[RESOLVED] Which should I learn first? C | C++ | C# | Java | VB.NET?

[tinfanide]

As said in the title,
which should I learn first,
if I am going to write Windows desktop applications and web applications?

Now I am learning VB.NET. I overheard that C# is most commonly used or the C family languages are. And Java is multi-platformed. Is there something VB.NET can do, while the C family cannot?

Just a newbie. Please kindly point me to somewhere I can assure myself to start going to. Many thanks.

[AceInfinity]

Desktop and Web applications are different, you can't expect any one language to be good for both.

C/C++ are also multi-platform languages if you don't use any OS specific dependancies. C can do i'm pretty sure everything that VB.Net can though. C# is not more common, it's just the more praised language in my opinion. You'll find a lot more on VB.Net than C# out there from what i've seen.

Although to answer your question, it depends on your coding experience. I would not suggest C++ if you're just starting out, learning the basics like types and operators, functions, etc... But if you want a head start on good habits that will give you an easier lead to languages like Java/C/C++ then I would suggest C# for numerous reasons. Syntax with brackets, and case sensitive declarations are a couple of those.

If you're looking between C and C++ I would suggest C++ though. Some say C, but it is somewhat "outdated" although still used today, and C++ is becoming more and more commonly used over a language like C. Not too much experience with Java, although i've heard good about it as well. Languages like Delphi are also multi-platform, although it's even more unheard of and you don't see much of that anymore.

[tinfanide]

So in my case, if I need to develop desktop applications that has some connection to the web and I'm starting off with VB.NET, would ya suggest me going on with VB.NET or restarting everything with C#?
Cos everytime I look up in references, I always see people talking with C# first and translate the codes into the VB.NET's ones. So that's why I wondered if I should have gone with C#?

I know Java is similar to the C family, actually inherited from C (?) and that's again another reason for thinking of learning C# or C++.

[AceInfinity]

So in my case, if I need to develop desktop applications that has some connection to the web and I'm starting off with VB.NET, would ya suggest me going on with VB.NET or restarting everything with C#?
Cos everytime I look up in references, I always see people talking with C# first and translate the codes into the VB.NET's ones. So that's why I wondered if I should have gone with C#?

I know Java is similar to the C family, actually inherited from C (?) and that's again another reason for thinking of learning C# or C++.

If you've only leanred VB.Net in the past, and not much other experience with programming in general than C++ is not for you, you can do more damage than good if you don't understand what you're doing as it's a powerful language, and something that a VB.Net user would not be used to. I would compare more VB.Net and C# together, as they are more closely related, other than a change in the structure of syntax with brackets, concat string methods, and case sensitive requirements, I don't really see why you couldn't follow along in C#.

It depends on what you want to do though, but if you're trying to make a desktop application that connects to the web via an HTTP request, that is not a web application. However such programming would be much easier with VB.Net for you or C#.

I would doubt you'd have much success in something like C++ with trying to do similar tasks in comparison with a language like VB.Net or C#. If you plan on moving to C++/C/Java down the road, then i'll say it again. You're probably better off learning C#.

[tinfanide]

Okay, I'll just keep going on with VB.NET.

[BlindSniper]

Indeed, VB.net is a good choice, but remember to pick up the syntax of C# as well because it will make life a bit easier. I'd Say for desktop applications for windows vb.net is the best choice because it is relatively fast and the application development time is very low. If you want to learn more about how the internals of a computer works then C++ and C is the best choice, after assembly of course.

[tinfanide]

It's clearer now. Many thanks for all the input.

[Shaggy Hiker]

As a general rule, the C family of languages are very popular, and very old. Java uses the C syntax, so if you are familiar with C syntax, Java will be more familiar. There is also the odd bit that C# developers have an higher average pay than VB developers, even though the two languages were converged by MS, and they generate the same IL, so the language doesn't really matter. In fact, there was talk, a few years back, of a compiler that would allow you to write some methods in VB and others in C# inside the same class or module. It would make sense, though it wouldn't be particularly useful.

The problem with the C syntax is that it is archaic and archane. The latter is probably the reason that the language is so beloved. Coders are a bunch of geeks, so writing in something that looks like line noise makes it look more mysterious. I suspect that that is the reason that C# is actually considered superior to VB. This distinction comes from back before .NET, when VB6 was considered a toy language, while nearly everything else was included in the club of "real languages", an attitude that has translated over into .NET, despite it being fundamentally absurd.

The archaic nature of the C syntax leads to stupid anachronisms like the semicolon and the case sensitive nature of variables. Those aren't there because they provide any actual value to the language, they are there because C dates from the dawn of computing when CPUs had no reserve processing power, so they couldn't handle things such as auto-correcting case, which VB does, or figuring out where the line ends, which VB does. Much of the symbolic nature of operators in the C syntax may also come from a time when bytes were precious. You could type curly braces (two bytes, one for open, one for close) in less space than End If (six characters, with none needed for open). Oddly, unless it has recently changed, MS also has a broken Intellisense in C#, for no reason that I can understand.

Frankly, VB is a better language by design, but it carries a prejudice that probably began very early, possibly with the initial BASIC.

[AceInfinity]

There is also the odd bit that C# developers have an higher average pay than VB developers

I've always found that odd... They are virtually the same, with very minute differences. Maybe just because C# "looks" more complex than VB.NET? lol