Friday, November 20, 2015

Coding Languages

Once you learn a coding language you should be able to code in it efficiently. However, just because you can code in one language doesn't mean you know them all. This is a mistake non-technologically minded people can make, and it results in people who know HTML to code a video game by friends. Coding languages can be vastly different, and here I'm going to use the example of C++ vs HTML.
HTML is essentially the coding of the web. In most webpages there is a combination of multiple kinds of coding languages, mainly being HTML and Javascript. HTML is used to give the page its structure, while Java creates functions. But we aren't comparing those two right now. C++ is derived from Objective C, and C++ can be used to solve problems and/or to create basic programs to accomplish certain tasks. I already talked about the for loop in an earlier post, and in that post I was talking about the for loop and how it works in C++. C++ can be used to create programs to solve certain types of math problems. for example, I coded a program to find out if a number is prime. These sorts of programs can be useful for many reasons, including using them to solve problems you don't want to solve on your own.
These two coding languages don't only function very differently, they are also written very differently. For example, to write text in HTML, you write <p>This is text.</p> whereas in C++ you write std::cout<<"This is text."; This alone demonstrates the difference between the two quite well, but the functional differences play an even larger role. For example this:

int i=0;
while(i<10)
{
std::cout<<i;
i++;
}

in C++ would create a function that counted to ten, in HTML it would be gibberish, and the document would likely simply display it as text out of sheer confusion. Whereas, in HTML you can write:

<p>Click <a href=="www.google.com">HERE</a>  to be redirected.</p>

to create a link, and that wouldn't work in C++.
This is only the beginning. There are many more coding languages and all of them are at least slightly different from the rest. SO while knowing one doesn't make you a coding master, it can still be useful. Hone your skills in that one language, and then branch out. Today, HTML. Tomorrow, C++. The day after that, a pizza. Then, about a week later, the WORLD.

Of course I think it's worth it! What better way to honor the dead than turning them into a runeblade.
-GIR