what language is a good starter to learn?

[floyd]

There's countless derivatives of C, and they're all shite, except for C++.

Why anyone would spend more than 7 minutes learning C# is beyond me. Same goes for Java.

uhm looking for flame war? i decided not to join

[hitthemlow]

I would reccomend C, honestly, but that is just me, see, I wanted to get down and dirty, BoF's, integer overflows, null pointers, forge packets, shred NAT's, all that great stuff that cant be done as easily higher up, then I discovered python, alread having a firm C backgrund I picked the syntax up in about a day, had it "owned" in a week. Then, oh god, I went and learned ASM, and somehow I managed to push through it. Seeing my arsenal lacked a web language I took a quick look over php, javascript, html, and sql.

Anyway, that was a long ramble to tell you, learn what you want.

[monovitae]

I think it essentially boils down to two schools of thought.

1. Learn at the metal first (C etc.) so you understand whats actually going on. Then if your looking to get some rad going move on to higher level stuff.

2. Essentially the opposite.

I personally think it comes down to your individual tolerance for learning curves. If its low go with option two but if you have the determination to slug it out old school go with option one.

As for specific languages, seeing as how this is a bactrack forum I would say C/C++ and python for low and high respectively.

[TheStealthMan]

vb.net for sure.

C sucks &*^%s. powerfull but its a real crap.

anyway you can do the same thing in vb.net it just take more line of code but a big way more easy

[lupin]

vb.net for sure.

C sucks &*^%s. powerfull but its a real crap.

anyway you can do the same thing in vb.net it just take more line of code but a big way more easy

Try and minimise your use of profanity here TheStealthMan.

[Virchanza]

vb.net for sure.

C sucks &*^%s. powerfull but its a real crap.

anyway you can do the same thing in vb.net it just take more line of code but a big way more easy

You're suggesting VB.NET over C? Next you'll be telling everyone to put stabilizers on their bike:



I believe they have an article on Wikipedia about VB.NET, you should really check it out: VB.NET

[hhmatt]

You're suggesting VB.NET over C? Next you'll be telling everyone to put stabilizers on their bike:



I believe they have an article on Wikipedia about VB.NET, you should really check it out: VB.NET

LOL.

Not to mention they dug up an old thread to recommend nothing other than VB.net.

[snowmanwithahat]

Start with C/C++ class of the languages.

Java/Ruby are (in my opinion, easier - but it will be hard to learn more basic language after Java - since so much is hidden from you by the language).
If I had to start over again (im not a pentester, im a programmer) I would do C/C++ and perl at the same time (perl just for fun -when you need a brake from C).

C/C++ are close to the source (source = less of abstraction layer) enough to actually learn about sockets and pointers, memory allocation etc. After that all others are easy (opinion again).

Sin-cerely,
Trol

Pretty darn close to the truth.

I learned on Python first, then C++ then C... then Perl (I know, i worked backwards)

Python was simple, and kind of useful for basic things... but C / C++ really were key in understanding pointers, file input / output, and most importantly of all! Seg faults... and why you get them

really though... learn with a high-level language first... but please don't get too attached to it. Use it to understandt he basics. Then I would STRONGLY recommend C++ for a much deeper understanding. It makes everything easier, especially moving to a different language if you ever have to... Perl has been a joke to learn because of what I learned through C++

[skidmarq]

If you are doing anything interactive then Expect is a great language to add to your toolkit.

[robot]

If you are doing anything interactive then Expect is a great language to add to your toolkit.

Expect is really just Tcl though..

I would suggest beginning with the basics.. C/C++/ASM.

It is good to understand what is /really/ happening at a low level. It takes the "magic" out of computers.