What's the best programming language to start with?

Some suggest that you should think hard about whether or not you want to learn to program. I say that it shouldn't be a question. I think anyone in any field can improve their lives with programming. You don't have to be a wizard at it to have it make a difference in your job/life.

That being said, what programming language you want to start with depends on what you want to accomplish. I saw from one of your comments that you want to do data analysis. In that case, I'd go with Python. In fact, in almost any case I'd go with Python. It is extremely versatile and popular. Due to its popularity, there are lots of tutorials, guides, and helps out there for it.

I'd take a step back and realize what you're getting into.

Getting good at development takes time, especially from scratch. If you want to become a developer, you should expect to commit to the following:

• Learning the basics of programming: 3-6 months
• Learning the basics of the web (HTML, CSS, JS): 1-3 months
• Learning MVC or MV*, or in general some form of API design, for a backend: 1-3 months

All in all, you're looking at half a year to a year of serious learning. This is pretty good, seeing as most people take four or more years to learn in university. But I think it's worth asking yourself - is this the route I want to take?

What are your goals? If your goal is to become a bootstrapper, there are lots of other routes that get you there much faster:

• Learn to build with no-code tools
• Look for developers that want to partner up
• Build something that doesn't require code: A newsletter, course, etc.

If learning to code has a purpose to you that's greater than becoming an entrepreneur, only then do I think you should continue with your line of thinking.

Depends do you want to analyse data? Go with SQL and Python

Want to build web apps etc go with Javascript

I also plan to make a quick crash course on HTML/CSS and a little JS, glad to see marketers who want to learn coding :)

Python.

I'm a marketer too and started with html/css/javascript via freecodecamp and Colt Steele's web development course. This really helped me grasp how to manage and produce content for a business website and led me onto SEO practices.

I then joined a firm where I was asked to demonstrate the ROI of marketing across three different CRMs. That led me into learning SQL, APIs, Power BI and Tableau. This was great for data analysis and understanding the strategies that led to revenue.

I have since been learning Python and kind of wish I started there because it is much less complex than javascript.

If I were to start again, I would probably go HTML/CSS, Python and SQL but it does really depend on your goals. If you are working in a business with a lot of data, SQL could be essential. If you are interested in front end design, javascript is the way to go. If you fancy automating, web scraping and machine learning you should learn Python (it does a lot more than that too!)

As always it depends on the application: if you're working on a data analysis app then I'd recommend Python, as its known to suit those kind of applications and its a high-level language so its easy to learn.

If you're looking for a gain a general knowledge base I'd recommend getting into JavaScript; you can pretty much build anything with JavaScript these days, and JS enables you to build an entire full stack application with only one language.

Both these languages have great documentation, frameworks, online tutorials, and all-in-all great support for a beginner to jump into.

Hi, I think that your question kinda too general. Maybe if you share your insights about what do you want to develop (native iOS/Android apps, web, games, IoT product, etc.) I will help you and give you detailed and useful advice.

I would be glad to do that.

JavaScript

It really depends on what you want to achieve and whether or not you want to get really serious at this.

Programming is not easy in the same way that being a doctor is not easy. Sure lots of people exist in both careers but it really does require a certain mindset and work ethic if you want to work productively in both fields (e.g. if you are afraid of blood being a doctor is a bad career choice).

Having said all that, I personally started programming at age 14 using VBA (the macro language found inside the Microsoft Office suite). I then transitioned to VB6 (which was great for building forms-based apps) and eventually to VB.NET which I have used consistently for 19 years now. I find that the language is easy to read, capable in a wide variety of problem domains and perfect for people who just want to get things done.

Ultimately, the language you pick doesn't matter much: the most important thing is getting someone (a mentor/guide) to show you the ropes in a way that inspires you to keep going. If you want, I can help - just reach out via email!

i'd learn javascript as its tied in with digital marketing, so you could do some things that are in your field..

but if its just to purely learn a computer language, try python instead.

i actually think Javascript stinks, its been bastardised over time to make it more sophisticated but backwards compatiable, as it originally was just a scripting language subset of java and now its been extended but really un-intuitively.. (hence Typescript).

ive learnt a good 10+ languages over the years so just going by personal experience.

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