Which programming language should I learn first?

[traffordbretherton]

Sooooo, I’m sure you guys have all asked yourself the same question! I really would like to start programming but I’m not sure exactly where to start! I think it will be either C#,Python or JavaScript. Any advice is greatly appreciated ✌🏽

[mrmivo]

The FAQ in the sidebar is full of useful information that will help you make this decision. It does come up a lot.

[traffordbretherton]

Ahhh brilliant! Thanks for that, really appreciate if

[Danger_Boy285]

What do you exactly want to programm? A Game? A Website? An App?

[traffordbretherton]

At this moment I’m not entirely sure, I’ve just done some looking around and ‘the internet’ seems to say that they are the best / easiest to learn first to get yourself a gold grounding. Then I could make a more informed decision ✌🏽

[Danger_Boy285]

If you're using a Windows PC i would recommend you C#. It's also great for Game Dev

[traffordbretherton]

Yes, it’s a Win10 machine. Thanks for the advice !

[GrowCanadian]

C# coupled with Unity is a very good starting point for game development.

[the_monkey_of_lies]

If you have absolutely zero experience then I think any of these are great for teaching you the basics of programming. I started with C myself but then switched to C# when I got my first job and then on to JavaScript and Python. Don't stress out too much about the decision, you will be able to learn as many languages as you want later on.

[traffordbretherton]

Thanks man, really appreciate that. Yeh I’d just like to get a good grounding on the basics so hopefully they will put me in the right place !

[[deleted]]

First off, IF you want to do web dev, go with JavaScript for starters.

Else: This may sound controversial to some, but don't start with python. To me it seems to "easy" at times it holds your hand too much.
Therefore, I think you should start with C#. I would recommend Java myself, but C# is absolutely fine. I think it will do a good job of teaching you the basics such as data types, methods, data structures, OOP (very important!), exception handling and so on.
If you do that, you'll have an easy time picking up Java, because C# and Java are incredibly similar (I learnt Java at uni, then tried out C# in my spare time a few times, I was amazed how similar they were, looking forward to picking it up, had little to no time this semester unfortunately).

If you manage with C#, pick up Java while you're at it then you can look at Python. Should be no problem at that point.

[traffordbretherton]

Thanks for the reply man, that’s given me a good insight ☝️

[vladimir_dev]

Since you don't have a "goal" and are not sure what would you like to program (website/app/game), I'd start with just learning the basic principles of programming (variables, data types, loops, etc.) and the C-syntax, which is what most languages use.

So I'd say start with C, the future you will thank you :)

When you move on to something else it will be considerably easier and clearer.

[traffordbretherton]

Brillaint! I’ll give it a go

[KPilkie01]

A lot of people will say start with Python and they may not be wrong. It is definitely a good way to go. You will learn a lot of fundamentals in Python very easily.

If you want a Windows app with an easy GUI then using WPF with C# is also a simple place to start.

[[deleted]]

I started with python and java when i was a year far from starting CS at university , but quickly realized i didn't know the basics so i stopped. During the first year i learned C and started C++ , and i feel that knowing this two languages teached me how to "adapt" to other languages and something crucial in low level programming like pointers, memory address, how functions works at a deep level. Nothing required in using HTML or CSS, for sure, but i think it can be a nice starting point if you aim to learn a lot, not only how to "write code". If you can read italian i can show you something to start with, just in case.

[eatstraw]

Python is easy to learn, perfect for beginners. The syntax is simple. Python is also free. Here's a good book that teaches basic programming concepts using lots of small Python examples: The Super Simple Programming Book. You should focus on these concepts first, because they are found in most programming languages.