I want to start programming, what language should I begin with?

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

So I've got a few months before I got to a few colleges and I'd like to impress some professors there with my wide range of knowledge however where I'm lacking is in coding knowledge. What language should I start with? and what languages are important to learn?

[Guest]

It really depends on what type of code you are going to deal with

 

In my perspective

 

Python = beginners level

C and C++ = INSANITY

 

but again it really depends.

[corbetto]

I started with html+css and python. If your feeling brave you could start with C#.

[Enderman]

python first (codecademy.com is free)

when you master that then move to c++

[Gachr]

My reply from a similar topic:

Quote

Python is the easiest language for a beginner, but I'll disagree when people say that it's >best< for beginners. I think that it's better to learn a difficult language first, since doing anything will bring more satisfaction with a more difficult language. My first language was C++, so later learning Python and other languages was a breeze.

This is "hello world" in Python:

print("hello world")

And for a comparison, this is the same thing in C++:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
  cout << "hello world" << endl;
  return 0;
}

Also, stay away from codecademy:

 

 

[andrew_on_tech]

I have been a professional software engineer for 6+ years, have used C, C++,C#, JAVA, JavaScript, Objective-c professionally. In my experience C# .NET was the easiest to understand and pick up. I do think though the type of applications/tools you want to develop weigh  HEAVILY into a decision. For instance my if you want to build a game you could easily download the Unity Game Engine for free and take a crack at C#. I may be a little biased because my day job has me working in Unity C#, but I have made a career out of being self taught and I learned to program by making games in Unity C#. Morale of the story, find a language that has good library support, such as an engine like Unity if you want to do games, or an more application style library like WPF if applications is what you want to do. Now I know other people like Python, I have never used it personally, I write all my tools in C#, but I have heard it is easy to pick up, its just not used very often in video game development, which is what I am used to.  

[derrickd241]

I'm currently in my first programming class and I'm learning python right now.  But, it really depends on what your major is if its computer science python is a nice language to learn first.  I know a lot of people say this but if I can learn python anybody can. haha But, seriously I also have to take C++ for 2 semesters python is just nice to learn first so you kind of get the hang of programming since the syntax is pretty easy to understand.  Also, codecademy is terrible just don't even waste your time, get a book or download a book and start reading or also the official docs are quite helpful even if they are a little cut and dry https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/

good luck in your studies!

[AlTech]

On 2/13/2016 at 2:39 PM, Jacktastic-Mofo said:

So I've got a few months before I got to a few colleges and I'd like to impress some professors there with my wide range of knowledge however where I'm lacking is in coding knowledge. What language should I start with? and what languages are important to learn?

I started with C#. It's relatively easy once you get the hang of it.

 

It's modern, under active development and is pretty comprehensive.

 

Once you're good at that then try to move onto C++.

[MatazaNZ]

It depends on what you want to program. If you want web development, look to HTML/CSS, javascript, PHP, etc. If you want desktop applications, look at Java or C#. I started with Java and then went to C#. I haven't left C#, and it's my preferred language now

[0x550x42]

I started with C++. It really gives you the start you need!