[AlexMcP]

I like all of this advice. The key threads running through it at which I nodded my head in agreement were:

1) Free software/languages 2) Cut corners (disqus) 3) StackOverflow. This was a super life saver as I never had someone next to me while learning to just ask a quick question. The response time on it is often incredible.

Focus less on your 'platform choice' or whatever, as that can actually be quite fluid. Programming is programming, so spend more time writing code in the beginning I'd say.

[espeed]

Focus less on your 'platform choice' or whatever, as that can actually be quite fluid

Yeah, but programming on Windows is a PITA so I found its simpler to just eliminate that from the equation :)

[mattmanser]

And this is why your advice is actually bad, op said nothing about his platform choice and you're recommending he should go run a marathon when he's never even jogged.

Windows programming is not a PITA, that's a flat out lie from you. It's total and utter nonsense, especially as Windows has arguably the best IDE of all the platforms.

In the end it's exactly the same as linux programming. And iPhone programming. And BBC Micro Programming. And Spectrum programming. It's just that you have some personal preferences.

Programming is just programming and that's what he wants to learn, not your dogmatic preferences.

[espeed]

There's much more to a productive programming environment than IDEs, and most Python programmers don't use IDEs anyway.

The OP says he wants to do a startup and plans to go to grad school for physics, but in terms of programming, he doesn't really know what he wants.

That's why he is asking for advice on what path to take -- he is asking for "preferences," recommendations, and guidance. How many startups do you know that run Windows? How many high-performance physics labs?

When people were asking for faster horses, they didn't know to ask for automobiles because they didn't know that was something to consider. The had no perspective. Helping someone onto a more productive path from the start can help them get to where they want to go faster in the long run.

How long does it take to run a marathon? The OP has a timeline of 6 months.

[Entaroadun]

Why do you feel Windows a PITA to program in?

[espeed]

The windows command line and setting up the environment primarily. And most of the tutorials online are from a Linux perspective so it's usually easier for new programmers not to have translate the tutorials into a different environment.