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What Programming Language Should I Learn?

regulargeek.com — There is no silver bullet when it comes to programming languages. On the other hand, there are some languages which are better suited or more widely used. I came up with a list. Includes the major programming languages and why you'd want to learn them.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 15, 2009

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  • JoeHammer, on 02/15/2009, -5/+233Why is C++ no where on this? Being in the gaming industry, this is VERY widely used.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -17/+218Buried for calling XML,HTML,CSS,SQL and Cygwin programming languages.
  • LaughingMan89, on 02/14/2009, -5/+150C++ is often essential if you plan on doing intensive simulations (many gravitational body systems in astrophysics, chemical interactions in biochem, etc.) or games.
  • scootinger, on 02/15/2009, -9/+143I can has LOLCODE?
    http://lolcode.com/
  • plaguepony, on 02/15/2009, -12/+109***** That, Real men Program in Assembly. Raw Unvarnished HEX.
  • BananaGrabber, on 02/15/2009, -2/+91Real men use punch cards.
  • thethirdmoose, on 02/15/2009, -11/+100C
    Java
    Python
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -5/+94Or bouncing boob physics.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -1/+89Real men program in machine code. Assembly is for pussies like you that need aliases for their machine code.
  • RSS14, on 02/15/2009, -4/+74HTML is not a programming language. There is no logic.
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -3/+72C++ is used for engineering software projects. Anything related to pure performance (gaming) and anything directly related to manipulating hardware is done in C/C++.
  • GlobalRoamer, on 02/14/2009, -33/+98I agree with only one language, JAVA. The list slanted toward Microsoft is way off the mark. When it comes to LAN Servers, and high end, high performance, fault tolerant servers Microsoft isn't even a remote consideration.

    If the author of this story used a financial criteria the list would appear much different. The highest paying jobs for programmers right now are for those doing maintenance programming in TAL on HP NonStop Servers, followed by RP3 maintenance work on IBMs.

    My suggestion is to learn C programming. Even though C was never intended to become a commercial programing language it has, because of it's universal appeal. It was designed to be a throw away language used by Bell Labs to test Digital Switches. Colleges caught on to it and used it. Now commercial firms have caught on and think it's grand.

    The UNIX operating system, that produced the C language, has 25,000 lines of source code. Of them 5,000 have the same instruction; STOP.
  • elsewhy, on 02/15/2009, -5/+70Real programmers use butterflies.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -1/+62First languages aren't really about the language, it's about the programming concepts.
    I'd say start with a high level language that allows you to learn data structures, control flow, and development process, and then go diving into the advanced issues, depending on what it is you'd like to be doing, whether its web development, embedded/real time systems, networking, games, windows applications, or some good old linux kernel tweaking.
  • demodawid, on 02/15/2009, -1/+47Pffff you guys are all pussies. Real programmers program with a magnetized needle and a steady hand, flipping bits on a hard drive.
  • Lunarbunny, on 02/15/2009, -4/+49The hardest language to learn is your second.
  • mattsidesinger, on 02/15/2009, -5/+49Digg this up if at some point in your career you had to support a VB6 application that was written by a guy in accounting or your company's janitor that was connected to a Microsoft Access database. I can't tell you how many times I had to support this kind of crap and how much it angered me. I am still bitter.
  • xenmaster4, on 02/15/2009, -2/+45Real men program with a magnetized needle and a steady hand.
  • dignation, on 02/15/2009, -6/+48I CAN HAS STDIO?
    I HAS A VAR
    IM IN YR LOOP
    UP VAR!!1
    VISIBLE VAR
    IS VAR BIGGER THAN 10?
    IM OUTTA YR LOOP
    KTHXBYE
  • RunDiggMC, on 02/14/2009, -10/+51Dugg for Cygwin. It has dramatically changed the way I use Windows.
  • stuartbryant, on 02/15/2009, -4/+44Digg this up if at some point in your career you were the guy in accounting who had to learn to write a VB application connecting to a Microsoft Access database because you couldn't get any support from your IT department.
  • LowRentDiggs, on 02/15/2009, -4/+44Software design should be #1 on the list. You can know every programming language out there inside and out and still write terrible software if you don't design good software from the start.

    Learning a new language is easy if you have design fundamentals in place. I see a lot of people who put very little, to no, thought into design.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -8/+46Or driver development, or kernel development, or real time systems, or embedded systems
  • mirunit, on 02/15/2009, -20/+57Java is slow, the end.

