Absolute noob to Linux programming needs language choice help

[Alex Martelli]

<stylecomputers at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey guys,
> 
> I am absolutely new to Linux programming, with no w######s programming
> experience except a small amount of C++ console apps.
> Reasonably new to Linux, BSD etc, got good sound networking base of
> knowledge and dont have any problem working the command line etc.
> 
> I want to learn a language that I can use in my networking duties that
> is most likely to be of use to me. I have a few choices I can think of
> being:
> 
> Python
> Perl
> C
> 
> Any other Langs out there that would be better suited?
> 
> I want to be able to use the app's I write in OpenBSD and RH versions
> of Linux
> 
> What would you reccomend (Unbiased opinion please, I'm after the
> functionality I'll love it later :) )

C is extremely low-level -- you'll want to know it well if you ever need
to program something inside the kernel (or study kernel sources to
understand some detail or anomaly), but for general programming it's a
lot of unwarranted effort.

Python, Perl, and a third language you have not mentioned, Ruby, are
very high level, and each is suitable for just about the same range of
programming (almost any programming, except very low-level;-).  The
choice between the three cannot really be based on language level or
power because those aspects essentially coincide; rather, you should
choose based on your tastes, and practical considerations such as the
availability of libraries and other tools (which tends to be excellent
for all three languages, so it's unlikely to guide your choice all that
much).  If you want to make sure you have no regrets later, a minimal
amount of study of all three is warranted before you pick one to get
deeper into, IMHO.

Me, I knew the Perl of the time very well when I met Python, and I've
studied Ruby later -- Python definitely meets _my_ needs optimally; but
other people, with very different tastes, could well choose differently!


Alex