Best Reference Site For Each Programming Language? 538
Howling writes "I've been a PHP programmer for a few years and after taking a trip through many sites Ive learned that www.php.net is probably the most complete source when looking for information/documentation. I have been trying to find similar sites for every other language (Java, perl or ASP, for instance) without equal success, though. I ask: what is the best documentation/reference site for your preferred programming language?"
Perl and Python (Score:5, Informative)
cpan.org and python.org
Java.sun.com (Score:5, Informative)
ASP (Score:3, Informative)
for asp: asp.net. has very good tutorials. for reference use msdn library.
Here's what I do (Score:5, Informative)
coldfusion: adobe.com
html, css, javascript, sql: w3schools.com
python: python.org
c/c++: devshed.com
java: java.sun.com
Anything else: my brilliant co-worker.
Java 6 API Reference (Score:1, Informative)
Tcl -- use the Wikibook (Score:5, Informative)
One of the best tutorials and references for Tcl is the Wikibook [wikibooks.org] on Tcl programming.
Indeed, it's one of the best programming texts I've seen in any language.
c/posix: man pages (Score:1, Informative)
c/posix: man pages
Object Pascal and C (Score:5, Informative)
Suggestions for perl (Score:5, Informative)
Documentation: peldoc.perl.org
Community: perlmonks.org
Articles: www.perl.com (O'Reilly site)
I have found the perl community to be the most open, supportive and cohesive group of all the languages I work with. Right now I am working with PHP, perl and C#, and perl is by far the easiest language to get help and correct information. I can find tons of info on the other languages, but the information isn't always the best quality.
Good luck with your search.
Re:Perl and Python (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed. I'd also add Perlmonks.org [perlmonks.org]; it's not documentation per se but it's damn useful.
For java, you have to master the API [sun.com]...Even modules that other people write are often documented with javadoc, and look just the same. Once you use it for a while it becomes familiar.
C/C++ (Score:5, Informative)
stack overflow question (Score:5, Informative)
Perhaps this a question for Stack Overflow [stackoverflow.com]?
-fragbait
C: K&R. (Score:5, Informative)
K&R
(aka "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan and Ritchie, http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cbook/ [bell-labs.com])
JavaScript and ASP (Score:1, Informative)
For asp I have fallen on the habit of going to google, typing the object name and 'asp', from there I find http://w3schools.com/ [w3schools.com] and http://4guysfromrolla.com/ [4guysfromrolla.com] to have the best code samples and descriptions of use. However, I hate navigating both of them so Google has become my default doorway into them.
I'm not ashamed to admit I hit http://experts-exchange.com/ [experts-exchange.com] as a last resort.
www.gotapi.com (Score:5, Informative)
Re:C/C++ (Score:5, Informative)
www.cplusplus.com
Beats the hell out of man pages for the POSIX C libraries.
Re:Java.sun.com (Score:4, Informative)
http://java.sun.com/reference/ [sun.com]
Samples, API, Docs, Tutorials, etc.
(redudndant, but people usually like links)
Re:Here's what I do (Score:2, Informative)
A quick glance at devshed.com shows no C/C++ at all.
Hmmm... [devshed.com]
Re:Perl and Python (Score:4, Informative)
perldoc.perl.org [perl.org]
use Perl; [perl.org] comes high on the list, along with PerlMonks [perlmonks.org] and PerlBuzz [perlbuzz.com].
Perl.org [perl.org] in general gets points for being where you can find Use, perldoc, and more.
Re:Java.sun.com (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Tcl -- use the Wikibook (Score:3, Informative)
I've alwaysd found http://tcl.tk/ [tcl.tk] manuals all I needed but that Wikibook looks like a great place to start.
Re:C: K&R. (Score:4, Informative)
Make sure to use the second edition, which covers ANSI C (which is practically ISO C89).
Re:Perl and Python (Score:1, Informative)
Being that cpan is part of perl.org, I'd say start at perl.org
Re:Here's what I do (Score:5, Informative)
developer.mozilla.org
It's pretty clear, but unfortunately you still have to watch out for browser incompatibilities. They sometimes will have a note about it though.
Other languages (Score:5, Informative)
SNOBOL - http://www.snobol4.org/ [snobol4.org]
Logo - http://el.media.mit.edu/Logo-foundation/logo/programming.html [mit.edu]
FORTH - http://www.phact.org/e/forth.htm [phact.org]
Prolog - http://www.logic.at/prolog/faq/faq.html [logic.at]
Algol - http://www.algol68.org/ [algol68.org]
Lucid - http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Lucid [haskell.org]
PL/I - http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/resource.htm [bigpond.com]
Re:Perl and Python (Score:5, Informative)
C was my favorite language for about 20 years, and it still would be if Python hadn't come out.
You know this of course, but I thought I'd mention that your C experience isn't wasted as a Python programmer. The cycle: design in Python => profile => redo bottlenecks in C, is the basis of industrial strength Python application.
