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For the love of god not VB. When I started I learned c++. I would say this is a pretty good starting language since its very easy to transfer to c#, java, php,

For the love of god not VB. When I started I learned c++. I would say this is a pretty good starting language since its very easy to transfer to c#, java, php, ect because of the similarities. But it also let the professors explain garbage collection, pointers ect. However c++ had so many annoying moments because the compiler messages were so cryptic which are really bad when starting out. So that makes me believe that c# would be a better choice because of what visual studio can offer. It would allow the students to run through their programs 1 line at a time, see exactly whats going on as well as give much better error messages.

dagw 17y ago
At the risk of being laughed at, VB is what rekindled my interest in programming. I played quite a bit with BASIC and logo on my Apple IIc as kid, but never really did any serious programming. Then after high school while working my first job, I happened to pick up a book on VB(4 I think) at the local library that came with a demo version. I was blown away by how quickly and simply I could create complete apps. Over that weekend I wrote an app that solved a real problem at work and that was installed and used by the people working there. After seeing that I could use programming to quickly simplify real world problems I got into programming again. I moved from VB onto other languages and haven't touched VB since then. But if I had been sat down with a C++ compiler instead of VB I probably never would have gotten into programming. Right, my point. Don't focus on language, focus on problem solving. Show someone how programming can quickly solve an actual problem they are having. First find a problem that appeals to your audience, then pick the language the best solves that problem, and teach them that (even if it is VB). If after that they are interested they'll go on to learn as much as they can, if they're not then there probably isn't much you can do and no programming language can change that
WalterGR 17y ago
> For the love of god not VB. By "Visual Basic" I suspect he means VB.net. Do you have problems with VB.net or with VB 6 and prior versions?

dagw 17y ago

At the risk of being laughed at, VB is what rekindled my interest in programming. I played quite a bit with BASIC and logo on my Apple IIc as kid, but never really did any serious programming. Then after high school while working my first job, I happened to pick up a book on VB(4 I think) at the local library that came with a demo version. I was blown away by how quickly and simply I could create complete apps. Over that weekend I wrote an app that solved a real problem at work and that was installed and used by the people working there. After seeing that I could use programming to quickly simplify real world problems I got into programming again. I moved from VB onto other languages and haven't touched VB since then. But if I had been sat down with a C++ compiler instead of VB I probably never would have gotten into programming. Right, my point. Don't focus on language, focus on problem solving. Show someone how programming can quickly solve an actual problem they are having. First find a problem that appeals to your audience, then pick the language the best solves that problem, and teach them that (even if it is VB). If after that they are interested they'll go on to learn as much as they can, if they're not then there probably isn't much you can do and no programming language can change that

WalterGR 17y ago

> For the love of god not VB. By "Visual Basic" I suspect he means VB.net. Do you have problems with VB.net or with VB 6 and prior versions?