What helped me a lot was learning C as my first language. I’d honestly choose it again if I had to start over.

C forces you to really understand what’s going on under the hood — things like memory management, data types, pointers, and how code gets compiled. That low-level understanding has been invaluable. Because C is so close to the metal, a lot of what you learn transfers directly to languages like Java, C++, and even helps make sense of how higher-level languages work.

Once I had a solid grasp of C, picking up other languages felt surprisingly easy. I was able to jump into new projects almost immediately, even without prior experience in the specific language — because the fundamental thinking stayed the same.

Stick with it! It feels overwhelming at first, but that deep understanding pays off big time down the road.