hey joe

can't say i've ever run C# programs on linux or solaris or freebsd or osx - i'd say that was a rather huge disadvantage for me in most "everyday" programming situations ;)

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Don't Stand on your head - you'll get footprints in your hair. http://charlieharvey.com

I guess java would get my vote, as it's fairly cross platform, and forces you to use oop style - unlike php, or javascript. I've heard good things about python, but never had the time to check it out. I'm not keen on vb or c# because they only run on M$ platforms, and vb is just plain ugly...

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Don't Stand on your head - you'll get footprints in your hair. http://charlieharvey.com

You have a point, although I have come across C# run on Unix often. My response was however for a language to learn OO principles. Some years ago many of the UK universities used to teach Smalltalk to show these principles although you don't see the job boards littered with vacancies for Smalltalk developers :)
Nowadays they have mostly moved to Java thank goodness so people leaving universities have more of a chance of getting a real job.

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Joe

I'd pick C# any day of the week and twice on sundays.

Can't believe that anyone would recommend Javascript as a language to start learning OOP. As a previous poster has pointed out, while it is object-based, it isn't object-oriented. My opinion is that any language that is object-oriented must have a clear relationship with OOD - which Java has and JS does not. As to whether C# or Java, again Java wins, simply because it is portable across a range of platforms, whereas C# is not (hence wider readership). If it is just OOP that is the issue, Java is the better platform - after all the general principles are transferable to C#.

Simon

Well Friends,
I learned OOP using SmallTalk last year with the British Open University. The reason they choose SmallTalk is because it is extremelly simple to learn. It was, I believe, one of, if not the first pure OOP language created by the same ppl who developed the first GUIs. It really is like piecing lego together, especially in the course I took, which used an extremelly simple IDE called Learning Books which were created just for the purpose of teaching. I do have a Dolphin SmallTalk IDE but I find it quite hard to understand compared to the OU IDE that we used. That was a 2nd year course and the final part of the course was an introduction to development using UML.
I have to say that I found SmallTalk dead easy and it was a good grounding for this years course which is entitled Software Systems and their Development and Java is also taught throughout this course. Thats why I'm going through Wrox's Beginning Java 1.4 at the moment. If anyone wants a copy of the SmallTalk course I have the whole thing in pdf format along with the Learning Book IDE, which I could send over the net but there are some parts of the course which only came in printed material, like the UML case studies and the Handbook of the hierarchy and list of classes which we were allow to take into the exam. but anyway, let us know if you want stuff I have got.
I am enjoying learning Java just now, but honestly said, I'd be floundering terribly if I hadn't learned the principle of OOP in SmallTalk first.
     Stafford

It's a happy day when men beat their swords into ploughshares but, at the end of the day, only truth will set men free.

Hi,
Good comments from everyone and each has merit. What we learn from them is it doesn't matter where you start as long and you are prepared to pay the price and stick with it. It's a lot of work and I'm sure everyone will agree on that

Regards

http://www.addmap.com

Hi Friends,

In my view C++ and VC++ are the best languages to learn OOP.
Java and C# are also good but the "pointers and references" concepts can be grasped easily only through C++ and VC++.
Windows based programming can be done efficiently through these languages.

When it comes to OOPS there is nothing better than C++(Turbo if possible!). This is because C++ has all the features which are essentials in OOPS. Java is cool too. However the conceps like abstract classes,multiple inheritance and many others can't be learnt in Java. They have been taken away for efficiency reasons. Java Interfaces might help but then again if you want to learn it full and fast..C++ is the best.


sands

Well I strongly disagree with both the last two posts. Pointers are not an essential part of OOP and C++, although it may have all the essential features of OOP, also has a awful lot of other stuff. I believe that it's not a good place to start learning OOP.
I challenge anyone who had C++ as their first programming language to show a sample of their code which is used in a real world application and shows good use of OOP.

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Joe (Microsoft MVP - XML)