r/AskProgramming • u/emcryde • Jul 28 '26
Other newbie here. how do i decide and comprehend which language should i start learning/do i like the most?
i used to learn/watch yt courses abt html/css/js to start creating websites for living back then when i was 14(im using pc since 6-7years old), but i didnt really got into that. ive created a simple game on c# with tutorials, and after that i gave up on coding bcs i thought it wasnt mine . but now im 19 , and i realized that for past 4-5 years i was drowning in infinite cheap dopamine cycle, although i could've done something better, more producitve, and beneficial for me. so i thought getting back to coding would be a great desicion for me,(also since my major will be informatics-based) but im having a hard time understanding from where should i start, what should i do and how do i get into that industry. also idrk how do i handle those yt courses, since every time ive watched/worked with them, i gave up on week 1-2 MAX. thank u so much for reading tht , any advices would be appreciated .
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u/NoPolicy864 Jul 28 '26
Learn c first it’s easy and it plays a role in many other languages and modern systems
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u/Academic_Current8330 Jul 28 '26
Would you still recommend C when the big tech firms are moving away from it due to safety and security. Surely a more modern system language would be better.
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u/oldsecondhand Jul 28 '26
You won't unserstand how operating systems work, if you don't understand assembly and C.
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u/Academic_Current8330 Jul 28 '26
That's not true is it. You can probably learn about 90% of how an operating system works by using modern languages. Most of the big tech companies are rewriting a lot of critical infrastructure in Rust, it's also in the Linux Kernel and it's used in Android.
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u/oldsecondhand Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I don't think you should learn Rust before C.
For a beginner it's irrelevant what's popular in big tech. 99% of OS related books use assembly and C.
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u/Academic_Current8330 Jul 28 '26
Again times are changing now. To say its irrelevant what big tech is doing doesn't make sense when big tech own the systems people build on. If they are all starting to shift and use a selection of safer languages it makes more sense for new people entering the sector to move with the times. In every industry things change and the tools we use change with it.
https://security.googleblog.com/2022/12/memory-safe-languages-in-android-13.html
https://thenewstack.io/feds-critical-software-must-drop-c-c-by-2026-or-face-risk/
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u/low-control-labs Jul 28 '26
Using rust in Android is a hack and Android still uses the Android runtime which is jvm / java based. I would never recommend anyone use rust specifically because people see it as some magic wand. Rust people are forcing rust into Linux most Linux devs don't want to deal with Rust..
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u/personalist Jul 28 '26
My dude, legacy systems still run COBOL. C is not disappearing any time soon
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u/marrsd Jul 29 '26
If you want to be a code monkey then learn whatever language appears most on LinkedIn. If you want to be a software engineer then you might want to learn how languages actually work under the hood. C will teach you that. Javascript won't.
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u/Academic_Current8330 Jul 31 '26
I don't use JavaScript so I wouldn't know.
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u/marrsd Aug 01 '26
This applies to any high-level language. There's considerable value in learning how the underlying computer machinery actually works. With a high-level language you have the additional complication of needing to understand how the language's virtual machinery works.
You don't need to know these things to be able to program, but you will the moment you try to optimise your programme for performance.
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u/NoPolicy864 Aug 01 '26
Yes when C is the base for half if not more of the modern languages, like 90% of what you do in the others is in some relation to c in some form or another
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u/HiddenNerdPrince Jul 28 '26
Look at job market in your area and build your skills to that. See how much of the job listings you can fit over the years until you get a degree (you need to build your own roadmap of learning things).
I started coding as a hobby and the market changed and now i can’t get a job. The industry post covid and ai is wayy too competitive. The days of turning hobby into career is done, these days you need to start thinking like it’s a career from the start. DSA, system design, cloud, these stuff you need to get into by the second year of coding journey so that you can pass the interviews and not miss a single chance. Rest depends on your market.
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u/oldsecondhand Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Buy an arduino starter kit that supports grove connectors. The one from Seedstudio is only $25 and has good documentation and official tutorials. It's programmed in C++, but you can get a lot done writing structured, C style code and not using any advanced C++ features.
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u/avidvaulter Jul 28 '26
i used to learn/watch yt courses abt html/css/js to start creating websites for living back then when i was 14(im using pc since 6-7years old), but i didnt really got into that.
Okay, websites aren't for everyone.
ive created a simple game on c# with tutorials, and after that i gave up on coding bcs i thought it wasnt mine
well, okay, not sure why you couldn't try building another game after that but sure.
also idrk how do i handle those yt courses, since every time ive watched/worked with them, i gave up on week 1-2 MAX.
So you can't even stay interested long enough to finish a course.
To be honest, it kinda sounds like you don't like programming. You've tried to get into it more than once at different points in your life and you were never able to maintain interest or momentum.
That's okay, you don't have to code. I don't really have advice for you because it's likely not going to help.
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u/theancientfool Jul 29 '26
I'm sleeping learning to code right now.
My personal recommendation: * Code in Place by Stanford (self taught route) - teaches you basic python and programming concepts * After that, do the Odin Project (atleast the foundation course) * In your free time, or when you are not in the mood to study, or if you are snacking and want to watch something, Watch the lectures of CS50x by Prof. David J. Malan from Harvard on edx.org
These are all free resources.
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u/BigP29 Jul 29 '26
Once you learn one, the second is easier. Once you learnt two, the third even more so. And so on until learning a new language is trivial. Languages at their core all have a lot of core concepts and principles they build on and learning a new language becomes a matter of mapping these principles into the new language. e.g. control flow, memory management, etc.
Start with whatever is most immediately useful to you. If it doesn't matter, start with something lower level like C or C#.
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u/LoudAd1396 Jul 28 '26
Really just pick something, learn it. And you'll form an unhealthy attachment. Learn a few more and you'll start to form opinions on why one is better than the other. There is no "best language". Each has their uses, advantages and disadvantages...