Re: which language for programming

[Arvid Grøtting]

Jean-marc LEGRAND <jean-marc.legrand <at> total.com> writes:

> 
> 
> hi all !
> 
> I'm trying to choose a language to learn programming. i know, it depends en
what I want dto do with
> it : but I don't have particular project on my table.
> 
> So I was wondering if a good idea wouldn't be to use the same language as
lilypond, which is C++, i
> think.

Well.  See below for that, but C++ is *not* a beginner's language.

In my opinion, good beginners' languages include Python and Lisp/Scheme (Scheme
is a dialect of Lisp).

I don't know enough about Visual Basic to comment on that language specifically,
but where I come from Basic-related languages are not considered a good starting
point either, as they may tend to shape your thinking in ways that really won't
help much when you transition to another language.  That said, I started out
with Basic (long before Visual anything).

> My questions are :
> 
> - is C++ the language used for lilypond sources ?

Large parts of them, yes.

> - are the different tools, espacially in §12, but also in all chaging default
tricks, based upon C++
> ?

No; for the kind of tweaks mentioned in chapter 12 of the manual, you need
Scheme, not C++.

Luckily, Scheme is not a bad beginner's language.  It's very logical, very
consistent in how it behaves and has a very simple and consistent syntax, yet it
is immensely powerful.

> Well, if I learn to use C++, will I be able to help, in a few years, lily dev 
> ?


I've learned C++ years ago, and I don't touch the C++ sources of Lilypond with a
10-foot pole.  (That said, I don't *use* C++ for anything, and haven't for ages.
 Someone who uses C++ or even Java daily may have other views.)

Anyway, good luck, and if don't despair if you find out that programming is not
for you; you can always conttribute in other ways.  (I'm a programmer myself,
but with the limited time I have to contribute I'm probably more useful sending
in detailed bug reports than I would be programming...)

-- 

Arvid