Dipping Toes Into Programming
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@tim_g said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I am liking PHP more than Python. PHP seems so much easier in every way so far... but I'm not very far with either.
I feel that PHP is the easiest language to learn. It was completely designed around simplicity from the very beginning, and was the first language designed specifically around the needs of making web apps.
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And since PHP 7 the performance has really leapt forward.
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@popester said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
Might be worth a scan. https://www.codementor.io/blog/worst-languages-to-learn-3phycr98zk?utm_content=posts&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_term=post-3phycr98zk&utm_campaign=newsletter20180307
It doesn't list so many key languages, though. Doesn't really make sense as a list. And community engagement and jobs are both bad indicators - since community engagement is at best loosely related to value and jobs is a reflection of legacy support more than anything. Things like "utility for making products" aren't even considered, nor are some of the most important languages like JavaScript, Python, PHP or the ones that are obviously the worst, like VB.
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@scottalanmiller said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
And since PHP 7 the performance has really leapt forward.
I've seen that. I pushed all my servers to PHP 7 a while ago.
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I'm sticking with PHP for now no matter what. I'm getting a bit in to it now, and it's really easy for me to understand and pick up.
I don't know if that's because I'm already used to loops and that type of logic already from PowerShell and BASH, but it's way easier for me to catch on than it was with Python.
But the differences are so small. I took a quick look at Python last night to compare it to PHP, and it was SO MUCH EASIER after I had done the same stuff with PHP.
So PHP is definitely going to be my gateway language, I've been wanting to learn PHP anyways, becuase it's just everywhere and I will get a lot of personal benefits from knowing it.
I'd rather do Python, but I feel learning PHP first will be better for me when I get into Python.
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I actually prefer PHP. I've tried some dot net, Java, and even some node.js (I haven't completely ruled this one out yet as I'm still learning what I like / not like about it).
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@dafyre said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I actually prefer PHP. I've tried some dot net, Java, and even some node.js (I haven't completely ruled this one out yet as I'm still learning what I like / not like about it).
PHP is quite good, I like it a lot.
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I really like Ruby, though.
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@tim_g said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
But the differences are so small. I took a quick look at Python last night to compare it to PHP, and it was SO MUCH EASIER after I had done the same stuff with PHP.
Lots of programming is very cumulative that way. You should also be able to apply what you're learning back to powershell
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@scottalanmiller said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I really like Ruby, though.
I had to write a quick little code snippet in Ruby once, was not as intuitive |for| me as I expected.
Part of the problem is that I didn't believe the syntax my google searches were showing me.
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@flaxking said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
@scottalanmiller said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I really like Ruby, though.
I had to write a quick little code snippet in Ruby once, was not as intuitive for=>me as I expected.
I think you mean the above...
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@scottalanmiller said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I really like Ruby, though.
I've not done much with that one. I tried a few things, but never really took off with it.
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I actually find it faster to build the interface in straight HTML, CSS, & Javascript and then let PHP or whatever handle the data transports and such.
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I've been digging through WordPress a little bit in the evenings to see how it's really set up, starting with index.php and following it.
It's freakin huge with so many moving parts and gears, I can see why there's so many devs lol.
But it's very interesting to see how it works at that level, and helps to learn a little too.
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@tim_g said in Dipping Toes Into Programming:
I've been digging through WordPress a little bit in the evenings to see how it's really set up, starting with index.php and following it.
It's freakin huge with so many moving parts and gears, I can see why there's so many devs lol.
But it's very interesting to see how it works at that level, and helps to learn a little too.
That will actually help if you ever find yourself having to clean up a hacked Wordpress site.
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I came across this link:
Usage of server-side programming languages for websites
https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/programming_language/all
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PHP definitely rules the roost by number of deployments. Just keep it in perspective that that is mostly WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and similar, simple frameworks that are widely deployed. And lots of free apps like vTiger, SugarCRM, SuiteCRM, you name it were always PHP apps. And most web hosts only offer PHP. So PHP does insane numbers of simple "personal websites". That's its name, Personal Home Page.
Then things like Erlang or Java might have small numbers of deployments, but they tend to be things like big financial transaction systems or whatever. Things that aren't deployed very often, but are really significant on a "per deployment" model.
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That .5% Ruby is not insignificant and shows the growing popularity of Ruby on Rails.
Python is a great language to learn because there are so many different areas it is used. But Ruby on Rails is much more common for building kickass web apps. Ruby is also used for many things (Chef and Puppet if we're thinking about CMs) but I think Python is still better for variety.
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@flaxking I agree, when making web apps, RoR is way ahead of Python and its framework options.
