What programming languages are good to learn?

I am returning to college to finish my degree, I only have the core classes done. I am interested in a career in designing video games, but I want to be able to fall back on a career in the corporate world if I cannot find a job with a game company.

What programming languages are good to learn?
Many jobs and well paying ones have to do with database integration and Visual Basic.NET is a big player. If your skills are low in programming, and your returning to the arena, start with C or Java. Just dont get into the object-oriented portion of Java right away. Understanding the concepts of format, structure, readability, loops and data structures are essential.


And with many computer games (console and PC) based on C and some now on C#... its always a good start. Pick your poison... its a rush when you get it working the way you want it! Enjoy.
Reply:Java
Reply:Start with a simple language, Pascal or Ada are good, because they are fairly simple you can concentrate on learning a good style instead of a lot of syntax. After that, take an Object Oriented design course BEFORE learning another language. I would then get Java or C Sharp skills. Once you learn good style, you can pick up other languages quickly.
Reply:For games, some low level language will be fine: assembler or C (if you are really going to be a programmer).


If you just want to find a job, try any language a la mode -- as, say, java or C#.


You will never become a good engineer this way but you will have an easy job and easy money :-)
Reply:I took C++ in college and haven't used it since. But the concepts I learned helped me master several web programming languages such as ASP and PHP. Once you know how to program, nearly every language makes sense. It's just a matter of learning the lingo.