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What is the best language to start with?

from JS to iphone dev - what's the best language to start with?

  • I am a total beginner and would like to eventually learn to develop for the iphone. I have just done a beginner's CS course where the language we learned was JavaScript. We studied basic concepts like: variables, arrays, loops (for,while,if,if..else..), properties and functions. I'm wondering if I am starting in the right/wrong place by following this book: Learn C on the Mac by Dave Mark? I have read a few chapters and am finding it a bit hard to get my head around the way that C works, for example the way that Strings are printed seems overly complicated as compared to JS. Do you think that JS was the wrong language to start off with and would I be better to go from JS straight to Objective-C rather than to C? I have tried to read up on previous threads on the merits/demerits of learning C first but haven't found any that relate JS to learning C/Obj C/ Cocoa. Any advice appreciated as I am very new to this. Thanks

  • Answer:

    Yikes. JavaScript seems like a really poor choice for starting a new developer off on the right path. It has the basic constructs of most languages, but weak typing and the Prototype approach to Object Oriented development would be hard to transition away from. That said, I would first pick up a book on straight Object Oriented programming concepts first. http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0596008678 seems to be a popular choice around here. After that, I'd go straight to Obj-C. You'll pick up the pieces you need from C without learning any of the potential bad habits that people sometimes bring wit them from a procedural language like C to an Object Oriented language like Obj-C.

Enkai at Stack Overflow Visit the source

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This is flame bait, but I'm going to say it anyway since I've had a bit too much coffee and it's Friday. There is nothing wrong with starting with JavaScript, so long as you know it's only one of many languages you will need to learn if you are serious about a programming career. iPhone development is not that much different than any other type of development, but the tools are very different. Learning and knowing C is a good place to start if you are planning on being proficient in Objective-C. However, I recommend reading http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/cocoa/conceptual/objectivec/Introduction/introObjectiveC.html before going out and buying a bunch of books because you're goal is ultimately the iPhone and it's free from Apple. If you just want to get something mobile out there and you are familiar with html/javascript but don't need to be in the App Store then one of the many web frameworks like http://code.google.com/p/iui/, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1143589/what-is-the-pastrykit-framework, http://www.jqtouch.com/ and http://www.phonegap.com/ will help you there. In my opnion you should start small, and work your way up to bigger things. Something like an alarm clock app might be a good place to start ;)

slf

Why not start with C? It's a little harder to learn upfront than javascript, but down the road when you start using Objective-C you'll have a leg up. http://cocoadevcentral.com/ has a lot of great tutorials to get you started in Objective-C (and one in C).

christo16

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