RE: Which class

["Martin Polley" <Martinp -at- Surf-com -dot- com>]

Java.

Why? IMHO, you are more likely to learn how to do "real" programming
than how to create an almost-complete application using Visual Studio's
built-in classes and tools (without necessarily understanding how you
are doing it). (I am assuming here that "Visual C" is actually "Visual
C++." Plain C is a whole different thing.)

I guess it all comes down to this--why do you want to learn one of these
languages?

Is it so that you can read and understand code, so that more job
opportunities will be open to you? Or is it so that you can get more a
high-level view of how a Windows application works?

Java, C and C++ are very close relatives. Learn one and you will be able
to understand a good deal of the other two. Visual Basic is the inbred
distant cousin. But MS Word uses it for macros. If you find yourself
using Word as your tech writng tool, the ability to write and understand
macros can be very useful.

But if it was ME, I'd go with Java. I would expect a Java course to take
me right into the "meat" of actual programming, instead of spending a
lot of time understanding what an IDE is, and how to work with it.

Just my two cents. Get other opinions. Look at the course prospectuses
and see how closely my wild guesswork matches reality.

Good luck! (And who  knows, you may actually enjoy it!)

Martin Polley
Technical Communicator
http://www.surf-com.com/
martinp -at- surf-com -dot- com
Tel: (+972) (4) 9095-732
Mobile: (053) 864-280
ICQ 15617901




-----Original Message-----
From: Erica Sullivan [mailto:docudiva -at- hotmail -dot- com] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 4:58 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Which class



Okay, this is going to sound like an oxymoron but I'm a Tech Writer not 
really interested in programming languages.  I like technology but not
the 
inside of the box.  Anyway, I know I need to add to my resume.  So, in
my 
available downtime, I'd like to take a class.  Which do you recommend,
which 
is more marketable, and which is easiest for someone who doesn't like 
programming languages:

Visual Basic
Visual C
Java

Thanks for your help.

Erica
DocuDiva


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