Top 9 Best Programming Languages to Learn First [2023]

Are you new to the wonderful world of programming?

And looking to begin coding as an art (hobby), to upgrade your current skill as a software developer, or to get a job at big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and many more…

Then, you might be wondering, “What are the best programming languages to learn first in 2023″ ?

However, The answer of this question is not straightforward, There are hundreds of programming languages currently being used for different types of software fields.

But, Which language is for you to start?

The answer of this question is just like finding the right key from a bunch of keys. So, without any delay let’s solve the mystery.

Long story short: If you are an absolute beginner and want to become a pro in coding, then you should definitely learn C as your first programming language.

I Hope, This guide will help you to discover your right first language.

Let’s Get Started!

So, “Which is the right first programming language you should start with?”

If you search for the same question on any web browser or YouTube, you will get lots of answers, some article or video will recommend you to go for C language first.

Some article will recommend you to go for Python then JavaScript and then PHP, then What is the correct answer?

Don’t Worry!

I’m going to walk you through the process for picking the right first language for yourself for your particular situation and preferences.

So, as you pick the first language for yourself one thing to keep in mind is that once you know one language whether it’s C, Python, JavaScript or anything else.

As long as you know one its going to be much easier to learn any additional languages because all programming languages are sort of related and similar.

When you learn a new language it doesn’t matter which language is start with, first particular idea is “HELLO WORLD” for sure the second code you will write is addition of two numbers.

Then you will go for if-else which is even-odd numbers then you will go for loops, you will try to print the pattern, The same thing is applicable in all the languages.

So, I would say if you already started learning one language and if you like what you’re learning just keep going with that.

Other than that,

There are following factors you should consider as you pick the right first language for yourself.

? 1. Which field you want to get into or, What do you want to build.

? 2. The job market or, Market trend

? 3. Ease of learning

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#1: Which field you want to get into or, What do you want to build.

This really matters when it comes to your own personal development with coding.

That is,

How fast can you build real world projects?

So, First of all before learning any programming language just classify why you want to learn programming?

I mean which field you want to get into?

So, If you want to get into any one of the field either server side scripting, data analysis, machine learning or Artificial intelligence.

I would go with Python.

Because, Python is very easy to learn, just like a piece of cake for you.

If you want to learn programming easily go with python, it’s damn easy to work and explore with.

With the advancement of technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics.

The demand of experts with python skills is rising significantly.

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If you want to get into web world and if you know that you want to get into web programming like web developing and designing, Website building go with JavaScript.

There is no harm in trying with JavaScript because in fact in JavaScript itself you will learn lots of things.

You will learn about Variables, Data-types, you learn about how to use for-loop, while-loop and that’s What we learn, right?

And, If you know that you will be going for web development, Why not directly start with JavaScript because, if you use JavaScript the advantages is that you will actually see something happening.

The prerequisite is to learn HTML and CSS for that so, Learn HTML, Learn CSS and go for JavaScript.

So that you can actually make web pages.

And, Trust me when you build your first web page you will feel really happy and very confident.

So, HTML and CSS for the decoration of the website that determine How your web pages look like and JavaScript allows you to add functionality to those web pages.

For example:

You can add a piece of functionality that says when I click one button right here it’s going to change the color of the other button right there.

And, You can see all of that HTML, CSS, JavaScript as a set of code that runs on your device or on browser and that’s called a Front-End code.

And that alone the Front-End code is not enough to make a complete website.

For example:

Something like Facebook because, when you go to Facebook.com Facebook needs to know who your friends are.

And that information is not stored on your device or on your browser it’s stored somewhere Facebook’s server.

So, you need code that runs on Facebook’s server or your own website server and that’s called Back-End code.

For Back-End code Developers use something else.

For example:

Node-js, Angular-js Which are based on JavaScript or Django or Flask Which are something called web- frameworks that are based on Python.

So, Actually to make a complete website you need to learn a lot of things HTML, CSS and JavaScript as well as at least one web-framework.

But, I would say Just start with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

If you’re interested in building a Website.

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If you want to build ios apps Whether i-phone apps or i-pad apps, I would go with Swift.

Swift is a ios programming language that is used for Apple. If you ever dreamed of making a app that shows up in the app store, ranks highly, or you want to be able to make you know,

The dream of every developers ever make monthly recurring income or passive income from a app.

Then Swift will be the Game changer for you.

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If you want to build Android Apps, I would go with Java first and then may be Kotlin.

Because, Java is the most popular for Android app development.

And,

According to the job market Java is the most popular language as compare to the others.

It’s currently declining a little bit in popularity because of a new programming language like Kotlin, which can now use to create Android apps.

This is why if you look at the Google trends, you will see in the last five years Java has a little ups and downs.

Outside of that , There’s still lots of jobs that are offered for Java developer.

So, If you want to get into the field of Android development go with Java without any hesitation.

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If you are looking to get into Game development, I would go with C# or C++.

C# is a powerful language with a wide range of applications.

It is somewhat easier to pick up then C++ so it could be a better one to learn first.

