Ask HN: best programming language to learn?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5732260

by kralik • 13 years ago

2 4 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi, I am wondering what would be the most useful programming language to start learning. The one with more possibilities of growth and diversification.

hath995• 13 years ago

Javascript is pretty hot right now with the advent of NodeJS. Scala and Clojure are the up and comers. Python is a solid choice. Java, C/C++ are classic and have some new features on the horizon. Haskell, Erlang, and other lisp varieties are enjoying a resurgence.

Those languages cover many genres of programs: Scientific, parallel/concurrent, server-side, client-side, desktop, mobile, embedded, scripting, business, gaming, and so on.

The question is what are you most interested in? Are you trying to find a job or are you learning because you find it interesting? Do you have projects in mind? What would be the right tool for the job?

sgt101• 13 years ago

I think that the possibilities of growth and diversification element of your question is less dependent on the language per-say and more dependent on the languages eco-system. Objective C gives lots of options because of this, as does java, javascript and C++. Python is definitely up and coming here because US academia seems to have picked it up, although I think it's slow and I can't work the configuration management elements (I constantly get this egg needs this egg type issues) - still I have just dabbled (for much the same reasons as you!) so I know little. I do know though that there are many interesting projects using python now and that as a language it's very well thought through and powerful semantically.

daven11• 13 years ago

If you want to do web browser then javascript

For apple (IOS/OSX) then objective C or maybe Ruby or lua

Embedded programming then C

Microsoft you have a large choice C# or VB.Net perhaps

Android is Java

Enterprise programming then Java or C#

Pose value haskell or scala :-)

It depends on your background and what you want to do. I think every developer should know C or C++ but not as a starter unless you like serious hacking. Javascript is the language of the web browser so you'd need to know that for any browser programming. Enterprises run on C# or Java.

Then of course there are all the scripting languages python is perhaps the most popular for general scripting, or powershell for windows

jonas_maj• 13 years ago

C, C++, Python, C# -- in that order. Should definitely start with C.

Ask HN: best programming language to learn?

Related Stories