Preferred languages to work in?

[lvaruzza]

Maybe there is more jobs for java programmers, but learn python will not hurt and will be faster them learn java.

PS: Python is 4 years older than java:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_%28programming_language%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_%28programming_language%29

[Broadie]

Maybe so, the reason I recommended Java first was it would open up more career opportunities, and Python is still relatively new but growing in demand.

[lvaruzza]

I think the oposite is better

I think it's better to learn python first because it's software development is easer to use, you just need the interpreter and a text editor, java on the other hand needs eclipse, maven, ant, XML files, etc, etc.

Learn the basic concepts in phyton quick and them go to Java.

[Broadie]

learn Java for now and Python for later. Many of the startup companies are looking for these skills combined with bioinformatics analysis skills.

[Calico]

Hello everybody,

My rather limited bioinfromatics skills come from having done some microarray data analysis in R (following a template code) and some minor coursework. So, I consider myself quite a newbie to the subject. I will quite soon be shaking hands with some sequencing data (from a Helicos machine) and need to prepare myself for this.

Being of a younger generation, I would say I can handle computers pretty well. So far I have, as recommended in this nice thread, started to take a look at the Unix and Perl for Biologist tutorial and installed Ubuntu in Virtual PC on my Windows computer.

What I'd like to ask you, SEQanswers community, is whether you can suggest me anything helpful. Am I starting out in the right way? I will get some bioinformatics help along the way, though I am unsure to what extent. Also, I see this as a part of my future career, so I am not just doing this for one particular project.

Edit: I have just realized that the Helicos software package uses Python.