What should I learn first?

Posted by Ayzti@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 13 comments

I’m planning to learn programming but I don’t know what language should I start with

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PotemkinSuplex@reddit

People often recommend Python or C. C is more “fundamental”, Python is “the second best language for anything”(derogatory, but not really) and very readable/beginner friendly. HTML/CSS is also an option for a starting point if you want to build websites, but it is not really programming till you add other stuff later.

If you are young and afraid of text, you might want to look at scratch.

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thatonereddditor@reddit

C? People recommend C? As a first language?

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PotemkinSuplex@reddit

Yup, the idea is that you learn fundamentals and memory management from the very beginning without the language abstracting away anything from you, holding your hand or giving you a lot of pre-built stuff. You essentially start with c, write everything you use yourself and graduate to the pluses picking up most of the theoretical stuff you’ll need along the way.

I personally wouldn’t go this way, it is hard, but some people do recommend it.

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LongLiveTheDiego@reddit

Yes. That's how it was in my school as the first programming course and I'd say it works well. C kinda requires you to learn about memory and pointers, how simple loops work, etc.

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NDLCZ@reddit

Maybe C++ or C# to tie in to game development but C ? nah

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NDLCZ@reddit

Just pick one: Javascript, C++, Python... the language is secondary to computer programming fundamentals. In fact, maybe look for a computer programming fundamentals video first and just use the same language as the tutorial—there's no 'best' first language and choosing 'wrong' isn't as catastrophic as not knowing what a control flow is

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gm310509@reddit

If you know what field you want to get into, then you should state that.

The reason is because programming languages are just tools. So your question is sort of like "what tool should I learn first?". Well if you want to be a carpenter, then a saw or hammer would be a good choice. But if you want to be an architect, then it might be better to learn the drafting desk and a pencil first. Does that make sense? I hope so because it is the same here - as indicated by the variety of responses you have received thus far.

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appendixexploder@reddit

start with C

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Conscious_Bank9484@reddit

html. Open up a notepad on your pc, throw in some html code like:

Hello World!!!!!!!!

save it as helloworld.html

Leave out the .txt extension and open it with a web browser.

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