What i need to learn

[brucey2343]

OK, so ive decided to learn a language for the first time. My goal is to design windows applications with it. A few questions:

1 - What language to learn for an absolute beginner, C# or C++?

2 - Where to learn it, because everything I have on both languages assumes some prior knowledge

3 - I want my applications to access a database, can I set this up using the language, visual studio and a local copy of SQL express?

4 - It seems like i need to learn a lot more than just the language to actually be productive. Can anyone tell me what else I should learn about?

By the way, I have the time and resources to learn all i need to, i just need to know what exactly i'm supposed to be looking for?

Thanks guys

Anthony

[Superdude]

If you want to learn for Windows, I am pretty sure C# is the way to go, just because it is specialized for Windows and .NET

[Dy7SLyTq]

honestly though, for an absolute beginner im still recommending python. it helps you learn things easier imo and then switching to c++ is easier, and ive found that knowing c++ lets you learn other languages easier. i cant write c#, but i could you tell you (for the most part) what one of their programs will do looking at the source

[brucey2343]

i think ill stick with c#, can someone answer the other questions?