A newbie still lost in C

[yearsinrock]

I am in my undergraduate college and still learning C.I am newbie programmer and love the net.Which programming language should i learn to write cool web apps ,so i can create my own website as a startup. +I have seen a lot of movies where they show cool hacking stuff ,Is it that easy ,and how could i get started to do such stuff on my own?

[corentin]

Yes, everything in life is as easy as in movies!

To write web applications, popular programming languages include PHP (the most popular one, used by many companies and open source projects), Java (mostly used for "enterprise" applications), Ruby and Python. Java is a simple language but the frameworks (the libraries) tend to be complicated (enterprises seem to confuse complexity and value). PHP is used by many hobbyists; it's powerful but, unfortunately, a lot of the code you'll find will be crappy and wouldn't be a good way to learn good programming practices. Ruby certainly is a fine language but its community of users is annoying so you'll find a lot of bullshit flying around which isn't a good way to start, either. Python seems to be the way to go. Of course, nothing prevents you to look at the other ones. Quite the contrary: if you try different things you'll be able to know what is better for you.

You'll also need to learn web design (HTML, CSS), client-side programming (Javascript), database systems, etc.

The best way to learn is to learn a little bit of everything at the same time (not Python first, then Javascript, then databases...) so a good way to start would be to install a Linux distribution on some machine and start playing with web servers, languages, databases, etc. Don't try to start by creating some useful thing; it's frustrating. Just fool around until you understand how everything fits together.

Hope this helps (please note that I'm not a web developer myself; I just happen to waste my time on programming.reddit.com too much!)

[yearsinrock → corentin]

i am 19 right now ,am i too late and should i go back study the univeristy syallabus or do i still have time to make it big?

[fauigerzigerk → yearsinrock]

Forget it! No one over the age of 15 will ever make it big ;-) Seriously, you have all the time in the world. Study the hard core stuff (algorithms, data structures and maths). Experiment with the web. Seek out people who really take interest in whatever they do. Don't burden yourself with debt, expensive lifestyle or kids, so you have the freedom to jump onto opportunities whenever they present themselves.

[yearsinrock → fauigerzigerk]

I nearly have finished c and i hope to complete c++ within few months.After that what shold i learn ruby,python,perl or lisp.I mean which language is the most powerful?

[corentin → yearsinrock]

I really doubt you have 'finished' C (and C++ is even harder to really master).

There is not really a language that is absolutely more powerful than another; but some languages are more suited to certain tasks.

You should read this, it answers a lot of your questions: http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

[fauigerzigerk → yearsinrock]

If you want to write web applications you absolutely need to know JavaScript for client side work. On the server it doesn't really matter whether you choose Ruby or Python. Both have good web frameworks and both are dead slow, so be prepared to write algorithmic code in C (now you know why you learned it :-). Lisp is conceptually much more interesting and (depending on the implementation) as fast as C. But the selection of Lisp web frameworks is anemic.

Just in case you ever plan to look for a corporate job you should be aware of the fact that 80 % of those jobs require Java and/or C#.

[mechanical_fish]

First of all, keep working on the C. It's a very important programming language that underlies almost everything. If you learn to program C really well, you'll be able to understand what's happening even when you're using languages that are much higher-level than C.

As for a programming language to learn after C: try Ruby or Python. Both are considered great languages. I'd not only recommend starting with Ruby, but if I were you I would check out Hackety Hack at http://hacketyhack.net . It's a site built by a certified (and, perhaps, certifiable) programming genius, who is trying to make learning Ruby programming into something that 13-year-olds will do for fun. If you can figure out the stuff on that site, you will be well on your way to writing a cool web app.

Creating your own website -- perhaps even a cool web site -- doesn't necessarily require much programming. You should try setting one up right away. Tomorrow would be fine. :) You need a web server program (like Apache), and a database (like MySQL or Postgres), and you need a computer that's connected to the network all the time. The simplest thing you could do is pay ten bucks for a month of service from a web host like Dreamhost, install Wordpress or Drupal (perhaps just by pressing one button), and have a website tomorrow. If you already know how to do that, and need a bigger challenge -- or if you don't want to spend ten bucks a month -- then try downloading Apache and MySQL, install them on your own computer, and get Wordpress and/or Drupal running. (Hint: if you've got a Mac, the word to google for is "MAMP".) Use Google and Wikipedia to find the docs and books that you need to read to get that done.

It doesn't matter if anyone else can see the website, at first. Play with it yourself. Figure out how to add and delete users. Add some blog posts. Change the colors. Learn how to back up your database and restore it again. Learn about XHTML, and CSS, and SQL, and DNS, and SSH, and SSL, and SMTP. None of this is programming, exactly, but if you want to build a website for a startup you will have to know at least a little bit about all of these things.

If you've got a Mac, learn about how Unix works. If you've got a Windows box, install Linux on it. Search for Ubuntu Linux and find some docs that explain how to install it without screwing up your Windows installation.

Be aware: it's not that easy. It's certainly nothing like the movies. There's a lot of different moving parts that you must know about before you can build a site like Twitter, or Facebook, or even Hacker News. But many people have done it.

[german → mechanical_fish]

I have to disagree with you, while C is a powerful language, many people just don't need it, my advice is, if you're trying to build a webapp, you should learn first HTML, CSS and JavaScript (or maybe Flash), then jump into ruby, python or pearl, or whatever language you feel comfortable with.

Good luck.

[yearsinrock → mechanical_fish]

checked hacket hack ,its amazing.

used wordpress on a free web host ,i was even getting good traffic,how is blogger to get started is it good to tweak with.

i have downloaded fedora core 7.i'll install it now.