One of the most difficult parts of being a beginner programmer is learning which programming language is right for you! Most early career programmers spend too much time in ‘analysis paralysis’, a state of being frozen trying to analyze if your programming language is the right decision to use instead of actually digging deep and learning the language and it’s associated frameworks. We’re here to help you break through this phase and feel confident in your choice.
Often times these types of articles give you a list of 5 to 10 languages that would be a good choice to begin with. This still leaves you feeling confused and doubtful if you picked the correct language from the list. We will give just three recommendations so you know you’re making a smart choice.
The main goal of learning programming should be to get a job where you can further develop your skills. As software developers, we are constantly learning. You should learn enough to get your first job, then get paid to develop your skills further until you can take on more challenging tasks and of course increase your income.
The first consideration in choosing a language is decide what you want to do. For each of the three categories (yes there are more, but these are three large categories that encompass over 90% of software jobs), we have selected the one definitive language that will help you get a job. The three categories are web development (including front and back end), data engineering/analysis/science, and embedded programming.
Without further ado, here is our list of the recommended programming languages:
Web Development – JavaScript
According to Stack Overflow, JavaScript is the most widely used programming language among professional developers. Widely used = many jobs. 65% of respondents to the 2021 Stack Overflow Developer Survey say they use JavaScript in their jobs.
A LinkedIn job search in January 2022 shows 721,045 job listings for JavaScript jobs in the United States. This number may be inflated due to the same job being posted in multiple geographic locations, but it still shows an insanely high demand for developers with JavaScript Knowledge.
In learning JavaScript, you should take the time to first learn vanilla JavaScript to understand the ins and outs of the language. You should then decide if you’d like to focus on backend, frontend, or full-stack development. For backend development, you should learn the node.js runtime environment to do server-side work. For frontend, you can choose between the React and Angular frameworks.
Data Analytics, Data Science, and Data Engineering – Python
The Python programming language is synonymous with data. It is unquestionably the most widely used language for data work. If you find yourself highly analytical or interested in making data available to the people who are analytical, Python may be the best language for you.
It is one of the most loved and easy to learn programming languages due to it’s human readable and friendly syntax. The code reads almost like English. Python is a general purpose programming language and can be used for many different things, so it’s also a good choice for backend web development (with frameworks like Django or Flask).
A LinkedIn job search for Python shoes 783,001 jobs for Python programmers.
Embedded Programming – C/C++
Embedded programming is programming computers that control devices. All the electronics in your home goods that run software use embedded programming. For a good overview of where embedded programming is used, see this description from Techopedia.
C/C++ are more difficult languages to learn as a beginner, but it is certainly possible and not too difficult if you are interested in this type of programming.
A LinkedIn job search shows 690,151 jobs for C++ developers in the US.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, our three recommended programming languages for beginners are: JavaScript, Python, and C++. There are many other great programming languages out there to be learned, but remember that your goal is to first get a job, then get paid to learn more while on the job! Throughout your career you will use many different programming languages, but don’t think too far in to the future, right now your journey is just beginning!
“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Laozi