Re:Suggestions for perl (Score:3, Informative)
For ASP, ASP.NET and C# (Score:1, Informative)
Use www.codeproject.com
Perl has by far the best docs (Score:3, Informative)
The most annoying thing is having to go on the web to find a doc. PHP is horrifying enough and then you read the docs and find all the exceptions to whatever rule (and the bugs) in the comments.
For Perl:
perldoc -f [function name]
Or perldoc [Module::Name] (also man Module::Name works on most Linux distros)
Also on Linux, 'man perl' gives a list of a whole ton of man pages that give you specific information on regexes, objects, references, syntax, variables, etc.
And if you have to have it in a pretty web interface it is indeed all online [perl.org]
(module docs [cpan.org] are as well)
Say what you want about Perl but it has tons of useful modules and it is very well documented.
.NET Languages (Score:2, Informative)
Common Lisp (Score:2, Informative)
FYI (Score:5, Informative)
If you use Eclipse you can configure the javadoc URL in your JDK configuration and pull up the pages from within the IDE. VERY handy.
jQuery (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Scheme (Score:3, Informative)
SICP looks interesting, but is it not available in some format more portable than html? No PDF?
Parashift (Score:5, Informative)
C++ FAQ Lite [parashift.com] is an excellent site for C++ information.
Ruby and Rails (Score:3, Informative)
For Ruby as well as Ruby on Rails, I like http://apidock.com/ [apidock.com]. It's the first Ruby/Rails doc site that I've seen that has the ability to contribute, rate contributions, etc.
It also covers when methods changed by tags, so you can see that a method that's giving you trouble was changed the last version of rails, etc. Very intuitive interface.
All-in-one place (Score:2, Informative)
http://gotapi.com/ [gotapi.com]
They're always adding new languages, and it only takes up one tab. This is wonderful when I'm bouncing from Python to Perl to Javascript to CSS to HTML to MySQL to...
You get the point.
Re:Scheme (Score:3, Informative)
Of course I should have JFGI.
http://www.google.com/search?q=sicp+pdf [google.com]
Lua (Score:5, Informative)
Official website: http://www.lua.org/ [lua.org]
Direct link to manual: http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ [lua.org]
Lua community: http://lua-users.org/wiki/ [lua-users.org]
Re:Scheme (Score:5, Informative)
QuickRef currently includes: C, C++, CSS, HTML, HTML DOM, Java, JavaScript, MySQL, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby
OpenLaszlo (Score:3, Informative)
My language of use for the past 3 years, OpenLaszlo has brilliant doco right there on the site [openlaszlo.org]. With a reference guide [openlaszlo.org] that lists all the objects, methods and events with live, editable examples for many.
And then if the documentation doesn't cover what you want, there's the great forums [openlaszlo.org] which have helped me out of plenty of sticky coding situations.
The doco was what drew us to OpenLaszlo in the first place. Well, that and the fact it's open source helped a lot!
Re:Perl and Python (Score:5, Informative)
I used to recommend his books too, but he has a bad reputation [faqs.org] among many developers:
Re:C/C++ (Score:4, Informative)
Standard Template Library:
Boost libraries [boost.org]:
For anything not present in the standard library, these are the next place to check. They're freely usable in commercial projects.
Here are a few: (Score:3, Informative)
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/ [sun.com]
I do a little happy dance in my head every time this site helps me out. it's a bit intimidating until you use it, then it becomes the best java reference you could ask for.
Ruby:
use fxri. in windows, it's not just a live command-line style interpreter, it has a dictionary of relevant terms to search through to boot. it's like having a terminal inside of a reference book, and you shouldn't pass up the opportunity to try it out.
php:
http://www.php.net/docs.php [php.net]
this one I use every time I use php. Not only does it tell you what everything does, but it tells you what's bugged, and how, and that way you can work around what would otherwise be a nasty problem.
I use these constantly at my job (fxri is the only calculator I know of that can calculate the factorial of 6022, so I use it for all my calculations!) and I hope you find them just as useful as I do.
Re:Perl and Python (Score:3, Informative)
Another good one would be the Python Cookbook [activestate.com] on ASPN. And at a more abstract level, Ward's Wiki [c2.com] has explanations and discussions of a wide range of interesting tools, languages, and techniques.
Re:For all languages (Score:2, Informative)
Hey! Experts exchange isn't so bad once you realize you don't even have to pay to get answers.
Eg. http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Languages/CPP/Q_22118650.html [experts-exchange.com]
Skip through the crap in the middle to make you think there's no actual solutions, and the solutions appear at the very bottom. Good work.
Re:C/C++ (Score:1, Informative)
www.cplusplus.com
Beats the hell out of man pages for the POSIX C libraries.
I'd also like to add www.cppreference.com
Its a reference, not a tutorial. But it has everything in a very simple format. Combine that with www.cplusplus.com and its hard to beat by anything else I've seen out there.
www.cprogramming.com is pretty good too.
