C# vs Adobe Air for desktop application

Question

Okay, sorry if I'm a bit vague or little specific. First of all, I'm really new to the business of programming and that kind of things, so excuse my non-knowledge of much of this. :)

Anyways; I've been reading a lot around on the internet on what technology to use and so forth when it comes to application development on the desktop (mainly Windows, since it's my preferred OS). And most of the answers I found said that C# was the way to go and it was the preferred language of choice for Windows (alongside with .NET of course).

Then, I read something about Adobe Air (don't remember where) but at least it interested me. And I then looked around for info about it but sadly there weren't much. But what I found was at least mainly optimistic (and then you have the I HATE FLASH-fan club).

But; since I'm new to this I started wondering about what technology was best and all that, but I just can't make up my mind. But I do understand that for applications that rely on high performance C# is better then Adobe Air.

But since I'm no power user and just want to create simple applications (like to-do lists, sudoku solvers and similar stuff) I'm not sure which one would be preferred or "the best". As far as I've seen Adobe Air have a lot of the good lookin' stuff while C# is the suited-up business stuff.

So, well, basically my question is what language/platform would you prefer for a complete beginner when it comes to simple, not really heavy performance applications? Any kind of answer would be nice. And sorry if the question is bad or something alike, I'm new to Stack Overflow as well. :)

Answer 1

There is no best way - use whatever interests you the most. Keeping up your motivation to learn is the most important thing at this stage.

One thing you might want to be aware of though is that there is a much larger C# community and it will be easier for your to find examples online and get help for C# here than it will be for Adobe Air.

Answer 2

You can create simple to-do list app using both technologies. That can be a great experience for you and give you a closer look at both technologies.

Answer 3

I would say go for C# since you are starting from ground zero. If you already had a bunch of web programming experience then I would say go for Air, but with C# and .Net there are lots of cool things you can do with what you learn.

I would tay start out with a simple "Hello World" WPF application. Once you do that, add a button that changes the text to "weeeeeeeeeeee!" Then add in a slider that changes the text size. Play around. Pick one small step at a time that grabs your attention, and don't give up until it works exactly how you envisioned it. Soon you will be on your way to developing your To-Do app.

Once you get the basics down, the programming world really opens up to you. You can use your C# skills to make a game in XNA. You can buy some inexpensive servo controllers and make physical stuff move around with your programming. You can port your To-Do app over to Windows Phone 7 without having to recode anything. The programming world will be your sandbox. Have fun!