is learning javascript & PHP a good step towards learning gscript?
 

i've been learning javascript in my spare time, and now when i look at gscript it begins to make a lot more sense, making me think that if i started to play around with it once i'm more comfortable with javascript, i could eventually start developing. my purpose in learning javascript is so i can eventually learn PHP better (i have to look up some of the most basic things just to get through sometimes) which would lead to me making better websites with it - but if it could help me towards learning gscript, well that'd be great too

so, is gscript most like javascript/PHP, or would there be a better underlying language that i should be tackling first?

Learning to script/program in general is a good step towards learning GScript, once you understand the logistics behind scripting/programming and how to accomplish certain tasks with the tools available to you, it's just a matter of learning new syntaxes and methods in languages you decide to pick up.

I would recommend checking out Ruby, or Python. They're fairly different from each other and Gscript but have plenty of documentation and tutorials out there for them.

I've found this to be a fairly entertaining guide/book on learning Ruby: http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-...chapter-1.html but with some googling you'll find lots of help. I personally use Ruby for any kind of hobby programming where speed isn't an issue.

It also helps to establish goals and milestones that you want to achieve in your programming/scripting ventures.

JavaScript is the closest language out there to GScript.

JavaScript is also one of the nicest languages out there. Way, way, way better than PHP.

I've also heard C++ is also helpful to learn.

C++ is really close syntax-wise, and gscript is based on it I think.
But Javascript should be helpful as hell too, I recently ordered a book to learn it :)

Learning C++ would be a waste of time if learning GS is your goal.

This is the worst thing in this entirely terrible thread.

Learning PHP is not a good step towards anything I recommend you avoid it

yeah there is a general truth to be extrapolated here namely that if you want to learn something learning something entirely different is a waste of time

this is not rocket science

JavaScript is a good language to know as it is going to be around for a long time and is more useful than most other languages you could learn—it's easy to learn and from it you can easily pick up many other languages.

This is probably the best post you are going to get out of this thread.

What's with all the hating on PHP, might I ask? Not that I want to get into a language battle, but it is pretty popular (and relatively easy).

Its internals are a big hack, OO was put in as an afterthought, and it encourages bad practices rather than good ones.

you should learn how to edit your posts into one post. this is the best advise you're personally going to get out of this thread

thanks for the comments guys. i'll continue on with javascript for my own purposes, in addition to it being comparable to gscript. seems that learning gscript straight up doesn't seem like a good angle into it (failed me before at least)

Learn Haskell if you want to be a better programmer in general.

even if my interest in scripting is just web design?

It will improve your programming skills (including web development), but it takes some time to learn and has a steep learning curve.

Just depends on if you have the time to put in it or not.

Oh, also once you learn it I doubt you'll want to use anything else.

Other languages are easier. It is "easy" because you can put a script on a server and something will immediately happen. Usually it takes more effort to get something that a layman would consider "results", but I cannot think of a single non-ironic language in which is harder to understand what is actually going on or write "good" code by any metric, or any single aspect of the language that at least five other languages do not do better.

It is bad the people who made it have not idea about either language design or implementation, and it is crippled because of the way that it evolved from an uninspired starting point into no real direction with lots of stapled-together functionality.

There is all kinds of anecdotal evidence* that the guys behind it are not really who you want to trust either your learning as a programmer or your important projects to.

It teaches you bad organisation, bad API design, bad security practices and introduces you into a community of self-delusion and mediocrity.

In short, there is no reason to choose it as an introductory programming language. Go with javascript (you already have it installed, it has neat higher-level functionality, obviously about everyone ends up using javascript "programs") or something like lua (really compact language that is reasonably easy to actually understand in full, with some neat ways of doing the more complicated stuff) instead, or alternatively find someone who is willing to mentor you in whatever language they like most.

* like the time there was an integer overflow bug in one of their memory allocation functions and they fixed it by using floating point numbers instead of integers, or that random non-english token in error messages, or how it was purposefully made "slow" so the guys running it could make money selling software to make it "faster".

Just because you think so one-dimensional I am not going to cripple my posting style

You should probably decide whether you are interested in (web) design or (web) programming. If the former, do whatever, nobody cares since you will be using photoshop and html, if the latter a proper programming language is probably a good idea even if you end up being stuck with php.

Eh. I guess. It's not like it's impossible to create something great with PHP. Half the web runs on it.

But I guess since we are talking about learning your first language, something more stable and trusted could be preferred. PHP's documentation is pretty nice, though. But, hey, the first script I ever wrote was:

Meh I don't really know about C++, there are just things I've heard, but I must be wrong if you say so.

i write all my websites in notepad2, i don't **** with photoshop or dreamweaver or any of those types

photoshop is just for the graphics, not coding.

Dreamweaver is seldom used as a design tool. PHP and other web programming languages can be written in any text editor tool.

google dreamweaver: "Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, the industry-leading web design software, is an outstanding visual HTML editor and superb code editor."

Do I sense Dreamweaver bashing? It's actually pretty great -- great enough to be voted the best WYSIWYG editor on Lifehacker. Plus their automatic tag closing is a huge time-saver. Live View is great, as well.

If you must use a Notepad replacement, at least go with Notepad++. :cool:

Dreamweaver is crap x_x. There isn't even an option to disable auto-indent or automatic brace closing.

You don't sound lazy enough to like it.

Why would you want to?

I'm not used to it so it gets in the way when I have to remove double indents and such. Dreamweaver is the only text editor I've ever seen that doesn't let you disable that. I do use Dreamweaver, though. I like the support for PHP and the built-in FTP.

Stop arguing about ****ing text editors goddamn


also **** you "support for php" is barely a feature and "support for ftp" should be outlawed

... Is there a reason why you're so angry all of a sudden?

Duh. It's Loriel after all. Been like that for a while, you know :p

Learning Javascript is a good thing, it's quite close to Graal script and Graal script will also move towards more Javascript-compatibility.

graal support for .js?

sounds good regardless

Hey, you should search for thenewboston on youtube and look for his java beginner tutorials. They really helped me getting started, much easier to follow than reading a book for example. Just a tip :)

I recommend Head First Javascript.

that's pretty awesome. i'll definitely take the time to watch through these, thanks (8

Trying to make up for the moderation slacking off!