Which language? (more specific than your typical question..)

[silenthunder]

As some of you might remember, I'll be trying to get a government security job that deals mostly with computers, like a job in computer forensics. My brother found a type of "course" or "job shadowing" opportunity that I can take under his branch of the government (homeland security). He works for ICE and said that they are in desperate need of people like me.

I pass almost all of the requirements for the course, and will pass all of them but one by the time I can apply for it. That one would be "basic knowledge of a programming language." I don't know anything about any of them.. Now based on this information, what programming language should I go for? I'll probably need a stable, powerful one that isn't too complicated. I figured python might be ok, but I'm not so sure it'll be able to do the job all the time.

[3vilp4wn]

C++, Python, and PHP are the ones I would recommend, I'll go into brief about what they're usually used for:

C++: Speed, gives you a lot of control, but more complicated and lower level.
Python: Slower, but better for high level stuff, can be used for the web (server side) or downloadable.
PHP: Used on the web, Server side, most websites use PHP or ASP in some way.

I recommend Python to start off with, as it will introduce you to programing in a very simple way before you need to start worrying about pointers and shit like that.  If you want to make websites, you will basically *have* to learn PHP to make dynamic content.

Of course, that's just a basic intro, once you learn about 2 to 3 languages, it's easy to learn more, because it's just a matter of syntax.

Good luck!

[vezzy]

The requirement is really vague. Just what do they consider "basic" knowledge?

For computer forensics and security though, a high-level programming language (especially an interpeted and scripting one) does wonders, so Python is a very good bet. I suppose you would need some knowledge of memory management and data structures though, which is where C is needed.

PHP for the web, indeed, but unless you have to actually analyze insecure web coding and vulnerabilities, you can handle dynamic website functionality with a framework in any other language (Python included, with Django, TurboGears, web.py, etc.)

[s3my0n]

Just learn C, it's not that hard.. Lots of introductory programming courses use C.

[rasenove]

Python would be easy for anyone to learn. C++ on the other hand is a language with a big syntax (i doubt there is any programing concept Bjarne Stroustrup didnt like) so it will give you much deeper understanding of some important programing concepts.

@ 3vilp4wn: C++ has high level language features too.

[namespace7]

Just learn C, it's not that hard.. Lots of introductory programming courses use C.

This.

C is amazing universal language. And it looks MUCH more serious and better on a resume then Python. I am not saying python is bad. No. Its amazing. But for security you REALLY REALLY want to learn C.
C will take you very far. And for basic scripting need of course you can use bash scripts, or simple python stuff. If you know C, you will be able to pick up something like python in a few hours (I mean syntax, not python specific modules and functions/classes etc).

So yeah. Go ahead. Learn C. And practice practice practice.

[silenthunder]

Sounds like C would be the best choice here.. I have to be enrolled in a 2 year college for this program and the college only offers 2 programming courses: Basic/Visual Basic and C++/Visual C++. Is C++ too different from C? I'll start learning C before I take the class but I want to know which class would better coordinate with C, because I need to take at least 1 class as proof that I know something lol.

[Zesh]

but I want to know which class would better coordinate with C

The C++ class ofcourse. Its just C with two ++

[rasenove]

Is C++ too different from C?

No. Theres a reason why c++ is called "c with classes", and that is what it says it is.

[namespace7]

Sounds like C would be the best choice here.. I have to be enrolled in a 2 year college for this program and the college only offers 2 programming courses: Basic/Visual Basic and C++/Visual C++. Is C++ too different from C? I'll start learning C before I take the class but I want to know which class would better coordinate with C, because I need to take at least 1 class as proof that I know something lol.

Cant you just learn C on your own?
And by the way, you can write in C within C++ to an extent, so C++ is a more wide language with more possibilities. Its more powerful for big application programming where classes and object oriented programming help out a lot.
But for studying Security course at uni, I would still learn C and not C++.
Just my opinion.
You could just get some books on it and learn by yourself.

[vezzy]

No. Theres a reason why c++ is called "c with classes", and that is what it says it is.

It was originally C with Classes, but it has greatly expanded in its own right since, which is why nowadays treating it so simply is considered bad practice.

[silenthunder]

Cant you just learn C on your own?
And by the way, you can write in C within C++ to an extent, so C++ is a more wide language with more possibilities. Its more powerful for big application programming where classes and object oriented programming help out a lot.
But for studying Security course at uni, I would still learn C and not C++.
Just my opinion.
You could just get some books on it and learn by yourself.

Well yeah, the plan was to learn C on my own, but it's required that you've taken a class on programming.

[namespace7]

Well yeah, the plan was to learn C on my own, but it's required that you've taken a class on programming.

Oh I see.
You could do this free course:
https://www.udacity.com/course/cs046

It uses Java. Its free. Starts in june.
Most importantly it assumes no programming experience.

[silenthunder]

Oh I see.
You could do this free course:
https://www.udacity.com/course/cs046

It uses Java. Its free. Starts in june.
Most importantly it assumes no programming experience.

Good reference, I just might take that course, however it won't help me out "academically". I'll take it so I can learn as much as possible, but it won't go on my college transcript will it? That's what the agency is looking at.. I don't mean to be all picky and shooting everything down, but that's how it is. I'll see if I can take that course anyways though, but I'll miss 2 weeks of it.

EDIT: Actually this looks like a good preliminary course to the C++ one I'll be taking.

[namespace7]

Good reference, I just might take that course, however it won't help me out "academically". I'll take it so I can learn as much as possible, but it won't go on my college transcript will it? That's what the agency is looking at.. I don't mean to be all picky and shooting everything down, but that's how it is. I'll see if I can take that course anyways though, but I'll miss 2 weeks of it.

EDIT: Actually this looks like a good preliminary course to the C++ one I'll be taking.

Yes, it will help academically. You get a few actual university credits for completing it. Of course if you want to get some credits for it you will have to pay some money, but its peanuts, like 150 bucks or something. If you dont need credits its free. In any case you can put it on your resume. It was designed by a reputable university even if its online.