   C, C++, C#, .NET and all that...
  Ok, I am totally confused now! What is up with all the variations of C? I understand what C and C++ is but what about Visual C++, .ASP, .NET, C# etc. etc. etc. ? What are those? Different languages (I believew C# is), libraries, compilers ???Are there more C/C++ related things like this I SHOULD know of? cause right now I''m not really sure what to do, what to learn  and so on...And as a side note - is there a point in learning Win32 API (considering I''m not really interested in making windows applications and C++ Builder is so much better)? Or should I rather skip it and go for DirectX ?Thank you for your kind replies! 
  DirectX is built upon Windows..you need to know at least minimal Windows to build DirectX applications..and when you start to build game editors, knowledge of Windows API is a must... ;  C#, C, and C++ are all languages. They are all supposed to have a ''C-like syntax'' which means that if you use one of them it''s meant to be easy to learn the others. I can say that''s true for C->C++, I''ve never used C# though so I don''t know about it..NET is a platform for applications, a bit like Win32.Visual C++ is Microsoft''s C++ development environment. ;  Different languages. C is as lowlevel as one can get without writing assembler. C++ extends C with some higher level concepts (classes, templates) while being mostly backwards compatible to C.Microsoft decided to invent a new programming language to promote .NET with, C#. It is closer to Java than it is to C++ and in no way backwards compatible with C..NET is comparable to the java virtual-machine, it''s an runtime environment for bytecode. IMO quite interesting because it enables you to use some exotic languages without having to worry about interfacing to the OS-stuff. It is standardized so you might even be able to port your programs to Linux or Mac. ;  thanks for uber-fast replies :Dso, should I rather learn .NET or stick with Wn32 ? does it matter?and what are other C/C++ related things (such as the visual c, .NET) I should know of..? ;  What are you trying to accomplish?.NET isn''t quite ready for platform-indepenance (if ever?) or high-end performance yet.  But damn is it easy to code in...which might be a good starting place if you''re new to programming. ;  Use C and C++. There you go, no more confusion - CD   Brought to you by Code_Dark;  C is the wonder of the languages, simple, elegant, powerfull, low and high level languageC++ is the natural evolution of C, highly compatible with c and gives you important features mostly related to object oriented capabilities, as most people had say C will allow you to shoot in your own foot, C++ will allow you to blow up your leg but you can reuse the bullet.C# is microsoft clone of Java, it can be considered as the evolution of C++ or the clone ''enhaced'' of Java (well... i personally prefer java but is more like a matter of personal taste)If you wanna learn programming, C is a must, you NEED to know how did we do all the mess we did years ago -Mat;  Ummm, thanks guys but you kinda missed the point - I know what C/C++/C# and I was wondering what is up with all the "other" stuff which has to do/uses these languages - .NET, .ASP, visual C etc. etc.... ;  .net encompases winforms (basically libraries for makeing windows apps) webforms (the new evolution of asp aka. asp .net) and the base functionality of the platform (console apps, and base libries) it is ms''s new tech for making programs in Windows.  If you want to learn more go to msdn.microsoft.com and look at the .net developer link and it will have some other links about what it fully is.  As for Visual C++ it is ms''s version of the C++ compiler that is usually packaged with a visual ide for making windows programs. 