personality
if people hated that much then nobody would talk to me."[

Java is useful. It's what's in your radio, your microwave, almost everything.. that's what powers the buttons. I dunno about you, but it doesn't sound like a language that 'SUCKS THE BIG ONE'.

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http://www.last.fm/user/fireflyyy

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So how is that a valid point?

Java is useful. It's what's in your radio, your microwave, almost everything.. that's what powers the buttons. I dunno about you, but it doesn't sound like a language that 'SUCKS THE BIG ONE'.

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Does to me. What about the fact that on anything older than about 4 years, it drains the life out of the PC altogether?

I could make an argument that any one of the langauges he listed was great for somereason, however I somewhat doubt that this young man is going to be programming for radios, microwaves, or 'almost everything' - which by the way is an oversight.

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"i've, funnily, never really taken up anything to impress people.
i didn't take up smoking to fit in. i am who i am, it's as simple as that,
appearance-wise and with my personality
if people hated that much then nobody would talk to me."[

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Quote: from circa at 1:10 pm on Nov. 8, 2007

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So how is that a valid point?  

 Java is useful. It's what's in your radio, your microwave, almost everything.. that's what powers the buttons. I dunno about you, but it doesn't sound like a language that 'SUCKS THE BIG ONE'.

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Does to me. What about the fact that on anything older than about 4 years, it drains the life out of the PC altogether?  

I could make an argument that any one of the langauges he listed was great for somereason, however I somewhat doubt that this young man is going to be programming for radios, microwaves, or 'almost everything' - which by the way is an oversight.

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Everyone starts somewhere, buddy - I'm sure the people who wrote that code, dreamt up the pseudocode and actually implemented the chip into the power device started out writing simple programs, don't you agree? Yeah.

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http://www.last.fm/user/fireflyyy

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PASCAL is a good language to start with

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From this three, I still can't make the choice.  But it seems to me that most people don't like Java.  From my personal experience with Azureus, I also found Java to be a slow platform.

So I guess it's finally Python or C++ then....

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Read what's up there ^, not here!

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So I guess it's finally Python or C++ then....

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I guess I'm old-school in that I'd recommend starting off with a good old procedural language first. I'd recommend C. Especially if you want to eventually learn C++, get to know C first.