Can someone explain to me what these different langauges are??

Please tell me your kidding! I would not attend a school that only offered those languages. I went to a 2 year state school before going on to a 4 year private. And at my 2 year school they taught C++, Asembler, and Cobol. They stopped teaching Cobol my last year, and that was 5 years ago. You really need to go to a school that has one of the following three languages:

C++
Java
Visual Basic

Those three make our world turn.

Cobol is a dying language.
Pascal is dead
RPG is dead, and has been dead for decades.

I hope I have helped you =)

Kimberly

All languages will run on all platforms (mostly)
Its the API's that are non-compatible.

Java is platform independant so you cant go wrong there.
If you're into windows, MS just brought out a new language called
C# (C Sharp), its based on Java but brings back some of the things that C++ programmers will definately miss ie operator overloading etc...

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256 Sutter St (Floor 3)
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If you are just starting programming and want to make a career out of it, don't bother with the older languages like COBOL, PL1, RPG etc. Focus on client/server and Internet languages.

As a consultant, I know all those older languages. And I make a mint programming in them. In fact 55+% of corporate businesses here in Canada have legacy code in COBOL, and/or use DB2 or IMS. However, I would say that there are only about 10-20 years left before all that legacy code is gone because these companies are migrating to client/server. They haven't fully committed because compared to the rock-solid mainframe/mini platform, PC OSes are garbage and have a long way to go to address stability issues.

Right now, the old geezers who programmed the older languages from the 50s to the 90s are gone, and only a handful of young programmers w/ experience are around to take their place (which is reflected by the # of schools teaching these older languages). But I think getting into the mainframe/mini market now is a waste of time, even though the money is good. You will have a far better future with a client/server/internet education.

RPG - Report Program Generator or some such thing. Its old mainframe/mini shit that you'll never use.

BAL - ? Never heard of it

PASCAL - Good language for learning to program, Good language for a beginner, "Delphi" . You'll never use it outside of school.

COBOL -- Clumpy Old Bullshit Ofa Language. Nasty mainframe crap that you'll never use.

CICS -- Not really a language, its more of a "mode" I guess that mainframe COBOL or ASM code runs in. You'll never use it.

I have to say you should avoid all the mainframe languages COBOL, CICS, etc... For one thing you'll never get hired right out of school programming in one of these dinosaur languages. They'd rather hire someone whos been doing it since the 60s. For another thing these languages are on the way out, for a first programming job they'll pay you a lot more if you choose something else.

VB is a good language to learn to start. There are a lot of VB jobs, and you can get hired with practically no experience. The only drawbacks are that you'll only be programming for windows, and they'll pay you less than they'd pay a C++ or Java programmer. Still it will get your foot in the door in a programming job.

Java, is probably the best bet for a new programmer to be. There are lots of Java jobs and they pay better than the VB jobs as well. You can also get hired without a lot of experience.

C++ is a good choice. It takes longer to learn, but with a few years of experience, they'll pay you a LOT more than they'll pay the VB or JAVA guy.

Try to pick up some SQL if you can because that makes you much more marketable as a programmer if you are experienced with some type of database.

Congratulations on deciding to get a degree. That degree will be important and will help a lot when you are ready to be promoted or are seeking employment. But let me encourage you not to wait till you get a degree to start working in programming. Seriously, you can get a VB or JAVA entry level position pretty easily, since most company's are desperate for programmers. Entry level computer jobs pay better than most non-computer related jobs you could get. Chances are you can find a company that will hire you and let you go to school at the same time. Some companys will even finance your education if you stay with the company and keep your grades up. But the important thing is to get experience. When you graduate, if you've got a year or two of programming experience the sky will be the limit, I promise.

If you've got a computer, then get an easy VB or JAVA book and work through the samples in each chapter. Make a program or two for yourself and then put your resume' out there, don't wait. Get some experience anyway you can. And don't stop programming. Everytime you learn something in a programming class at school, write some code that demonstrates it.

Languages come and go, but having the experience will mean more than anything else when you're looking for a great paying position.

Screw the ratings, if I helped buy me a beer!