OT: C,C++

[Charles C. Bennett, Jr.]

Hi Mike -

   If you are looking to do database front-end type work, consider
something that's web-centric.  If you need cross-platform you might
consider learning Perl (www.perl.org), PHP3 (www.php.net) or Cold
Fusion (www.allaire.com).  Perl and PHP3 are provided with most Linux
distributions, are known to work with various web servers on NT and
Mac and have excellent database access capabilities.  PHP3 is probably
easier to learn.  A quick search at softpro.com shows four titles
currently available.  Cold Fusion is a commercial package that's
widely used in ecommerce and has recently been ported to Linux.  PHP3
provides roughly what Cold Fusion provides and you get source code.

   That being said, knowing C is good for your soul.  Cygnus
(www.cygnus.com) has an IDE for C developers called Code Fusion
(achoo) and Metroworks (www.metroworks.com) has an IDE called Code
Warrior.  The native IDE for Linux developers is called Emacs.

   I learned C by reading The C Programming Language (aka K&R),
putting it down for 6 months and then rereading it while starting to
code.  It's a very straightforward and factual presentation targeted
at people who know how to program.  Donald Alcock's Illustrating ANSI
C might be a better choice for some people.  They again I suspect
they're using C How to Program from Dietel & Dietel at most community
colleges.

   You're better off with PHP3 and a browser-based interface if you
can get away with it.  The learning curve will be much less steep.

ccb


--
Charles C. Bennett, Jr.			VA LiNUX Systems
Systems Engineer, Northeast US		25 Burlington Mall Rd., Suite 300
+1 617 543-6513				Burlington, MA 01803-4145
ccb at valinux.com				www.valinux.com

         Nothing runs Linux like VA LiNUX - call 1 888 LiNUX-4-U
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