RE: [WEB400] Re: Resort back to RPG?

[Jim Langston <jlangston@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe,

I would tend to agree with Hans on this one, as programming in OOPs takes a 
total different mindset than programming without OOPs (um, straight line?  
Procedural?  Functional?  What's the term for non OOPs programming?)

I can learn a new language in a very short amount of time, 3 or 4 months, since 
I know so many.  But, I have been trying to effectively learn c++ and objects 
for the last 2 years or so and am finally starting to grasp all the nuances.

When visiting the #c++ channel in IRC dalnet when someone asks if they should 
learn C or C++ first, the answer is always c++.  If you learn C first you have 
to unlearn everything you just learned to learn c++.

Taking 2 years to learn a new language is not effective, in my book anyway, 
unless it was the first language I had ever learned (which was those oh so many 
long years ago Wang Basic, FORTRAN and COBOL).

Regards,

Jim Langston
Programmer/Analyst

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Pluta [mailto:joepluta@PlutaBrothers.com]

> From: Hans Boldt
>
> The problem is that understanding Java and OO design in general is
> very different that procedural programming, and requires a different
> "mind-set".  In many ways, the only programmers who can use OO
> effectively are those who start by learning OO.  To be blunt, many
> programmers in our generation probably will never fully understand
> OO, even after taking courses and reading all the right books.

Hans, this statement smacks of elitism, and denigrates and belittles
everyone on this mailing list.  I'd wager to say that a good number of the
programmers on this list would eat your lunch in any real-world programming
task.  Even those dinosaurs who don't understand OO have forgotten more
about application programming than you'll ever know.