What language is best to know?

[Andrew Payne]

In addition to my question regarding getting a degree in computer science,
I want to know if it is more beneficial to know a language such as C\C++,
languages which seem to take the programmer more "under the hood", or is
VB sufficient?

[Dan Appleman]

"Andrew Payne" <schatze@peconic.net> wrote:
>
>In addition to my question regarding getting a degree in computer science,
>I want to know if it is more beneficial to know a language such as C\C++,
>languages which seem to take the programmer more "under the hood", or is
>VB sufficient?

I took only one 10 week class on computer languages to get my Computer Science
Degree. In that class
I learned four languages in four weeks (Assembly, Lisp, APL and Simula, for
those who are curious).
The rest of the time was spent on understanding how languages are classified,
how they work,
and how they fit together.

My point is this: from my perspective VB and C++ are virtually the same language.
They both fall into the category of block structured programming languages.
You'll find similar
constructs in both. Once you understand the nature of this type of language,
switching from
one to the next is relatively quick and easy.
I don't think it really matters which language you learn first, VB or C++
or Java. What is important,
as you proceed in your education, is to learn the foundations on which those
languages are built,
so ultimately you can choose the one best for your specific application.


Dan