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Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
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Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#2On one hand, I think that learning an easily-readable language like Python makes it easy to not worry about syntax and focus on actual CS concepts.
On the other hand, there are a lot of CS concepts that go beyond algorithms, and I think understanding how e.g. C++ is written, precompiled, assembled, etc. is really valuable information.
It is sort of like the argument for or against starting with an IDE - training wheels on vs. training wheels off.
I supposed ultimately it comes down to your goals, but I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts!
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#3Anything with a fast and rewarding feedback loop, with a community of amateurs that value learning and hacking.
An ideal to me might be Javascript in a sandbox like Khan Academy's Javascript courses[1]. It feels like when I learned programming in AppleBasic or Borland's QuickBasic. My son does these occasionally - there's many games people have created you can explore and hack on. Reminds me of trying to figure out how Snake worked in MS DOS back in the day.
1 - https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#4Anything with a fast and rewarding feedback loop, with a community of amateurs that value learning and hacking. An ideal to me might be Javascript in a sandbox like Khan Academy's Javascript courses[1]. It feels like when I learned programming in AppleBasic or Borland's QuickBasic. My son does these occasionally - there's many games people have created you can explore and hack on. Reminds me of trying to figure out h…
That's a really good point - I was thinking purely about the language itself, but having a community to interact with, learn from, share with, and get excited with really makes a huge difference.
Being able to help people reach that "Ah, I get it!" point, or experiencing it yourself after hours of struggling, is a great way to maintain interest and not get frustrated
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#5On one hand, I think that learning an easily-readable language like Python makes it easy to not worry about syntax and focus on actual CS concepts. On the other hand, there are a lot of CS concepts that go beyond algorithms, and I think understanding how e.g. C++ is written, precompiled, assembled, etc. is really valuable information. It is sort of like the argument for or against starting with an IDE - training whee…
From watching my son learn, basic concepts of programming have enough frustration built in, that I feel you really need to optimize the rewarding feedback loop aspects. Jumping to CS concepts is a bridge too far, and TBH, there's a lot of programming-literate jobs that don't need it.
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#6it depends on your needs, I study Java and C++
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#7On one hand, I think that learning an easily-readable language like Python makes it easy to not worry about syntax and focus on actual CS concepts. On the other hand, there are a lot of CS concepts that go beyond algorithms, and I think understanding how e.g. C++ is written, precompiled, assembled, etc. is really valuable information. It is sort of like the argument for or against starting with an IDE - training whee…
> understanding how e.g. C++ is written
True, but why should you learn about this first? Better to get the fundamentals down first. Once you have that down, you can engage with accidental complexity like C++ compilation and linking details if and when needed.
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#8IMO a big part of the choice ought to be subjective, a.k.a. personalized. Important subjective aspects:
1) Rank what you've seen in list order, most-interesting first. It doesn't matter if you just like the logo, or mascot, or other irrational things. That's still free emotional energy you can tap into.
2) Rank based on how they fit your technical and logical needs. Platforms you want to develop for, libraries you may need, tooling or editors or OSes you want to use. Support for your native written language.
3) Look at the project's subjective past. Why did it start, why did the dev team last change, what's the overall story they are writing. Does it match well with your story?
5) Look at your probable future. Are there any future needs you'll need to meet with this education? Does the language help you toward those ends? Again you'll probably want to rank them.
5) Look at the probable future of the project. When was the last release? Are modern libraries or tools supporting it? Is the website up to date? Is the forum covered with posts asking when there will next be a release, or is the core team still energetic or stable?
Upon answering these personalization questions, that's when I'd look at more objective factors, like what other people say about it based on their personal circumstances.
Good luck to you, there are tons of amazing choices out there, and some beginning programmers can even start with more than one language...
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#9I am not a computer professional but may I suggest looking at this one: https://easylang.online/
Re: Ask HN: What language should beginning programmers learn first?
#10On one hand, I think that learning an easily-readable language like Python makes it easy to not worry about syntax and focus on actual CS concepts. On the other hand, there are a lot of CS concepts that go beyond algorithms, and I think understanding how e.g. C++ is written, precompiled, assembled, etc. is really valuable information. It is sort of like the argument for or against starting with an IDE - training whee…
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