I was a programmer for 4 years ending 12 years ago. Back then it was all procedural, not object oriented. Now I'm 45. On the other hand, I'm bright and motivated (and for what it's worth, I've got a Bachelor's degree in engineering from 20 years ago). If I work hard and learn what I need to, is there any way in hell I can break back into programming? No doom and gloom, no "happy crap", just what do you think, can it be done?
Pfft, won't be any problem. Programming is like riding a bike, you never forget how to program. You may forget how to use a language, but programming concept is the same.
OO is a piece of cake to use.
What was / were you're old languages?
__________________
As of PHP 5.5, the MySQL library has been officially deprecated. It is recommended to move to either MySQLi or PDO libraries for your mysql connectivity. See here for help choosing which interface you prefer: http://php.net/manual/en/mysqlinfo.api.choosing.php
been major updates but syntax is by large the same, I'm bringing myself up on c++ now as well as bringing myself up into oop, and oop really is not the big scarey monster people think it is, if you know how to define your own functions oop is really just the next step
Pfft, won't be any problem. Programming is like riding a bike, you never forget how to program. You may forget how to use a language, but programming concept is the same.
OO is a piece of cake to use.
What was / were you're old languages?
I agree.
Programming as a concept is the same throughout any language, and you will never forget how to do it. You may forget the syntax, but if you know the concept of programming, you can learn any computer language with ease.
even most of the syntax is the same across all the languages with if and elses and while's and so on. the Biggest difference really is whether the language is compiled or interpreted
really lets face it, these langauges don't try and be difficult, the idea is to make it easier....
let's face it, if you want difficulty go assembly, otherwise the languages at least try to make things easier to understand for people since if's and such mean nothing to the computers, they're there only to make things easier, for us, humans which is the same with oop
Last edited by primefalcon; 11-13-2008 at 11:46 PM..
C (& some C++), before that Pascal, before that Fortan, Cobol & Basic
Start back with C/C++ and move into PHP.
Yes, I know, PHP is a web based language, though you can use it through cli as well. I recommend it since PHP syntax is very similar to C (though you won't have pointers or structs), and the real major difference you'll notice is that its context based datatyping (like perl). So you don't explicitly state you're datatypes when you're defining you're variables.
PHP5 also has a strong object core, and is reflective of Java and C# for its syntax (minus generics and other fun stuff sadly ).
I'd say thats the best starting point.
With you're pascal knowledge, you may want to check out delphi as well. I'm teaching myself fortran and cobol though (and being lazy at it :P), so I can't give you any ideas of what may relate to those.
__________________
As of PHP 5.5, the MySQL library has been officially deprecated. It is recommended to move to either MySQLi or PDO libraries for your mysql connectivity. See here for help choosing which interface you prefer: http://php.net/manual/en/mysqlinfo.api.choosing.php
Last edited by Fou-Lu; 11-14-2008 at 07:18 PM..
Reason: Java Objects, not Perl >.<
>PHP is a web based language, though you can use it through cli as well.
I don't understand. What do you mean?
cli => command line interface
why you are afraid to start something? all this questions is time from your time.
don't get me wrong, I don't say to don't ask, the pourpouse of this forum is to help people, but I feel that you try to find a definitive answer about your life on this forum and this is not ok because nobody know you as well as you.
I'm just trying to learn as fast as I can. That should be understandable in general, but also consider I've got far less time than most.
After all, it's far quicker to ask a question than to start going down a path that you later decide wasn't the best for you personally.
Anyway, how long does it take for someone to read "I don't understand. What do you mean?" And besides, the only people that will reply are those that want to.
cli => command line interface
why you are afraid to start something? all this questions is time from your time.
don't get me wrong, I don't say to don't ask, the pourpouse of this forum is to help people, but I feel that you try to find a definitive answer about your life
I kind of have to agree, you have been asking a lot of questions (which is in no way a bad thing) but it sounds like you haven't tried kicking some code around yet.
You said you used to do C, why not try writing a small C app to get a feel for programming again. Or as Fou-Lu suggested, try writing some PHP; if you did C, it will be a fairly easy transition.
I'm just trying to learn as fast as I can. That should be understandable in general, but also consider I've got far less time than most.
ok, fast:
- start with something where you already know 50%, c or pascal, later php
- avoid risky decision if you are not sure what to do and how to deal with that( I talk about profesion)
- learning fast means to work something, start with some project for you or try to involve into some projects
Quote:
After all, it's far quicker to ask a question than to start going down a path that you later decide wasn't the best for you personally.
no, because:
- different people have different skills, taste and passion and this make you good in what you do, not only the knowledge( this last one is a matter of time and you never stop learning)
- you don't need much time to see that something is for you or not
- can't replace your personal experience with a answer to a question
Quote:
Anyway, how long does it take for someone to read "I don't understand. What do you mean?" And besides, the only people that will reply are those that want to.
I'm sorry, I don't intend to stop you to ask, I just want to help you.
Before you post, read our: 
). 
