So next year im going to apply for a Systems Integration Course at a uni in UK. Having spoken to the course lecturer and asking what happens
if I don't get the grades required he told me that if I have some previous programming knowledge he might let me in. I am familiar with python
but I think he was being sympathetic and me knowing python wouldn't impress him, so to get a head start I've decided to try and learn a new
language that would be useful in the course.

The course apparently makes alot of use of C++ and C# and the guy did say experience in C would be a bonus, but having researched i found
that VHDL would seem really useful for me to learn and a more unique skill.

So basically does anyone have experience in both and which would you recommend for a beginner in programming? (learning c++/c# is out of
question because i've heard how hard it is :P)

tl;dr Learn C or VHDL?

Post the course description that might help !

If C++ is out of the question you might as well just stop your studies now. The world is going through an OOP phase and unless you jump on, you'll be left behind.
Python is a good start, progress to Java and C++ and you'll be fine. Remember, programming languages are tools, not skills.

TBH, you'd be better off learning different algorithms and concepts rather than focusing on the syntaxes of a specific language.

VHDL is really domain-specific, I had never even heard of it till now and I'm suspicious as to how easy it will be to learn. Out of those two, I would go with C for sure. Java is another option. But really, programming translates very well between languages - I know a few, but I'm confident I could learn about any new one in a day or two because I've just been programming for a while, independent of the language.

learn C,
because VHDL is just "connecting blocks with code"
VHDL was invented to be a description language, not for programming

when i meant learning c++ was out of the question I meant at the level im at now, and jumping from a beginner at python to full on c++ seems abit foolish to me

anyways here's the course main key themes:
Key learning themes are:

Computer networking: the internet and TCP/IP
Operating systems: Unix, Linux and Windows
Applications and systems programming: C/C++ and C#
Development of embedded systems: real-time executives
Web systems: client and server
FPGA hardware configuration using VHDL
Concurrent programming: real-time multi-tasking
Systems administration: Unix and Windows


So you guys think C? I was opting towards that aswell cuz I guess it's more widely used in courses/careers

C# is definitely NOT, too hard

if you really want to impress the guy with some systems programming learn D (dlang.org)
and learn how to use it properly with all the D idioms, it's ridiculously powerful

The world is now entering a functional phase. Learn Haskell (for great good :D).

this is really bad advice.

I'd learn any of the C languages.

C# is used widely and would be great experience for a programmer.

Java is a very easy language to begin with

C++ wasn't bad for me but I had a lot of experience with java, but alot of kids in my class who had never taken languages before failed/dropped out