Most people, when discovering a new programming language, go for the classical "Hello World" test.
Not me. I go for bubble sorts.
A bubble sort is a program that sorts a list of numbers by comparing two adjacent numbers and swapping them if need be, then it moves on one position and repeats the process. Once all numbers have been passed through, the process is repeated from the start again.
All this is repeated over and over until the numbers have been sorted.
It sounds stupid, I know, but it is a nice way to test basic things about a language, like:
Input
Output
Loops
Decisions
Subroutines/Functions
Math
A simple bubble sort will, in any given language, allow you to use most (if not all) of the above, allowing you to quickly learn the basics of a language.
So, I just completed my first bubble sort in Python.
Next year Python and PHP will be part of my Unisa studies.
This is fun.....
