RE: More Questions

["Mel Bartels" <mbartels@efn.org>]

>As a 25+ year BASIC programmer, what would be a reasonable language for
me
>to use write code for the kind of things I will want to do for tass?  I


Why don't you start with PERL and let it lead you into C?  PERL is very
C like.  I do not recommend C++ - it is OOP tacked onto C, and unless
you are good with pointers and other niceties of C, will become very
confusing quickly.  At work I code in a variety of languages including
C, C++, PERL, Java, and COBOL (yes, is very much alive and still very
powerful - did you know there is a OOP COBOL coming out?).  If you want
to learn object oriented, check out the book Design Patterns - it will
totally change how you code OOP.

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that the language is quite
inconsequential.  But the programming style (must be understood by
others and by yourself 30 days from now!), ease of reusability, and
extensibility is critical.  I've seen code in various languages that
looks so C like I had to do a double take.  BTW, there's a webpage
somewhere that has the proverbial "Hello World" example in every known
programming language (be aware that some of the examples are not the
best).  It might give you an idea though.

You can write VB code and use VisualStudio to integrate with other
languages.  We (at work) have had some problems with this approach -
does not always work as easily as advertised (be prepared for mangled
function names and playing with parameter order, and, be happy using
Win32 debuggers).  Of course, not easily extended to Linux, Mac,
handhelds, and the like.

Mel Bartels