Re:Java.sun.com (Score:5, Informative)
Re:C/C++ (Score:3, Informative)
http://cppreference.com/ - easy guide to the STL
Re:FYI (Score:3, Informative)
Ruby (Score:4, Informative)
The official site is always a good bet. But I also make it a habit to memorize the url to the rdoc of whatever I'm doing:
ruby-doc.org/core [ruby-doc.org]
api.rubyonrails.org [rubyonrails.org]
Beyond that, it's more about the framework. For example:
ramaze.net [ramaze.net]
sequel.rubyforge.org [slashdot.org]
Beyond that, there's the source (and IRB + tab-completion), and for the really tough questions, the ruby-talk mailing list.
Can't really recommend the jQuery docs, as they're down half the time, the UI is lacking some critical features, and it doesn't seem to quite work in Konqueror. For a library claiming to be cross-browser, you should at least have your docs be cross-browser!
Re:Scheme (Score:5, Informative)
gotapi [gotapi.com] currently includes many many more and has a nice ajaxy interface.
Re:Here's what I do (Score:2, Informative)
Re:DevGuru.com (Score:3, Informative)
For VBScript I tend to use google to find specific things. I haven't found one site that really covers enough in one place. Most people will write off VBScript being that it is Microsoft and Windows is evil and all that.
Seeing as I use VBScript mainly for natively being able to pull information from LDAP directories from a Windows XP machine I must at least defend it.
MS Scripting Guy [microsoft.com], DevGuru [devguru.com], 4GuysFromRolla [4guysfromrolla.com], and last but not least ActiveXperts [activexperts.com].
It depends if I want info on WMI, LDAP, or general WSH Objects.
For VB or MSVC++ its MSDN [microsoft.com].
The main source of information just is [google.com].
*Ducks*
MS Dev (Score:2, Informative)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library [microsoft.com]
For .Net stuff (similar to php.net)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/w0x726c2.aspx [microsoft.com]
Check the class library (or search)
Particularly the .Net Framework Library
The other option is to install the Visual Studio library press F1 on an intelisense item ie
System.Web.UI.TextBox and the object pops up in a help window (like back in the good old days of Borland C/Pascal).
ASP Specific (AJAX etc) check the "How do I"
www.asp.net (the learn tab has vids)
Silverlight
www.silverlight.net (vids under learn)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/bb404700(VS.95).aspx [microsoft.com]
For perl and cpan (Score:3, Informative)
Specifically search.cpan.org [cpan.org].
Sometimes I browse around to see what I might come up with for new modules. The documentation is awesome because not only is it formatted, but you also can link directly to a specific version, see the installation test report for various OSes for that version, see submitted bugs, other comments and module dependencies.
Re:gExp (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.regular-expressions.info/ [regular-expressions.info]
I'll just leave this here.
Re:Scheme (Score:4, Informative)
Would you actually rather read the pdf, which can't be reflowed, instead of html, which can be reflowed, if both would be available as a single file download?
At least on mobile devices such as the Nokia N810 I prefer reflowable formats. Actually I prefer them on the desktop also.
ABAP (Score:2, Informative)
I generally like http://abap.wikiprog.com/ [wikiprog.com] for ABAP most, though SAP's own SDN works fine most of the time.
Objective-C and Cocoa (Score:3, Informative)
developer.apple.com [apple.com] - Apple documentation, good reference but sometimes lacking in details
cocoadev.com [cocoadev.com] - Cocoa wiki
cocoabuilder.com [cocoabuilder.com] - Cocoa mailing list archives
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What about Databases? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Here's what I do (Score:5, Informative)
html, css, javascript, sql: w3schools.com
Why oh why would you go to w3schools (ad filled piece of shit), when you go directly to the source for all the HTML and CSS requirements?
For example, want to learn HTML?
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/ [w3.org]
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/Advanced.html [w3.org]
Already know HTML but want to do one thing (or can't remember the exact syntax?)?
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/ [w3.org]
Do a search through the HTML 4.01 Specification [w3.org].
Similarly for XHTML [w3.org].
CSS tips and tricks [w3.org]? You got them all.
Just learning? Get started with HTML and CSS [w3.org]. Other CSS resources [w3.org] all also easily available.
Oh right, and don't forget the authoritative text [w3.org]...
Basically, for HTML and CSS, it is much better for both beginners and advanced users to go to the W3C rather then the ad filled crap w3schools.
Best Python tutorial (at least from my opinion) (Score:2, Informative)
http://diveintopython.org/ [diveintopython.org]
a neat and tidy guide, after which u'll end up loving snakes..
na hawedere!
may the alps be with u's
Re:Java.sun.com (Score:3, Informative)
I'd also recommend Javaranch [javaranch.com] for people beginning Java, I discovered it when I was going for certification and it helped immensely.
Re:What about Databases? (Score:3, Informative)
Oracle: asktom.oracle.com for technique/problem solving with SQL.
technet.oracle.com or tahiti.oracle.com for documentation.
Re:Here's what I do (Score:3, Informative)
also nice: http://www.quirksmode.org/ [quirksmode.org]