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Question for you developers out there

Welcome to programming

I'm not sure what you'll use Forth for - this is a very old language with exceptionally limited usefulness. It's mostly a toy, though I suspect Forth devs will come out of the woodwork to disagree (hey, some people never get past enjoying their Big Wheels). You have to have a seriously specific use in mind to spend your time on this.

I'm partial to C++, having been programming in it forever (and it being an outgrowth of C, which I've been using even longer). This is what the big boys write system level code in, though you still have to learn pointers, which does take a bit of time to get used to. C++ is a portable skill, it runs on everything. BUT: if you use Visual Studio for it, use native C++ and not .NET managed code - I think managed C++ is silly.

C# is a fantastic language: totally object oriented, outstanding support in Visual Studio, a much better language to learn on. Way easier to build GUI type programs in, lots of great resources on the net.

Java is widely used, and in spite of my longstanding unrelenting mockery of it , it's not a bad language for learning, with good resources on the net for learning.

I don't have any recommendations for books - I learned all of the above so long ago that they're out of print by now.

But you said three languages: don't. Pick one and learn it well enough to get comfortable in it. Learn the concepts, pick up the idioms, start to get actually useful with it. Much of your early learning time is nothing but toy program (unless it's Forth, in which case they're all toy programs forever), and the time it would take you to get toy-level comfortable with three languages would make you tolerably comfortable with one.

Good luck!

Steve
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Stephen J. Friedl | Unix Wizard | Security Consultant | Orange County, California USA | my web site

Wow, great response, Steve!

I was just under the impression that semi conductor robotics was written in Forth, but honestly I haven't done legwork so I don't know, something I have to find out.

Since I've started on C++ and am quite excited about it so far (just cracked open the book really) I will stick to what I started.

I have just learned of the idea that there is managed and unmanaged C++, but know little about their practical differences. So managed is silly, is it because it uses .net? I was impressed that with .net each version of it is independent of previous versions, I have the impression that there are some real advantages to it being done that way.

My BIL writes some code in C++ and encouraged me to do it. He has already helped me with a question that I felt stupid having to ask when he helped me with the answer, doh!

It feels nice to stimulate the brain a little. My brain has been bored since my days in the Semi-Con industry...

At what point should I start seeking out source code to pour over?

I am reading Ivar Horton's book, so far it seems pretty awesome.

As I just got into the first chapter I am nothing but a lamer just trying to find out at this point, I just know that, for one, this is a priceless skill to learn, and two, since I wrote stuff in BASIC back in my TI-994A days, that I love coding at least to that extent.
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Join Teams Helix and Discovery. Rest in Peace, Leonard David Smith, my best friend, you are missed badly! Rest in peace, Pop, glad our last years were good. Please pray for Colin, he has ependymoma, a brain cancer, donate to a children's Hospital.

Second that about c++ and c. The problem with C# and anything .NET is that, unless your code is running on Windows, it won't run anywhere else. It won't run on mobile except Windows phones but no one uses Windows phones. It won't run on in *nix so it won't run on most internet web servers cause most people use *nix.

I do remember people using Forth for robotics as you say but it's been a long time. I still see a lot of Perl code still and Python seems to be the language a lot of people want to use but don't.

But learn C++ first. I still think just C would have been better, though.

reply to signmeuptoo
I'll throw out a different answer: PHP and Javascript (along with HTML and CSS.) It's increasingly a web based world out there. These would be a good start toward mastering it.

The whole Forth discussion brings back memories. Back in 1979 I worked with Chuck Moore and Bess Rather to implement the first 8086 version of Forth. My company was receiving sample chips with handwritten notes for each chip listing which instructions worked and which did not. At the time there were no operating systems for the 8086 and the only development tool was Intel's ICE-86 in circuit emulator (a $15,000 toy.) We did a couple of major projects using Forth (not much fun, but this code might still be tracking missiles somewhere, for all I know.) A year later, I finally did a port of CPM/86 onto our product and we started using the Computer Innovations C compiler. I also remember coding up a CPM/80 emulator so I could run all the 8085 applications that were on the market, as not much was offered in the way of 8086 applications. Another year later the age of DOS and the PC dawned and all these hacks were discarded and forgotten.
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V-Rtifacts - When Virtual Reality Was More Than Virtual

reply to signmeuptoo

reply to signmeuptoo
The language likes php pyhton perl etc. are great extra languages to have. C++ well it is still the language at colleges. Java may be an entry course leading to c++. Then as said go from there into more languages.
Throw in a little assembly for good measure.

Plus I have heard people say .net is their programming language.

I think my reading said it was a framework...

reply to usa2k
It's a framework to work within Windows but it's comprised of a (too) big number of libraries to accomplish that.

reply to howardfine

Next time, ask them to write you "hello, world" in .NET and see how far it gets them. If they write it in C# or VB, say, "Hey, that's C# (or VB). I want you to write it in .NET!" and see them stutter and stammer.

Of course, it may be possible these people don't know anything at all, too. In fact, probably.

reply to howardfine

reply to signmeuptoo
I've found C# / C++/CLI to be fun to use for simple GUI programs. What I've done in the past is code the real stuff in C++ and then re-code in some ".NET" equivalent to get a nice GUI for some end-user. The benefit for me was that it saved time and it was fun using Visual Studio. Like Steve said, by using the libraries [both default, and user created] it allows one to save time by not re-inventing the wheel. Check out codeproject.
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There's so much to be thankful for...How can anyone be sad?

reply to signmeuptoo