Which Programming Language Should I Learn First
Everyone should learn programming now. It doesn’t matter if you are working on digital marketing, in a laboratory or anywhere else. Whatever your profession is you should always use a computer and some software. Understanding how these software work is important because when you understand something how it works then you can understand how to use it, how to fix it or how to ask for help to fix it. Also, a research shows that learning programming can make you smarter.
Which Programming Languages are Best to Learn
Because of there are thousands of programming languages it is almost impossible to say, “This is the best programming language to learn first.” So, I’m going to show you some of the easy to learn and widely used programming languages.
1. Python
Python is one of the simple programming languages for reading and understanding but you can also do everything other programming languages do.
Therefore, most of the universities give Python lessons first for new programming or engineering students. According to Philip Guo’s comparison 25 universities give Python lessons to their students out of 39 best universities in the US.
2. Java
Java is one of the most widely used programming languages. Even your dish machine, vacuum cleaner or car may be programmed in Java.
According to Oracle, there are 15 billion devices that run Java and 10 million Java developers worldwide. This means that devices run Java are twice more than number of people in earth.
Java may not look simple as Python, but you may find more libraries for your Java based program than Python based one.
3. JavaScript
JavaScript is not related to Java in any way. There are only two relations between JavaScript and Java. They are both programming languages and they have same word Java which is originally an old name of the coffee and an island in Indonesia in their names.
I suggest you learn JavaScript as your first programming language because it is everywhere, and you can use it anywhere you want. For example; iOS, Windows, Linux, Android and any other operating system and Chrome, Firefox, Safari and any other browser can run JavaScript. When you work with JavaScript language the only thing you need a computer.
One of the fun things working with JavaScript is running your software online or locally without difficulty. When you upload your JavaScript program on your website, your users can interact with your program easily.
JavaScript is a most for every web page. Facebook, Twitter, Google or other big company websites use JavaScript. There is almost no big website that doesn’t use JavaScript.
To learn basics of JavaScript, you can visit JavaScript website. They provide step by step JavaScript programming tutorial for beginners.
Every Programming Language Has an Advantage
Almost every programming languages has an advantage to use. That’s why there are lots of programming languages and I’m not going to show you all the programming languages and their advantages. There are more than three programming languages for learning as first programming language, but these are three example programming languages for learning programming first time.
Suggestion for People Who Has Difficulties to Learn Programming
If you have difficulties to learn any programming language you may want to try learning something similar to a programming language but a lot easier like HTML or CSS. These are not programming languages but when you use HTML or CSS you may see how you affect a web page with writing something in a notepad on your computer.
You can create a static website with HTML and give styles to it with CSS. Since they are not programming languages HTML and CSS are extremely easy to learn. You can learn HTML and CSS in a week. To start learning CSS I suggest you learn some HTML first. So, you need to start with HTML. There are lots of resources for learning HTML and CSS, but I think one of the best places to learn HTML and CSS is W3 Schools. Because of their easy and clean tutorials, you can move forward step by step and learn everything about HTML and CSS.
Little Note for People Who Is Still Undecided
I wanted to give you a hint about some languages for learning as your first programming language. But which language is best for you may depend on your aim. For example, if you want to develop websites you should definitely start with JavaScript or if you want to start easily and fast Python may be best for you. But you should start as soon as possible. As a programmer I saw lots of people who want to start learning programming but do nothing. Some of them didn’t even start after years. So, if you want to learn a programming language the best thing you can do is start learning today!