[NTLUG:Discuss] Wanting to speak the language

[David White]

Andrew Brown wrote:

>OK, so now that I have had hours of fun installing, playing and
>generally enjoying my time in the Land 'O Linux; I feel its time to
>learn the lingo. The cool part of Linux (or so I have heard) and Open
>Source is the ability to alter the software to your benefit. Well that
>would be nice if I knew ANY languages at all. I have learned Shell
>scripting for BASH and wow wasn't that fun, but it has helped me
>immensely in the "getting to know ya" phase of my linux experience. 
>
>So here I am standing on the beach staring at the ocean of machine
>languages wondering... where to now?! So I lean once again on my
>faithful NTLUG to lead me onward and upward. I know it is a dumb
>question, but which language first? C++ Perl Python Java.... Tcl...
>
I think it's fair to say that out of those listed, the language most 
truly 'Linux like' is Perl. Its design derives ALOT of inspiration from 
Unix culture, it's Free/Open Source software, and it's relatively easy 
to learn.

Python is fairly similiar, though imho its design isn't as heavily based 
on the Unix/Linux culture.

Tcl is an older language that seems to be growing steadily less popular....

Java is really a platform of its own that just happens to be able to run 
on Linux, and not all implementations are Open Source. It might be of 
interest to learn if you're primarily interested in programming, but if 
your focus is Linux programming, I wouldn't recommend it.

C++ is not a language I would recommend unless you're considering a 
career in very serious programming. The lead time to being able to write 
something useful in Perl or Python is probably measured in weeks or 
months. In C++, it'd be years.

David