Beginner coder

[Renevatia]

Started like a month or so ago because I had to take a fortran class for chemistry. I quite like fortran now and I will probably use it for anything that has to do with computing/optimization.

The problem I have with fortran is so far it seems very standalone, for the lack of better words. It doesn't really interact with other programs, kind of just does its own things. Also, the version I use, fortran95, has no internal GUI library. So everything is CMD bound.

Is it a good idea to try to learn java(or if anyone has a better suggestion) and do fortran computation portion as subprocess and use java interface.

What I am trying to make is a simple calculation program where you put in some stats in each box, press some button(s) and it gives you a calculated number after some analysis with those numbers. I know it would probably be easier to write the whole thing in Java but I want to leave the computation parts to fortran, and actually know how to build something like this.

I did find an external library that can be accessed by fortran. Its called DISLIN but it looks kind of limiting. I also like java's capability to run very portably. Also, would running a subprocess in another code limit that portability?

[rushyrulz]

Re: Beginner coder

pick up visual basic if you want to create easy to use programs with GUIs (and seems perfect for what you're trying to accomplish). Java is a good language to learn the ins and outs of programming, but it's complicated to get out of the terminal with it and other similar languages such as C and fortran.

scripting languages such as perl, python, ruby would might be worth learning if you're interested in programming on the internet. These languages are very easy to pick up as well and can do a lot of things that other languages are incapable of.

[Renevatia]

Re: Beginner coder

pick up visual basic if you want to create easy to use programs with GUIs (and seems perfect for what you're trying to accomplish). Java is a good language to learn the ins and outs of programming, but it's complicated to get out of the terminal with it and other similar languages such as C and fortran.

scripting languages such as perl, python, ruby would might be worth learning if you're interested in programming on the internet. These languages are very easy to pick up as well and can do a lot of things that other languages are incapable of.

I think I am okay if the coding itself is done without an interface. I just want to be able to make programs with simple interfaces, like buttons for controlling input to make it more user friendly

[rushyrulz]

Re: Beginner coder

Visual Basic would be perfect, to be honest.

Here's an example of a simple program I wrote in visual basic if you want to get a grasp of the look and feel of the graphical interface:
http://puu.sh/czHP7.zip (169 kb)

It's a basic kill counter for a monster in RuneScape that provides statistics on personal drop rates of certain items, nothing spectacular. If you would like the source files for this I can provide those as well.

[Renevatia]

Re: Beginner coder

Visual Basic would be perfect, to be honest.

Here's an example of a simple program I wrote in visual basic if you want to get a grasp of the look and feel of the graphical interface:
http://puu.sh/czHP7.zip (169 kb)

It's a basic kill counter for a monster in RuneScape that provides statistics on personal drop rates of certain items, nothing spectacular. If you would like the source files for this I can provide those as well.

That does look pretty much like what I want to make.

What language is it based on in visual studio?

[Doug31]

Re: Beginner coder

I'd recommend C sharp. It's like Java but better in most ways. And if you want to make simple GUIs, you can use something like Microsoft Visual Studio which lets you just drag and drop common controls from a toolbox onto a form directly, and then generate all the code to make it look like that for you. So you can just write the code under the scenes that does what you want it to without having to do all the annoyingly hard GUI coding.

Java can do a similar thing if you download the Netbeans IDE. It lets you make a swing GUI pretty easily but the drawback here is that almost every company is going to try to tell you how bad swing is and they're not going to use it, but it's still a good place to start if you don't care about that stuff. And you can get Netbeans for free and start making these things, unlike any good way I know of doing an equivalent for C sharp.

[TC_Halogen]

Re: Beginner coder

I'd recommend C sharp. [...]

I very highly second this. For someone who is learning programming, I am against Visual Basic only because the syntax is actually somewhat anomalous compared to other programming languages (your typical semi-colons and closing brackets cause syntax errors in VB!?).

[Renevatia]

Re: Beginner coder

I very highly second this. For someone who is learning programming, I am against Visual Basic only because the syntax is actually somewhat anomalous compared to other programming languages (your typical semi-colons and closing brackets cause syntax errors in VB!?).

I'd recommend C sharp. It's like Java but better in most ways. And if you want to make simple GUIs, you can use something like Microsoft Visual Studio which lets you just drag and drop common controls from a toolbox onto a form directly, and then generate all the code to make it look like that for you. So you can just write the code under the scenes that does what you want it to without having to do all the annoyingly hard GUI coding.

Java can do a similar thing if you download the Netbeans IDE. It lets you make a swing GUI pretty easily but the drawback here is that almost every company is going to try to tell you how bad swing is and they're not going to use it, but it's still a good place to start if you don't care about that stuff. And you can get Netbeans for free and start making these things, unlike any good way I know of doing an equivalent for C sharp.

Got any pointers as where is a good place to start with C#? Book or online sources. How come C# instead of C++?

[Zageron]

Re: Beginner coder

C# has powerful Visual Studio support for GUI out of the box. C++ is command line for a fair number of years before you'd be ready to integrate DirectX or OpenGL / SDL and understand what you're doing. Search for Visual Studio C# forms.

[choof]

Re: Beginner coder

since who already have people posting about picking up a C language, I will use this chance to say "lmfao fortran"

[Renevatia]

Re: Beginner coder

since who already have people posting about picking up a C language, I will use this chance to say "lmfao fortran"

whats wrong with fortran. So much hate fff.

[rushyrulz]

Re: Beginner coder

C languages disgust me. I like VB :)

[21992]

Re: Beginner coder

I'm currently in AP computer science and my teacher's website has everything you need to learn java! Good Luck!

[Renevatia]

Re: Beginner coder

Started doing C# in VB. Still using the console in it to get the basics down though.

Edit:

What is the "This." keyword in instantiated variables.
Why wouldn't you just use a variable with a different name inside the constructor instead of using something like

class
int num;

constructor
num = number;

Instead of:

constructor
this.number = number;

[Zageron]

Re: Beginner coder

For clarity. Many prefer precise variable naming. I prefer Hungarian notation.
There are other reasons, much much more advanced, for the this keyword to exist.