Programming for Mechanical Engineers

[ZenOne]

I'm currently doing Mech Eng in Canada and I plan on choosing Mechatronics as my speciality, however, I was wondering which language would be best for embedded systems and mechanical designs.

I've heard so many conflicting reports: some tell me mechanical engineers should stick to fortran, MATLAB or java; some say C++ is the most important; others mention plain old C.

Bottom line: I'm motivated to learn the most useful one for my needs. I want to be able to both design (mechanically) and if necessary be able to embed the controlling system.

Thanks in advance.

 

[edgepflow]

For "raw" engineering programming, I would focus on Fortran and C.

 

[bcrowell]

Learning C is good because it acquaints you with how things really work under the hood. Fortran is a legacy language. In general, don't waste your time learning a lot of programming languages. Good programming skills have little to do with learning languages.

 

[ZenOne]

Thank you for the replies.

Is C better than C++ in regards to embedded systems?

 

[Matrix0]

I understand the importance of choosing the right programming language for your specific needs. In the field of mechanical engineering, there are several programming languages that can be useful for designing and controlling systems. However, there is no one "best" language as it ultimately depends on the specific project and its requirements.

For embedded systems and mechanical designs, some of the commonly used languages are C, C++, and Python. C and C++ are low-level languages that offer more control over hardware and are commonly used for real-time systems and microcontrollers. Python, on the other hand, is a high-level language that is easier to learn and offers a wide range of libraries and tools for data analysis and visualization.

If you are interested in mechatronics, it may be beneficial to learn a combination of these languages. For example, C or C++ can be useful for programming microcontrollers and controlling hardware, while Python can be used for data analysis and visualization.

Ultimately, the best approach would be to assess your specific project needs and choose the language that best fits those requirements. It is also important to continually learn and adapt to new languages and technologies in the rapidly evolving field of mechanical engineering.