Best programming languages for beginners 🚀
If you're new to coding and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of programming languages out there, I totally get it. It's easy to find yourself jumping from one language to another, feeling like you're getting nowhere. In this blog, I'm going to provide you with a roadmap to help you decide which languages are the best fit for your dream tech job and guide you on how to get there faster. We'll explore different career paths and the languages that power them.
Before we get started, let's address a concern some of you might have about AI taking over software development jobs. That's a whole other topic, but let me just say this: AI is going to be a powerful tool for developers, not a replacement.
If you're curious, I also need to tell you a fact: simply learning a programming language isn't a golden ticket to a job right away. Don't be fooled by content promising instant employment. Landing a tech job usually requires a combination of skills, with a programming language being just one of them. It's the first step. In this blog, our focus is only on languages and nothing else.
To decide what language to learn first, you have to figure out what kind of tech career you want. What excites you? Do you like building amazing websites, mobile apps, games, or software that controls physical objects? What do you want to do? Let's talk about each of these paths and the languages they use.
🌐 Web Development
If you dream of building beautiful websites or even online games, this is the path for you. Web development has two main sides: front-end and back-end development.
- Front-End Development: This is all about what the user sees and interacts with. Your key tools will be HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. HTML structures your web pages and their content, CSS makes them visually appealing, and JavaScript adds dynamics to respond to user actions like clicks and drags.
- Back-End Development: This is the behind-the-scenes magic—databases, servers, and the logic that makes everything work. Here, you have several options: JavaScript, Python, Java, PHP, C#, and more. If you learn JavaScript, you can use it for both front-end and back-end development, so you don't need to learn an extra language for back-end development. And guess what? If you can build both the front end and back end, you're essentially a full-stack developer, which often comes with a higher salary.
📱 Mobile Development
Here, we have two main paths: native and cross-platform development.
- Native Development: This means building apps specifically for either Android or iOS. For Android, Java is a classic choice, but Kotlin is becoming the modern favorite. For iOS, your go-to language will be Swift, though Objective-C is still used for older projects.
- Cross-Platform Development: This lets you use a single codebase to create apps for both Android and iOS, saving time and resources. Here, we have two popular choices: React Native and Flutter. These are not programming languages; they are frameworks that allow you to build user interfaces and access features like the camera, GPS, or motion sensors. Depending on your location, there might be slightly more job opportunities for one or the other, so check popular job-searching websites and research the job market. If you want to use Flutter, you have to learn Dart. If you want to use React Native, you have to learn JavaScript. As you can see, if you learn JavaScript, you can use it for front-end development, back-end development, and mobile development, giving you plenty of opportunities.
🎮 Game Development
To build games, we use game engines. The two popular game engines are Unity and Unreal Engine.
- Unity: This is more beginner-friendly and is often used in small to medium-sized game studios. For Unity, you need to learn C#.
- Unreal Engine: This is more advanced and is used in large-scale games that are visually stunning. For Unreal Engine, you need to learn C++.
🌐 Embedded Systems
This field is about building software that controls real-world objects like smartwatches, self-driving cars, medical robots, appliances, and more.
Languages for Embedded Systems: C and C++ are the tried-and-true languages here, allowing you to talk directly to the hardware for maximum control. You can also learn Rust, a newer language focused on safety and speed, perfect for ensuring your smart devices work flawlessly.
🤖 AI and Machine Learning
This is a rapidly growing field that's shaping how we interact with technology.
Languages for AI and Machine Learning: Python is the go-to language for data science and machine learning. R is also popular for statistical computing and creating beautiful data visualizations.
I'm curious, which language do you want to learn after reading this blog? Let me know on my Youtube Channel, where i often create videos and upload tutorials. Remember, I'm here to help, so if I missed anything or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Let me know in the comments on YouTube or on any platform you use frequently, so I can create more helpful content for you. If you found this article helpful, please share it with others and get in touch for more insightful content.
