Is C a good language to learn? What about BASIC?
Traditionally, most computer folk would recommend learning how to program by starting with the BASIC programming language. BASIC was common, well-supported, and easy to learn thanks to its English-like vocabulary and syntax. But that was then. I was a big-time BASIC programmer and did several books on the language. Recently “advances” in BASIC, however, have rendered the language ugly and awkward. Years ago, I could recommend BASIC as a great language to learn programming. But today, BASIC is just too non-standard and ugly. Therefore, I recommend C — and for many reasons. First, C is very common and very standard. You can find freebie C compilers for any computer. They implement a very common and standard version of C, meaning that many of the simple C programs you learn with can be run on a variety of computers. Learning C does not mean you’re stuck with it on one computer platform. Second, many other programming languages borrow heavily from C. They include man of the same terms and
