Ever since i started having public lectures at one of my local colleges, a lot of aspiring programmers have been constantly asking me which language to learn first. Before answering this question let me emphasize that software engineering is not just programming. There are a lot of attributes that make a good software engineer besides just knowing a programming language. Companies out there want to hire software engineers who can get the job done as intended. Therefore whether you are good at a particular language is not enough, you have to arm your arsenal with essential and pre-requisite computer science skills and problem solving skills to be an excellent programmer that companies are looking for.

Going back to the question "Which language is ideal to learn first for beginners". To answer this question let me bring a scenario of a bricklayer. To be a good builder, a bricklayer has to know to use his or her tools of bricklaying to achieve the work at hand. You do not become a good bricklayer by learning how to use a trowel only, you should know how to use a spirit level and the rest of other tools too to become a well rounded bricklayer.

Does your first programming language really matter? Now let’s go back to software engineering, I feel the reason why many of you get stuck in this question is that you are scared of investing so much time in learning a language that might not be in demand or give you the job that you really need.

Great thinking. Let me put you at ease.

1- Remember that your job title is “Software Engineer” Again your job title is never going to be “Python developer” or “Javascript developer”.

Your job title is: “Software Engineer”.

If we go back to the bricklayer analogy. everyone wants to hire a good, well-rounded bricklayer who can get the job done. No one just hires a person just because they are very good at using a trowel.

Similarly, good software companies want to hire solid software engineers who can get the job done. They understand that if you are a good engineer, learning a new language shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks. So in the grand scheme of things, the programming languages you already know don’t matter that much.

2- You are learning fundamental programming concepts Any programming language that you learn will teach you the fundamental programming concepts that you need in order to be a good software engineer.

3- You will be using multiple programming languages anyways. Facts. You are going to be using multiple programming languages to get your job done.

This can happen in the same company, and sometimes even in the same project you are working on.

It is extremely uncommon for a software engineer to only code in one language for the span of their career.

Cool but I still want recommendations for my first programming language With all that said, there is no harm in learning languages that are already widely used in the industry and likely to be used in the future.

For this purpose, I highly recommend these four languages:

1.C++ 2.Java 3.Python 4.javaScript. I can guarantee you will not go wrong by learning one or more of these languages as they will teach you the fundamental programming concepts that you need to learn to be a good software engineer.

And they also have the added benefit of being very popular languages that are being used by a lot of companies.

I personally believe that if you are a complete beginner to programming, Python is one of the easiest languages to get started with. It is beginner-friendly and relatively easier to learn than the other programming languages in this list.

I hope this answer was useful, and that we can settle this once and for all.