    Also, for C, you are right about pointers. If you can properly employ them, then you are set - however C lacks the full object-oriented experience. I prefer C#, or for cross platform, C++. Once you learn one of the latter, you will have no problems. Java is junk imo.
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -0/+32Choose a language learn it.. then get you a book on Data Structures and Algorithms.. from there it shouldn't matter what language you learn next you will have a proper tool set for any language..
  • robrohan, on 02/15/2009, -4/+35Eh, the list wasn't that MS centric. In fact, C# was the only MS specific language and you can even run via mono on almost anything.

    I completely agree with you on the recommendation as C for number 1 though. Once you understand C you can understand any language.

    I once had an über programmer say: if you can use pointers to pointers correctly you can accomplish anything.
  • SushiCW, on 02/15/2009, -1/+31Not a bad list for someone who wants a place to start. That said, I agree with posters above that there should be at least some mention of C or C++.
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -4/+32It's all up from there.
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -3/+31C++ has important concepts about memory referencing and allocation which are important for all programming languages.
  • dtfinch, on 02/15/2009, -0/+25I've felt like people should know at least C/C++ and some assembly, but now I feel old.
  • poprocksandsoda, on 02/15/2009, -17/+42C# is a wonderful language that is both easy to learn yet robust enough to cover the full spectrum of modern programming concepts and challenges. Whether you're using Linux, OS X or Windows you can get started using the links below.

    Tutorials
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/aa336766.a ...

    Linux/OS X IDE
    http://monodevelop.com/Main_Page

    Windows IDE
    http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -6/+31Psh, It's all about Fortran.

    Represent 1956, yo.
  • toastjam, on 02/15/2009, -2/+27HTML is not a scripting language. It is a markup language.

    Javascript is a scripting language, and it is a programming language.
  • fuzzmeister, on 02/15/2009, -8/+31In reverse order.
  • ventralnet, on 02/15/2009, -1/+22I would say c++ should be the basis of any computer science curriculum. c++ covers so many high level and low level aspects of computer programming it is key.
  • gab00n, on 02/15/2009, -6/+26Just ***** learn them all.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -0/+20Real programmers know the simple conversion between a group of four binary digits into hexadecimal digits.
    Wannabe programmers on the other hand...
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -2/+22Which kernel is written in C++?
  • inactive, on 02/15/2009, -1/+19Because he is obviously a script kiddy. No C/C++, Pascal/Delphi, Fortran, RPGII, or Assembly on his list. Just interpreted languages and databases.
  • dkapuchino, on 02/15/2009, -3/+21@youannoy:
    The fact that Java has ready made classes doesn't make your code slower, it actually makes it faster.
    These classes are highly optimized by dedicated professionals.
    All you have to do is know which class to use. Basic data structure and algorithm knowledge is all that's needed.
    Learn that adding to a link list is fast, but getting object number X is slow.
    Learn that adding to the middle of an array is slow, but getting the object at location Z is fast.
  • darienphoenix, on 02/15/2009, -7/+24I prefer using Linux, Solaris or OS X.
  • driverdave, on 02/15/2009, -1/+18huh? why are they talking about JSON and XML in an article about what programming language you should learn?

    also, if you learn more general programming concepts, you can program in any language. this is like asking what road should i learn to drive on. if you learn to drive, the road you're on doesn't matter.
  • scootinger, on 02/15/2009, -4/+21Why doesn't he have one for the "I-just-want-to-learn-to-program" crowd? Nonetheless I would recommend Java or maybe C/C++ as a good general-purpose programming language. IMO Java is easier to work with and to focus on programming techniques and theory and seems to be used for most introductory computer science courses nowadays; C/C++ are more flexible.
  • fuzzmeister, on 02/15/2009, -4/+21I beg to differ with PHP only being good for prototyping. Many big websites, such as Yahoo, Facebook, and this very site, run on LAMP.
  • zephc, on 02/15/2009, -1/+17C++ is still pretty relevant, and I would say avoid straight C for anything but kernels and device drivers.
    C++ has a good speed/feature tradeoff, but I do agree it is not a good beginner language, but because it is so damn *complex*. There are just so many damn facets to the language. From Amazon: "The ANSI/ISO Standard document, which is now the formal language and library definition, is itself about 750 pages long"
  • mirunit, on 02/15/2009, -11/+27Most software is not gaming related?
  • robrohan, on 02/15/2009, -1/+17*Real* programmers http://xkcd.com/378/
  • SexualChocolate, on 02/15/2009, -1/+17Most drivers, or basically anything interfacing directly with hardware is written in Assembly or C, not C++.
  • newtonip, on 02/15/2009, -0/+14That's not true. SymbianOS, a commercial OS which runs on many cellphones, had its kernel written in C++.
    See:
    http://www.research.att.com/~bs/applications.html
  • elfprince13, on 02/15/2009, -9/+23Python
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