Do programming languages crack brains at all

I have heard from a wide range of people that to a programming language one needs to be smart and sharp.I kind of heard also that a the first year of a University one gotta learn either C# or C++.Are any of these hard at all?I would like to know how stuff work out when you enter the University for the first year and you are going to offer Computer Science?

Everything depends on how much you want and can learn... nothing is really hard if you invest enough time in it. C++, compared to C#, is a little bit trickier and you probably need to more time to get on speed. Still, try to search (google, live search) for both languages - wikipedia might help you too - to understand how they look like and if you could master them.

Keep in mind that computer science (as most stuff at university) is something where you need to spend some time with. It's not something that happens alone!

Well said Chris, with dedication and hardwork nothin its "hard", they just become challenging. Hi Nana, great to see you've made it to Channel 8 (he's also a Ghanaian, two Ghanaians on the site !). Do some research on the languages an chooose the one you feel most comfortable with to start with.

well, i personally prefer c++, then again, thats because all the apis i use are for it. c++ has more prebuilt libraries, where c# is newer and easier to use, but is less supported. my one other main reason for liking c++ is it's not chained to windows. I can run a c++ app on windows, linux, or mac. That allows me to get my software i'm making to as many people as possible rather than having to restrict the development to windows, which is something you really dont want to do with open source. As for the cracking brains part, i don't think there is a single documented case of a programmer having his brain crack

if you are into game development though, learn both, it's worth it.... c++ for computers, and c# for xbox and zune...

You are having some valid points here. It's indeed that most of the APIs are leaned towards C/C++ ... but on the other side you spend a lot of your time in understanding who allocates resources and how they need to be freed and stuff like that. That can be cool, because you have full control; but it can also be stressful and distractive because you not only need to focus on the algorithm but also on a lot of other aspects.

That's why so many people use JAVA, C# (or .NET), Haskell, etc. It allows them to think in a higher layer and focus on the algorithms instead of doing all the house keeping.

But as said: each and every language has it's benefits! Best is combining the benefits of multiple languages and creating something that overcomes the limitations of one single language!