What's the best programming language? Here's a clue

[Wrong]

Here's an article I found written by Dion, a down-to-earth coding expert who can make the difficult seem easy. This is, in my opinion, the best answer you can get to 'What's the best programming language?'.

I have had several people ask me which programming language would be the best to learn. There is no one right answer to this, but I do have some opinions, so here are my thoughts on the subject.

It is useful to know several programming languages, because it seldom happens where using a single language will allow you to complete a project. Also, in the "real world", using only the most advanced and cutting-edge techniques is typically a way to remain unemployed, unless you work for the rare company that develops and/or appreciates those techniques. So what does this mean? It means that you should focus on languages such as C++ (and Apple's variant called Objective C), Javascript, PHP, and to a lesser extent ASP and PERL. On a more basic level, knowledge of HTML4 and CSS2 is a must, along with knowledge of many features of HTML5 and CSS3.

However...the programming language which makes the most money for those good at it, is SQL. SQL is an acronym of Structured Query Language, and it is the language used to access data from database programs such as MySQL and Oracle. Most programs are useless without being able to access data from a database, and that access is frequently the biggest performance bottleneck. In many cases that performance access determines whether a program is worth writing. This is where knowledge of SQL becomes an extremely desirable commodity.

Here's a sample SQL query, which happens to be an actual query used by phpBB3:

$sql = 'SELECT u.user_id, u.username, u.user_email, u.user_lang, u.user_notify_type, u.user_jabber
    FROM ' . (($topic_notification) ? TOPICS_WATCH_TABLE : FORUMS_WATCH_TABLE) . ' w, ' . USERS_TABLE . ' u
    WHERE w.' . (($topic_notification) ? 'topic_id' : 'forum_id') . ' = ' . (($topic_notification) ? $topic_id : $forum_id) . "
    AND w.user_id NOT IN ($sql_ignore_users)
    AND w.notify_status = " . NOTIFY_YES . '
  AND u.user_type IN (' . USER_NORMAL . ', ' . USER_FOUNDER . ')
  AND u.user_id = w.user_id';

35 years ago, COBOL programmers oftentimes made more money than people several levels higher in their organization. This was because corporations could grind to a halt if their data was not accessed properly, or could not be accessed at all. It is hard to believe, but the same is true today. COBOL is the father of SQL, and if you look closely, many SQL queries have more than a passing resemblance to their ancient COBOL counterparts.

[...]

So take some time to look at the documentation for an SQL engine such as MySQL or SQLite. Learn how to create efficient databases and write efficient queries. Because if you do, you will be making several times more money than the guy who thought learning the "latest and greatest" was the ticket to a great job!

Link to the article: BlogDD by Dion Designs

Now that brings us to the question. Do YOU know SQL?

 

[bradman1313]

This reminds me of my days of Perl programming! I don't know SQL, but I know of it. I've especially heard of SQL injection. Not a good deal.

 

[Squallidus]

Dion is right, there is no "best" programming language. They are only better or worse for certain jobs/projects. I also think that every good programmer should learn SQL since databases are involved in almost every program. You should also learn a low level language like C or even assembly as well as a high level language like Java or C++. After this it's really easy to learn web technologies like HTML, PHP, JavaScript or ASP.NET.

 

[bosconian]

I have only a basic understanding of SQL because I read "PHP and MySQL for dummies". I think it is a good book in the sense that it introduces those two languages (PHP and MySQL) in a fairly simple and straighforward way. The only problem is that I don't really know how to program with those two technologies but still I have been able to create a couple of programs that involve databases.

Do you know of a good book to learn SQL?

 

[cyberian]

Well I always thought this to be honest. I mean what do businesses do with the terabytes of data they get every day? Do they jam it on one big folder? Do they put it on a flash drive and put it in a storage somewhere? No, they put it on an SQL database!

 

[rodserd]

I'm finishing up school in about three months, but all my classmates look at me weird when I go into DBA mode. They get the glassy eyed stare thing when I start talking about how to join this table and that, and how you could do these constraints. They've all taken the database class that I did, so I know they know what I'm talking about, but I guess I just "get" it. I also work with databases and had to learn two different versions of SQL (SQL for Oracle for work and MYSQL for class), so there's that.

I think in addition to knowing SQL, you need to understand databases, how to build and use data models, and how to do all three efficiently.

 

[martinsmith]

Every good programmer should learn SQL since databases are involved in almost every program You should also learn a low level language like C or even assembly as well as a high level language like Java or C++.