Several factors makes C# a great choice for creating games.

The first is its XNA framework, from Microsoft, which makes it perfect for making games for windows or Xbox and many more…

And,

C++ always finds its way onto best programming language for game development.

C++ took C and added object oriented programming (OOP) to expand its capabilities.

But,

The downside for newbies is the high entry barriers.

So,

If you have to choose between the two, I’d go with C#.

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And, at last but not least:

If your dream is to creating application and Web application, you’re gonna have to deal with data.

When you have to deal with data, you’re pretty much not going to get away if you don’t understand SQL (Structured Query Language).

So, If you want to make an application that can store data and save information.

For example:

If you go on Instagram and when you like somebody’s post, or you like somebody’s comment than that like is stored somewhere.

or,

when you make a post on Instagram or Facebook, That post is stored somewhere.

And, When you log back in, that post is still there.

Guess, What it saving your post?

It’s SQL; it’s SQL being able to talk to databases.

So,

If your dream is to become a data-scientist or work with databases, I’d go with SQL as my first option.

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I’m not sure what I want to build, I just want to learn programming language.

Learning programming without any aim is just like trying to learn a foreign language but admitting that you don’t even know where it’s spoken.

But, any way-

You can start with C, because C is the first complete language you know.

And,

The best part is: C is a hardware friendly language. It helps you to understand the fundamental architecture of how things works.

It has fewer libraries in comparison with other high-level languages. So, learning C also clears programming concepts to a great extent as you have to write lot of things or we can say everything from scratch.

So,

If you want to be something in future and if you are not sure what you want to be, you have to follow certain steps.

You have to learn C programming first, after learning C language you will understand what is programming?, then C++ will help you to understand how to use objects inside C and then you can go ahead with Python, JavaScript, Java, swift and many more…

And, If you are not sure then only go for this path– C, C++ and Java or Python according to your particular situations.

The benefit you will see after choosing this path is that you will be open for everything.

That’s Why,

If you join any college or any higher degree institutions in India, then you will find that the first language they will teach you is C in most of the colleges.

Because, They are not sure What you want to be and that’s why they teach you C.

so that you will go into that stack you know C, C++, Java then you will learn dotnet and everything.

But,

If you directly know, What you want to do or what you want to build than go with that particular language.

And, for a solid foundation, for a solid base in programming languages you must go for C as your first language then C++.

And, then the remaining languages will be like a piece of cake for you.

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#2: The job market or, market trend

Means, What is the demand and the overall salary that you can make with this programming language in 2023.

If you are learning programming purely for your intellectual interests, then feel free to skip this factor.

Actually the Job market is a tricky point to consider because, it highly depends on your location and the industry you want to get into.

For example:

If you want to get into a start-up in Bangalore good languages to learn might be Python, Java or JavaScript.

And, If you are interested in gaming or banking a better option might be C++ or C#.

According to the job market, Java outscores different languages in terms of job opportunities it has to offer.

So, I would say just take a look at the job posting of the kinds of jobs you’re interested in on websites like LinkedIn and Indeed.com and just look at what their requirements are.

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FAQ (frequently asked question)

Does it really matter, which language you learn if you’re trying to get a job at big tech companies?

My answer would be Yes!

It does, But not directly.

What I mean by that is when you have a job interview with one of these companies as a software engineer candidates.

The most important thing they’ll usually look for is not what specific language or technology you’re been using.

Instead they tend to look for mostly your coding skills, your problem-solving ability, your logical thinking, your data-structure and algorithms knowledge that’s it.

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#3: Ease of learning

It is the most important factor for those who has no idea about a single line of code.

Because, any person who is new to any field always seeking to the easiest steps to achieve their goal.

So, To keep in mind,

I would say Python is easier to learn than C or C++ and JavaScript is easier to learn than Java.

So,

What programming language should you learn first?

It highly depends on your particular situation. But, I would say in general try to find something that fulfills all of these three criteria means the three factors which I have mentioned earlier.

So, ideally find something that’s in demand in the job market.

Let’s you build something you want to build and is relatively easy to learn and that actually brings us to Python and JavaScript.

Because, they are both relatively easy to learn and they both tend to be in demand in the job market as well.

So, which one of these programming languages should you learn first, that actually depends on what you want to build.

If you’re more interested in the logic side of things than visuals than I would say go with python.

Python is often used to build server-side code or back-end code of websites.

or,

If you are interested in building websites than I would first go with JavaScript and if you go with JavaScript first learn HTML and CSS.

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Conclusion:

So, What’s the best programming language to learn first?

• If you want a solid base/foundation in programming : C then C++
• Looking for something easy and most demanding : Python
• If you want to get into website development : first learn HTML, CSS then JavaScript
• If you are looking for a job or want to make android apps : Java
• Want to get into game development : C++ or C#
• If your dream is to become a data-scientist or work with databases : SQL
• If you want to build ios apps whether i-phone apps or i-pad apps : Swift

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Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which programming language you are going to learn first?

Let me know by leaving a quick comment below right now.

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