I'd like to thank both Anderson and C.R.Chafer for your responses.  And now that I have a better idea of where to begin, I'm off to a bookstore to pick up something from the C++ section! Any suggestions?

"anderson" <anderson@firestar.com.au> wrote in message news:adahc3$g9g$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> I do not want to detract your attention from the user-friendly ness of D
but
> perhaps a learning language such as Basic (Qbasic, Visual Basic) would be more adequate to your needs. The disadvantage of basic is that It's more difficult to do advanced things in it.
>
> On the other hand you can probably pick up a C++ book and use that to
learn
> D, though you won't find a D book. You could use this news group to
fingure
> out the differnces. Furthermore many people have learnt C before tackling C++.
>
> "Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:adadnt$a86$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> > > It's just a disclaimer. If it bothers you, don't use it!
> > >
> >
> > Walter: please be assured I had no intentions of insulting your ego or
> hurt
> > your pride in any way.  I am simply enthused about starting out
> programming
> > with the best tool available and am seeking some professional opinions
on
> > the likelihood of being successful if I start with this language.
> >
> > Please stop attacking me on such trivial details. If you think I am a
> moron,
> > which you obviously do, just ignore my postings, but thus far you have
not
> > helped in any way. Just be happy that you were able to create something
> that
> > a complete novice is interested in learning over a more established language.
> >
> > Thank you in advance!
> >
> >
> >
>
>

"C.R.Chafer" <blackmarlin@nospam.asean-mail.com> wrote in message news:adaov6$nkp$1@digitaldaemon.com...

> Ewwww. No. To give a quote...
>
> "It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students
> that have had prior exposure to BASIC; as potential programmers they are
> mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration."
> -Dijkstra

Modern BASIC dialects (VB, Rapid-Q, XBasic etc) have almost nothing to do
with
the '70 old-style BASIC.

"Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:adc2vk$23ad$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> I'd like to thank both Anderson and C.R.Chafer for your responses.  And
now
> that I have a better idea of where to begin, I'm off to a bookstore to
pick
> up something from the C++ section! Any suggestions?

Sure. www.digitalmars.com/ugr/chapter1.html

Andrew wrote:
> I'd like to thank both Anderson and C.R.Chafer for your responses.  And now
> that I have a better idea of where to begin, I'm off to a bookstore to pick
> up something from the C++ section! Any suggestions?

Yes,

1.) Want to become an expert in C++? buy 'The C++ Progrqamming Language' from Bjarne Stroustrup.
2.) Just want to have a jumpstart into C++ programming buy 'Accelerated C++' by Andrew Koenig & Barbara E. Moo.

I like this: http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/C/

-Andy

Walter wrote:
> "Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:adc2vk$23ad$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> 
>>I'd like to thank both Anderson and C.R.Chafer for your responses.  And
> 
> now
> 
>>that I have a better idea of where to begin, I'm off to a bookstore to
> 
> pick
> 
>>up something from the C++ section! Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> Sure. www.digitalmars.com/ugr/chapter1.html
> 
> 
> 

"Anderw" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:ad9kvv$1c1n$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> I am a Newbie in every since of the word when it comes to programming!  I would love to develop a solid foundation with a reliable compiler.  Having read a few newsgroup postings on C++, it's apparent that the language
leaves
> much to be desired. Then I stumble onto D which promises? many
improvements
> over C++.  How best should a "complete" novice approach this language and where would one turn for help when necessary.  Additionally, I noticed
that
> current version of D available is an alpha version that wasn't intended
for
> use beyond 1999. Is there a beta version intended for the near future?
>
> Andrew
>


I would start with Java instead of C++. Although I
am more of a C++ fan than a Java fan myself, it is
pretty widely accepted that Java is easier to learn.
Things like string/array-handling and garbage
collection are making Java a much more easy language
to start with. Memory management is not easy, and
one of the biggest source of bugs in C/C++ programs.
Furthermore C++ relies pretty heavily on pointers.
Learning C++ is like a jump in the deep end. If
you survive, you will probably be able to cope with
anything... :)
Also, D's feature set is a lot more like Java then
like C++, and the syntax for all three languages is
pretty similar, so that is why I would favour Java
if your objective was to learn D as fast as possible.


--
Stijn
OddesE_XYZ@hotmail.com
http://OddesE.cjb.net
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Remove _XYZ from my address when replying by mail