How can we choose our first languages? 🤔
We have to take 5 main standards into account:
- How easy it's
- The big of their communities
- The amount of free resources
- The easy you can run the code (Their IDEs are easy)
- The most in-demand
How easy it's
The starting language for you has to be easy or you might hate programming from the beginning, so you don't have to start with something like C++ or Java, it's not about how "cool" that language is, it's about how much you understand it and comfortable with it.
print("Easy")
console.log("Fast");
puts "and";
<?php
echo "smooth";
Start with easy programming languages like Python, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP.
The most important thing that you don't think that programming itself is easy, that may cause you to stop and get bored.
The big of their communities
Starting with a language that has a big community will make starting with it much easier.
You can start with something easy like PHP, Ruby, etc... but why do we start with Python & JS?
because they have a really big community that can help you whenever you're stuck. and you need that help while starting. BUT you can start with others too.
The amount of free resources
When you start learning to program the resources is the most important thing to think about, some languages don't have easy-to-get resources.
Some useful resources for beginners can be: W3Schools, SoloLearn, StackOverFlow, TutorialsPoint
Resources are very important especially if you're self-learning.
So find a programming language that has a lot of recourses
Pro-Tip: Reading the docs is very useful to understand any language, you'll find most of them in devdocs.io.
The easy you can run the code (Their IDEs are easy)
Running, debugging and testing is so important for any programmer\developer and you have to learn it, but if it isn't easy that'll take so much time of you just trying to run it while you can use other languages like Python or such and run it easily and that'll make you well progress in lesser time.
You can use Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code since it can run lots of languages and they're easy to use.
The most in-demand
The best language to start with is the one that you can work with once you finish learning it, or at least you have more years of experience since you started earlier, which indeed will increase your chance of finding a job.
So you have to choose a language you might start with after learning it, so you have to know what do most companies search for.
The Most In-Demand Programming Languages in 2021
Click on the picture to check the resource
This list is only for 2021, if you are reading this in like 2024, 2025, etc... the in-demand languages will be changed probably, so you have to Google it yourself 😄
Recommendations
You're not required to follow all the standards of this post, there are more important ones, so you have to just measure them, don't take it for granted. Good luck. 👍🏻
Keep in mind:
- Keep in mind that depending on the field you'll work in, you have to choose your first language since some languages are better in fields that others aren't; such as JS or PHP to web development, C# or C++ to game development, Python to AI & Machine Learning etc...
- Do not be intolerant of the language you will start with or force others to start with it as well.
- Don't stop learning, and don't reject learning a new language for no reason.
- When you learn your first language; focus more on learning the basics of programming itself, not just learning the language.
Thank you for reading 😊
I've love to hear what do you think about that topic in the discussion below.
Top comments (3)
I respect your opinion and you actually got a good point, But the beginners don't need to think about all that, so they don't get confused.
That was one of the stuff that I wanted to add as the 6th point, that is the field that you'll work in, so if you wanted to start with the software development I'd recommend Python, and if you'll start as a web developer, then I recommend either JS or PHP, etc...
But I didn't find much to talk about in that subject since a lot of people don't know what field are they into yet. So I left it for them to decide the field if they know what they exactly want.
I'll add your point to the recommendations though. 😄
Agreed! A popular language that is easy to learn and has a supportive community can go a long way for someone who is starting out with programming.
Glad you liked it 😊