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05-12-2007, 08:35 AM
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#1 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| Which languages should I kknow for cs?
As a cs major, what languages should you know before going into the major or for the field in general? | 
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05-12-2007, 09:21 AM
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#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Threads: 1
Posts: 213
| In the major, they'll teach you at least one language from the bottom up, and there is usually a 'programming languages' course somewhere in the degree that teaches you the general paradigms behind a variety of languages. Two languages you should make an effort to know very well before graduating are C++ and Java, as these are the most common programming languages used by the IT industry today. | |
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05-12-2007, 10:46 AM
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#3 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| thinman, do you have any suggestions for textbooks on these languages? | |
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05-12-2007, 05:08 PM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Threads: 19
Posts: 37
| I used a very good java book for my intro to cs course. I believed the title was "Introduction to Java" and it was written by Daniel Liang. It was very accessible and comprehensive as well. I definetely recommend it. | |
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05-12-2007, 05:45 PM
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#5 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| Thank you. What about C++, which textbooks do you guy suggest for that? Should I learn C before reading about C++?
And this might sound obtuse, but which language is being currently used by people to create websites? is it still html or are most people using software like frontpage? | |
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05-12-2007, 05:52 PM
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#6 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| and bluefaced, that book appears to be great. There are two 6th edition versions out--the "comprehensive version" and "fundamentals first." Which one did you use? | |
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05-12-2007, 06:27 PM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY
Threads: 48
Posts: 239
| I'm a Java web app programmer. Check out the "Head First" series (Head First Java for language basics). The Head First books are a little goofy at times, but explain things well - easy read. | |
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05-12-2007, 06:39 PM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY
Threads: 48
Posts: 239
| frasifrasi, just read ur other question. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are used for static web pages. The Head First XHTML CSS book is good for learning this.
Frontpage is generally used by people who are not programmers and contains proprietary MS tags. Dreamweaver is also used, but is expensive-- mostly used by UI designers. I learned by just using Notepad/Wordpad or Textpad. It's good to start off with just a plain text editor to make sure you learn the basics and not get sidetracked by any proprietary tags. You can create an html file in any text editor and then open it in a browser and it will render. There are tutorials on the web for learning how to do this. | |
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05-12-2007, 07:43 PM
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#9 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| so, if I want to create a blog or information page, is html/css the simplest way to do it? | |
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05-12-2007, 08:03 PM
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#10 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA
Threads: 4
Posts: 56
| People still write HTML by hand these days? | |
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05-12-2007, 08:31 PM
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#11 | | Member
Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cornell
Threads: 36
Posts: 790
| Dreamweaver, haha. | |
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05-12-2007, 08:52 PM
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#12 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NYC--PSU at UP
Threads: 126
Posts: 862
| ^live, dreamwaver is the best tool? I rember trying to build a webpage a few years back with html and i was hell going at the manual every time I wanted to pick a font or color.
And can anyone suggest a good C++ textbook? | |
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05-12-2007, 09:10 PM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Gainesville
Threads: 8
Posts: 1,456
| The C++ book I used for the course I took was called "Absolute C++". I thought it was pretty good. I've never been great with programming and I learned the subject pretty well from this book. http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-C%2B%...9022147&sr=8-2 | |
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05-12-2007, 09:46 PM
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#14 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Threads: 1
Posts: 213
| I never bother with textbooks, frasifrasi, so I can't suggest any. In my mind, its best to just read up on the paradigm that the language was built around, and then look up syntax and examples with our good friend Google when necessary. | |
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05-12-2007, 11:26 PM
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#15 | | Member
Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cornell
Threads: 36
Posts: 790
| Yes, frasifrasi, for a Windows environment, Dreamweaver (from Adobe) is considered the best web development tool. You can use it for a number of different languages (including CSS and HTML).
For free, however, you could give Seamonkey Composer ( http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/) a try. It only uses HTML, however.
Also, if you are looking to just get started on basic programming this summer, Python is an excellent language to start out on. Syntactically very easy to read, object-oriented, and getting more and more popular. http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide
That page will pretty much start you out from the beginning. No need to purchase any expensive textbooks (you'll have to do that at school for sure, haha). | |
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