Is it a good idea for a beginner programmer to learn two languages at once?

[GOLD1176]

I've been learning to program with Java for a few months now (through YT tutorials and a book), and I've been enjoying it for the most part. The object-orientedness of Java is making sense to me and I like it. But I've read that being a good programmer involves knowing more than just one language. This sounds valid to me, but I don't know when I should begin learning a second language.

Would it be a good idea to learn Java and Python, for example (I'm sort of interested in Python because it sounds like a relatively easier, yet relatively powerful language), or should I become proficient with Java and then learn a second language, (maybe even a more advanced one than Python)?

[imreloadin]

No

[BobVonBob]

There isn't really a "wrong" way to learn programming. Do whatever seems to come easiest. Switching between syntax while learning might help or hinder you, it depends mostly on how you learn. 

[Eastman51]

Most programming languages function very similarly, the differences are in how the syntax and arguments work.

Personally, I despise Python; the way its formatted seriously bothers me. I like C++ syntax the best; its a language I had to teach myself for a school project once so maybe I just feel more attached to it. Java's syntax is quite similar to C, so I'd consider branching into that before trying Python.

[IAmAndre]

I've often seen similar questions on  this forum. Learning a language is nothing, what matters is learning programming concepts. Programming languages are only a matter of syntax and they all have their specificities, however if you are a good programmer you can learn a new language in just a couple hours, or maybe less. You might not know all its specificities but you should still be able to write complex applications if you are comfortable with the complex (or not) programming concepts/data structures, etc.

So to answer your question, learning a new language won't get you more confused or make your learning harder as long as you do it the right way, which is mostly through practice and personal projects.

[iLostMyXbox21]

No, I learne HTML and CSS at the same time (almost, I learned some css while learning html and some html while learning css)

 

 

whatever makes you be able to learn

[Jurrunio]

I'd say learn one language first, because the logic of programming is more important for starters. After that, you could learn multiple languages if you feel like it.

[IncrediblePony]

As so many already has told you, it's really not the language, but your reasoning/problem solving skills that you develop here. Your first programming language should be one that's used widely and has loads of support on forums and documentation. I would start on something like JAVA or C# because these languages are Object Oriented and Strongly Typed.

 

When you have grasped the core concepts of one of these languages I would recommend starting on a Weakly Typed language like Python or JavaScript to see the differences. Link to article about this subject. Loads more info on a simple google search.

 

So in short - I would recommend learning one language first and then branching out. A good site for learning code for free is CodeCademy

[IncrediblePony]

8 hours ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

No, I learne HTML and CSS at the same time (almost, I learned some css while learning html and some html while learning css)

 

 

whatever makes you be able to learn

Hate to be a sucker on this one, but HTML and CSS are technically not programming languages. These are markup and styling languages. For a language to be considered a Programming Language I believe it has to be Turing Complete

[iLostMyXbox21]

37 minutes ago, IncrediblePony said:

Hate to be a sucker on this one, but HTML and CSS are technically not programming languages. These are markup and styling languages. For a language to be considered a Programming Language I believe it has to be Turing Complete

I know, those were just examples

[Franck]

12 hours ago, GOLD1176 said:

I've been learning to program with Java for a few months now (through YT tutorials and a book), and I've been enjoying it for the most part. The object-orientedness of Java is making sense to me and I like it. But I've read that being a good programmer involves knowing more than just one language. This sounds valid to me, but I don't know when I should begin learning a second language.

Would it be a good idea to learn Java and Python, for example (I'm sort of interested in Python because it sounds like a relatively easier, yet relatively powerful language), or should I become proficient with Java and then learn a second language, (maybe even a more advanced one than Python)?

Knowing a language doesn't make a good programmer. All you need is analyst mind. A good programmer can figure out the generic steps to achieve what he needs. Knowing how to build it is secondary. Language is a tool, logic is the structure. Even if you have the best tool to build a house but your plan is total garbage your house will fall down.

 

Knowing more language will help you getting on jobs where they already use specific languages. That is the main reason to know more languages.

 

That being said, from Java a natural path for OOP would be any C base language as it will be the easiest to pickup. I would skip C and check out C++ or even easier C# (syntax is 90% same as Java).

 

You mentioned Python and it's a good choices too. It's also OOP~ish and probably the easiest to pick up when you have a Java/C background. Knowing a scripting language is good.

[vorticalbox]

14 hours ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

No, I learne HTML and CSS at the same time (almost, I learned some css while learning html and some html while learning css)

 

 

whatever makes you be able to learn

that's because HTML and CSS are required together in order to make web pages that aren't trash.

