Help with programming, key concepts, everything

Discussion in 'Mac Programming' started by Maxievelli, Dec 3, 2008.

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  1. Maxievelli, Dec 3, 2008

    Maxievelli macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2008
    #1
    Hi, I have never programmed in my life, and I need help understanding some key concepts which I'm sure are very simple. I know some very basic HTML and am using a iMac running Leopard. I'm currently in a sophomore web design class, which is the only programming my school offers and I can't afford to take any Community College classes. Which is why I need help.


    • Can you use an HTML editor to edit C or Java or Python?

    • What are the advantages of each major language? (the only two I know of are C and Java)

    • Does the Mac have an editor that can edit Python? (Python is the language I have decided to learn first)

    • Should I download a program to edit? I already have Komodo Edit, which I downloaded to try and figure out how to use, but didn't get very far

    • Are there any good tutorials I can find online? (specifically for python?)

    And if you have ANY advice you can pass on to a rookie that would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks
     
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  2. Cromulent, Dec 3, 2008

    Cromulent macrumors 603

    Cromulent

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2006
    Location:
    The Land of Hope and Glory
    #2
    1) Yes, but it is pointless. The favourite editors you will hear mentioned in this forum are vi, nano, Xcode, Smultron, Text Wrangler and some crazy fools even suggest emacs.

    2) C is pretty low level compared to most modern languages. You have to do everything yourself. The upside is it is probably the fastest language outside of assembly. Java, looks like C but is entirely object orientated (more so than C++ which always felt like a kludge to me), plus it is interpreted. The big thing about Java is that it is completely cross platform because the code runs on top of a virtual machine and not natively. Python is object orientated as well and is interpreted meaning it is going to be slower than C and quite possibly slower than Java too. Still Python is a great learning language.

    3) I'd use either Smultron or Text Wrangler for writing code. Both are free. Google will help you :).

    4) http://docs.python.org/tutorial/
     
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