You can go further, faster with Java so I would recommend learning Java to gain a grasp of the basics of programming and software design. Once you've got that down, you could move to C++ -- or whatever programming language tickles your fancy at that time.
Depends on what task u want to do... U shud learn to know which programming language suits best for the task u wish to continue.. lemme give a simple example for c++ vs BASIC...
now lets say u want to print "Hello world" on the screen... if u use c++, u gotto include those header files, declare the main () function, use cout and have confusing to use either << or >> :P and bla bla bla! but in basic, u just need to type this,
PRINT "Hello world" and press enter and press F5 to see that hello world! so for soo very simple programs like this, u can go in for BASIC! but its not the trend now... m also a fan of c++ and i opt in for c++(for BASIC vs c++)... as in case of C++ vs Java, i know nothing of Java actually :P but i know that graphics in c++ is a bit of tough task and especially annoying if u r using windows 7 as it requires all those DOSBox config and much more... learn to opt in for the language that suits best for the program :)
well... i know how to declare a string! its just (string_name)$ :P well... yep BASIC is tooooooooooooooo basic... yeah let it die :P :P
I don't know where you eve heard of DOSBox
LOL man u never heard of DOSBox?? :/ i think u might know that the full screen mode is not supported for c++ by windows 7 64 bit ( and 32-bit also i think cause i have a 32 bit 7 OS...)... this is because the full screen mode is associated with the command prompt which is a 16-bit thing and wont b well supported by these OS... and DOSBox is just a 32-bit command prompt emulator and can enable u can run c++ full screen mode even in windows 7 64 bit ;)
i think u might know that the full screen mode is not supported for c++ by windows 7 64 bit ( and 32-bit also i think cause i have a 32 bit 7 OS...)... this is because the full screen mode is associated with the command prompt which is a 16-bit thing and wont b well supported by these OS... and DOSBox is just a 32-bit command prompt emulator and can enable u can run c++ full screen mode even in windows 7 64 bit ;)
What?
DOSBox is a DOS emulator, DOS is a 16-bit system, and the point of it is to run DOS programs (specifically games, but other programs work too) which you can't really do in Windows (especially not 64-bit Windows because it can't access the CPU's 16-bit emulation mode from 64-bit long mode).
“I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself "Dijkstra would not have liked this", well, that would be enough immortality for me.”
That's a serious oversight right there. He should have taken a picture of himself looking sort of downwards in a judging, possibly disappointed, way. Then people could hang his picture over their workstations so they could feel as if Dijkstra was personally evaluating every single thing they do.