 

14 hours ago, GOLD1176 said:

I've been learning to program with Java for a few months now (through YT tutorials and a book), and I've been enjoying it for the most part. The object-orientedness of Java is making sense to me and I like it. But I've read that being a good programmer involves knowing more than just one language. This sounds valid to me, but I don't know when I should begin learning a second language.

Would it be a good idea to learn Java and Python, for example (I'm sort of interested in Python because it sounds like a relatively easier, yet relatively powerful language), or should I become proficient with Java and then learn a second language, (maybe even a more advanced one than Python)?

python is a great first language due to it being very "English"

numbers = [1,2,3,4]

for number in numbers:

    print(number)

 

where is java would be something like

int numbers[] = { 1,2,3,4 };

for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {

    System.out.println(numbers[i]);

}

[Mira Yurizaki]

It doesn't really matter what language you learn first or second. All that matters is you get the basics of programming itself and knowing how to use those basics to solve problems.

[Addvilz]

No issue whatsoever doing that, as long as you mentally keep those languages boxed and don't force one to work like the other one. But I don't see why not.  

[DimasRMDO]

It depends on the person.

My mates started with C and Python while I started with C++ only since I got overwhelmed pretty easily when I wanted to learn Javascript and Assembly alongside C++, after I got used to C++ then I started moving to Javascript.

 

What matters is the basic, the foundation. Different language's got different syntax, but the logic (I mean the foundation/basic) remains.

If you are really motivated to learn more than one language at once, I don't see why not.

[Sauron]

Once you know how to program, it doesn't matter what language you use - I would recommend trying as many common languages as possible though, just to see what's out there, even if not right now. Once you get comfortable with the oop paradigm you may also want to take a look at a functional language, they're quite different.

[wasab]

JavaScript should be learned alongside HTML and CSS. Otherwise, don't. 

[straight_stewie]

On 2/12/2019 at 7:12 PM, GOLD1176 said:

I've been learning to program with Java for a few months now...But I've read that being a good programmer involves knowing more than just one language. This sounds valid to me, but I don't know when I should begin learning a second language.

That's kind of a tough one to answer correctly.
 

In short words:

It depends on the definition of "beginner".

In general, one should start learning a second language when learning the second language is nearly entirely about learning the new syntax and grammar, and doesn't require you to learn basic things to make simple programs.

The one exception to that rule is when you switch paradigms: C is very different from Java, and will require "relearning" (or rather, forgetting) quite a few things. A similar thing happens when switching to a language like Common-Lisp, for example.

 

In longer words:

• Are you aware of the basics of OOP programming?
  • What is polymorphism, and what mechanism allows us to achieve polymorphism?
  • What does "Separation of Concerns" mean?
  • What is encapsulation, and why can it be important?
    • What are "invariants" and how do we make sure that our *thing always maintains its invariants?
• Are you aware of the basics of data structures?
  • What is a self referential structure?
  • How does a linked list work?
  • Can you make a min/max heap?
• Do you know the basics of algorithms in general?
  • Given a simple algorithm, can you determine its Big O runtime?
  • What level of understanding do you have with Boolean Algebra?

 

 

[Beskamir]

On 2/13/2019 at 8:59 AM, vorticalbox said:

that's because HTML and CSS are required together in order to make web pages that aren't trash.

 

python is a great first language due to it being very "English"
 

numbers = [1,2,3,4]

for number in numbers:

    print(number)

 

 

where is java would be something like

 

int numbers[] = { 1,2,3,4 };

for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {

    System.out.println(numbers[i]);

}

 

Ummm I don't really like your example since for it to be equivalent you'd need to have

numbers = [1,2,3,4]

for x in range(len(numbers)):

    print(numbers[x])

for the python example or

int numbers[] = { 1,2,3,4 };

for (int number : numbers) {

    System.out.println(number);

}

for the java example.

Besides, you'd probably be best off using functional programming instead of a more traditional for or for each loop.
 

 

Anyway regarding the OP,

I don't really see why you couldn't do that? It might be a bit annoying confusing from a syntax point of view but that's really the least important aspect of computer science. Programming is just a tool that is heavily used to gain insight and understanding into CS and from that point of view there's no reason why you couldn't learn multiple languages at the same time.

[vorticalbox]

On 2/16/2019 at 5:27 PM, Sauron said:

Once you know how to program, it doesn't matter what language you use - I would recommend trying as many common languages as possible though, just to see what's out there, even if not right now. Once you get comfortable with the oop paradigm you may also want to take a look at a functional language, they're quite different.

functional > OOP

 

Spoiler

~$ flamewar init

 

[Sauron]

21 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

functional > OOP

Sorry, no flamewar - I agree on this