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What Programming Language Should you Learn First?

posted by martyb on Friday November 04 2016, @07:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the choose-logically dept.

mendax writes:

We've had this question asked before I believe but it does no harm in asking it again and again. After all, opinions change as does the software ecosystem. Quincy Larson of FreeCodeCamp.com asked this question via Medium: What programming language should you learn first? He thinks JavaScript is the way to go and his arguments are cogent and well thought out. However, I am somewhat hesitant to suggest someone learn to code in JavaScript first. My first programming language (in 1981!) was Fortran on a Control Data mainframe. The interactive environment the OS provided was pretty simple and the language provided few opportunities to hang yourself. JavaScript, by comparison, while it may not have those evil pointers of C/C++, it offers functional features and plenty of rope to hang oneself.

So, opinions please.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday November 04 2016, @08:13PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday November 04 2016, @08:13PM (#422596)

    Yes, I have an anglo-centric view... but, with a good command of the English language, you can access the widest pool of help resources on the internet.

    Being able to explain your procedural train of thought correctly, in English, should enable you to write it in C, Fortran, Ada, Lisp, Perl, Node.js, or whatever your current job requires.

    Following on this train of thought, a second best choice would be your native speaking language, but, again, learn to spell out step by step what you intend to do, how you intend to structure your data and interfaces, etc.

    There's been a lot of talk about "Test Driven Development," but, what drives the tests? Natural language requirements definitions - this is the place where most programming projects go awry: not solving the correct problem in the first place.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @08:28PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @08:28PM (#422609)

    "Yes boss, you're the boss, boss."

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:01AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:01AM (#423009)

      As a software engineer there are many opportunities to be your own boss; however, you will only be successful that way if you act like your own boss.

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