[CentOS] OT: programming language for morons (newbie friendly language in Open Source world)

Mon Dec 13 19:08:07 UTC 2010
R P Herrold <herrold at centos.org>

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010, A T Williams wrote:

> *But* I am the primary developer of a large Python application
> <http://www.ohloh.net/p/coils> [113K lines and growing] and it *is( an

interesting trendlines there [soft economy, or loss of 
interest in FOSS oritented languages, I wonder] -- I tinkered 
with the languages displayed to display (and pairs that track 
together)

 	C++ and Java	- potentially strongly typed
 	Python and PHP	- weakly typed
 	perl and Ruby	- scripting without too much pain of entry

As the thread was for a newbie recommendation, I'd really 
consider Ruby before any of the others, as it has a fast 
learning curve and support a path that leads to better habits 
of algorithmic design and correctness than perl, PHP, or 
Python

Done properly, C++ and Java are just too hard unless one is 
willing to invest much time to properly learning the language 
tools.  ... and C++ has less 'weeds' and is more free in that 
pairing.  The new Stroustrup intro is a gem which many have 
overlooked - 'Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++' 
and it is well worth considering if one intends to learn to 
design and code more than casually

 	http://gallery.herrold.com/ohloh-languages.png

-- Russ herrold