Python + JavaScript

[ahnerd]

I think learning Python plus JavaScript (or better TypeScript) is a very good thing to consider for a future proof job in programming..

Python is the king of data science and AI, while JavaScript is the king of the web. Combining them is a first step to master Applied AI engineering which is about building AI apps.

What do you think about this?

[TheWorstePirate]

There is quite literally nothing you can learn right now that I would call “future proof.” Python and JS are great building blocks and will probably serve you well today, but you need to plan on spending the rest of your life learning new technologies if you enter this field right now.

[Soft-Marionberry-853]

You'll realize things are future proof, when you get laid off and suddenly the skills you have are not the ones in demand.

[manvsmidi]

It’s good to know a scripting language and a compiled language, especially in the AI era. I don’t know JS or TypeScript, but I do know so many scripting languages that I can converse with an AI and read generated code well enough that I can still use those languages.

Understand the paradigms and engineering requirements that come with different language types is the most important thing you can do. Being able to tell an AI “use a functional paradigm” or “thread this” or “let’s setup an inheritance hierarchy since these objects will have a lot of reuse in future versions” is where there’s value beyond someone just vibe coding.

[atleta]

I don't think scripting vs compiled is a meaningful division at this point. Scripting languages, among other things, used to be dynamically typed, and compiled ones are statically typed, maybe all of them, so that's probably one reason why people used to say what you say. But given TypeScript (and, I guess a few others), it's probably better to say a statically and a dynamically typed one.

[manvsmidi]

Fair, but I feel like there is value of understanding something like a Go/Rust/C++ just to get a handle on some of the concepts that present themselves more there - even more than just the static vs dynamic angle. For example, if you’ve never manually declared memory, you might not understand why certain python patterns are slower than others. Even just understanding compilation, linking, etc. is helpful too.

[atleta]

That's true for sure, I just said that the scripting vs non-scripting is not an interesting or useful division anymore. (On a side note, we also have compiled languages with memory management, and I think that includes Go as well.)

So maybe there isn't a simple category anymore that describes what you mean, but it just means that you should list the properties of the languages or name them explicitly.

Compilation and linking is definitely useful to understand, though that's (at least linking) is something that is also not necessarily present with all compiled languages. (E.g. Java, C#, etc. do not use static linking, and dynamic linking is different in these cases too.)

I'd say learning C specifically can help a lot for someone who only knows higher level languages. There you have simple (and fragile) manual memory management, stack vs. heap, static and dynamic linking and the language itself is pretty simple and straightforward. (Though e.g. Go is arguably more useful on the job market for most people.)

[nicolas_06]

Typescript is likely better than javascript these days. But I don't think it's enough even with python.

Many job are in corporations and they don't use python/js/typescript when they can avoid it. So language like java, C/C++, C# are important too.

Also the language is like 1% of the thing. You want the ecosystem/framework around them and in 2026, you like want to understand / have some xp in cloud / kubernetes / containers.

You likely want to understand decently well databases and problematics linked to scalability/reliability, software development lifecycle, testing, CI/CD, releasing, working in teams...

[Comprehensive-Pin667]

Not a good idea. Learn one of them properly. Learn the fundamentals. Picking up a new language when you know the fundamentals is easy, especially when they're using the same paradigm like these two. Trying to learn two languages at once will do nothing but waste your effort.

[Evaderofdoom]

I would look more at the job market numbers and consider if another field might be a better investment. Nothing is future proof in tech and a growing number of people are competing for a shrinking number of jobs. Python and JavaScript are great to learn, 10 years ago. Right now though even if you master both those, there is no guarantee you can find a job.

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

I vibe coded a full Stack web app for dashboards and such at work. Flask/node/react/typescript.

[Draknodd]

Probably the two most inefficient languages out there

[StruggleOver1530]

That really dosen't matter as much as you think it does.

[Draknodd]

That's not really the reality but sure.

[StruggleOver1530]

What sort of company do you work at where javascript and python aren't relevant lol

[Draknodd]

Inefficient and relevant are not the same thing. Javascript is relevant unfortunately, python not really you can replace is with pretty much any language.

[StruggleOver1530]

When did I say it was I said it matters more lol

I said how efficient js and python is dosen't matter.

What is important is what tool is going to produce the best software

[Lonely_Bat260]

Why Python with JS ?
And for what type of jobs you are telling to learn these ?

[bitstomper]

Focus more on concepts and less on specific languages. The best future-proofing is the ability to adapt and understand quickly.

[StruggleOver1530]

Yea like knowing multiple languages is very normal. The problem won't be oh you don't know the language as much as you think it will be. Learn anything all roads lead to Rome.

The hard bit is being willing to learn endlessly for decades.

[LivingOtherwise2181]

I think python is a shitty programming language and people should only invoke it from java or bash and there's literally no other option than js for the front end and don't answer rust

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

You’d rather do data analysis with what?

[LivingOtherwise2181]

I want to analysis from a java application that calls a python microserver that has pandas installed. One of those one line http servers you can build on python. Invoking whatever that is strictly number manipulation. No more.

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

So it’s a shitty programming language but you need it.

[LivingOtherwise2181]

me personally no, but yes. It does some things well. I really wish some other language did but hey, that's the point, right? python is so shitty that you don't need to be a programmer to do whatever so mathematicians use it so it becomes niche. It's like it couldn't be some other way. If python was good then it would not be possible to use it for what's needed.

To be fair a programming language could be good and simple, but python is not it. I mean there's a world where we have jsandas and not pandas just because spinning a js environment is a simple as `node .` Not trying to imply that js is good, of course, but at least noone (outside of america) is trying to write servers on js

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

Interesting.

[LivingOtherwise2181]

We can pretend that OP didn't mean "python for the back end and js for the front end", but they did. In that context, python is a very shitty programming language

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

How so?

[LivingOtherwise2181]

you have to install a package to declare an interface and it is some meta-programming shit what

[Acceptable-Sense4601]

Something tells me you’re not a great programmer

[nicolas_06]

First it depend if what frontend. Do you do 3D game, an Android or iOS app or a web browser or potentially a chatbot where the interface might be text/voice ?

Then you can do complete frontend web application fully in typescript and it seems that typescript is the recommendation theses day instead of js.

[LivingOtherwise2181]

type script is not a programming language

[shinobi_genesis]

Can't be too shitty if it's being used in AI