Which back-end language?

[Tasuma]

Which programming language would you guys suggest for back-end programming? I did a little Ruby and Python and happen to love both. But would Java/JavaScript be better to work with? I'm thinking about using codeschool.com since I am a much more hands on type of learner and they offer both Ruby and JavaScript.

[Alibaladin]

PHP and C++.

[Brawhammer]

PHP and C++.

This.

 

If you want to be more advanced I suggest getting a framework. I personally recommend Laravel. I have used it for all my projects.

[Tasuma]

How difficult are these to learn? I have almost 0 programming experience. Just looking for a good place to start.

[madknight3]

I did a little Ruby and Python and happen to love both.

 

Then keep learning them. No need to switch if you've already found languages you like.

[Charle692]

I'd say Ruby and Python are good places to start as they are clean and easier to read. Ruby specially I might be a little bias towards it, but by learning how to use Ruby you can quickly pick up Ruby on Rails if you ever want to take a dive into web development. 

[Jeroen1322]

Well Ruby can be used as an awesome back-end langueage but i would suggest learning PHP and using Ruby with it.

[cynexit]

If you already started to learn ruby and python and there is no specific need to learn something new, stick to this two languages! There are (more or less) only two reasons why you would want to switch to another language:

1. Performance - In this case learn a low level language (but to be honest, performance isn't a real issue in todays world unless you are working on big data foo)
2. DRM - You can compile python and ruby but the bytecode is quite easy to decompile, so if you don't want to provide the source code to everyone using your software, learn a low level language like C (but bear in mind that this would only make it harder, not impossible to decompile)

So if non of the above points is an issue to you stick to python and ruby and try to master these first. If however one of the above is an issue to you I would recommend having a look at go. It is fairly new but also quite low level and fast. It's not perfectly suited for e.g. kernel or hardware programming, but you can easily write web applications, terminal programs and most other stuff.

If however you plan to work on real low level stuff simply learn C (or Rust if you also want some more modern approaches).

[Tasuma]

If you already started to learn ruby and python and there is no specific need to learn something new, stick to this two languages! There are (more or less) only two reasons why you would want to switch to another language:

1. Performance - In this case learn a low level language (but to be honest, performance isn't a real issue in todays world unless you are working on big data foo)
2. DRM - You can compile python and ruby but the bytecode is quite easy to decompile, so if you don't want to provide the source code to everyone using your software, learn a low level language like C (but bear in mind that this would only make it harder, not impossible to decompile)

So if non of the above points is an issue to you stick to python and ruby and try to master these first. If however one of the above is an issue to you I would recommend having a look at go. It is fairly new but also quite low level and fast. It's not perfectly suited for e.g. kernel or hardware programming, but you can easily write web applications, terminal programs and most other stuff.

If however you plan to work on real low level stuff simply learn C (or Rust if you also want some more modern approaches).

 

Thank you for giving thought out reasons, examples, and ideas instead of saying "Learn this."