[quotidian]

I'm thinking about learning to program but I'm on Opensuse Linux so its a bit difficult to code in any of the microsoft languages, although there is monodevelop but its a bit awkward IMO.

I've sort of narrowed it down to either Java, which is like C#, or Basic, which is like VB.

Anyone got any opinions on either of those or any others I should consider.

Thanks
Al

[NewFolder]

Java is quite easy once you get used to it, and if you've used C# then the syntax is virtually the same. It's quite widely used, Android and BlackBerry smartphones, as well as older 'dumb' phones, use Java, so if you learned Java, you could also develop smartphone apps.

Another one to consider is Python. I've done some very, very basic stuff with it and it seems quite an easy language to get to grips with.

[Psyk]

I've always thought of C# as Microsoft's version of Java, so that would be a good choice and it's a widely used language. I haven't done any Java in a while, so I'm not sure how well it stacks up against C# these days. I've been doing quite a bit of C# recently and it has a lot of useful features, not sure if Java has caught up, or if it was even behind.

Is Mono that awkward to use? I've heard it's quite good these days. I think Sony have opted to use it for a new Playstation development platform, so it can't be that bad.

edit - I'd echo the comments above about Python. Python is pretty good.

[pixelfrag]

Have you heard of the mono framework? It allows you to deploy .net on linux and mac systems http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

Mono is a software platform designed to allow developers to easily create cross platform applications. Sponsored by Xamarin, Mono is an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework based on the ECMA standards for C# and the Common Language Runtime. A growing family of solutions and an active and enthusiastic contributing community is helping position Mono to become the leading choice for development of Linux applications.

[quotidian]

(Original post by pixelfrag)
Have you heard of the mono framework? It allows you to deploy .net on linux and mac systems http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

I can get mono to work but mono develop doesn't really work that great, probably something I've fecked about with or haven't installed?

[pixelfrag]

(Original post by quotidian)
I can get mono to work but mono develop doesn't really work that great, probably something I've fecked about with or haven't installed?

I usually develop within visual studio and then use mono to create a virtualization of it, first you run it through the compatibility checker to make sure mono supports everything you do, and if so then you can convert it I think. Not too sure, haven;t really delved deep enough into it, sorry

[kingkong95]

If you were on ubuntu I would suggest Ubuntu's quickly app. It's basically just a load of separate programs in one package, but it's easier to install than everything separately. It uses python which in my opinion is one of the best languages for a beginner on linux, better than Java It also comes with Glade GTK editor which is basically like a windows form designer thing for gnome. The only problem is that you'll probably need ubuntu (or at least a debian based OS) which you might not want...

I still recommend python though, regardless of OS

[Astonix]

Java is a good choice. It's essentially C# but is cross-platform (without the need of 3rd party developed framework like mono). Most jobs nowadays are for C# or Java too.

[Psyk]

(Original post by Astonix)
Java is a good choice. It's essentially C# but is cross-platform (without the need of 3rd party developed framework like mono). Most jobs nowadays are for C# or Java too.

What's the Java Virtual Machine then?

Presumably the JVM comes as standard with most Linux distros, but it's still 3rd party. When it comes to Linux, what really even counts as 1st party?

[python]

There are similarities and differences between C# and Java. C# has far more useful/nice/neat features than Java (unified type system, nullable types, implicit typing, lambdas, extension methods, properties, optional arguments etc.). You can start here. I miss all these in Java.

As an "alternative" to .NET, Java is a good choice imo. If you just want a new programming language, I suggest trying Python, Ruby or Haskell, although the latter's gonna be a bit tough. Maybe C++?