Easy programming languages for beginners

Introduction

Today we will talk about the easiest programming languages for beginners. I have been a developing code for over 25 years now and I have seen everything from low level languages such as assembly, C/C++ to higher level more modern stuff such as Java, Python and Javascript. While I’m not really caught up to any particular language I naturally have spent a long time developing in C and I can say this is my favorite language but that’s part of another story which I will talk about another time. In this article I’m planning to talk about which languages are easy to learn and adapt too. Of course this list may change chronically as new stuff comes up so my work will only be current for the next 2-3 years past that I cannot guarantee anything.

I have been working in the Software industry for over 23 years now and I have been a software architect, manager, developer and engineer. I am a machine learning and crypto enthusiast with emphasis in security. I have experience in various industries such as entertainment, broadcasting, healthcare, security, education, retail and finance.

Python

I have been using python for nearly since the beginning of it and I have seen all the transformations it has undergone. One thing I like about the project is that they have barely changed the syntax and kept it for the most part backwards compatible. This makes it easy to learn once and just learn about it’s updates easier. Furthermore python is a language with a very low skill cap meaning that if you have experience with any other programming language you can easily pick it up as it has similarities in syntax with other languages.

Even if you are a beginning starting from scratch the language is very much self explanatory in terms of the naming conventions it uses and the way it’s implemented. One of the best features of the language is that you can be very productive due to it’s simplicity. If you want to take it a step further and go deep into object oriented style of programming you can do so but it’s not necessary for your project. I highly recommend it to anyone starting out as it has a plethora of libraries and tools that make the life of a developer easy.

It always seems to be in the spotlight and attracts major development efforts as they come out for example with data science and machine learning I’d say python is a one way stop as all the major projects use it now. If you want a versatile language that could get you a lot of job offers and you are mainly looking to start a career as a backend developer I’d say go with it and you won’t lose. The main disadvantage is that it’s not much of a frontend language although there are projects that do use it as such.

Python also has a great debugging and unit testing environment. As a beginner you want to make use of all the resources you can that will give you an assist going forward on making your code better and less buggy. It will also save you a lot of time that you would otherwise spend testing locally before going into a higher environment. I can’t mention how many times pdb has saved me from debugging my code for hours which I would otherwise have to use print out messages. Some other honorable mentions here are:

• Pytest: This is a great framework to do your unit testing in Python it greatly helps you out and can be added in your GIT hooks.
• RunSnakeRun: A good way to visualize how your data flows and what component gets executed in Python, also hey it’s fun.

Javascript

Javascript although not one of my favorite language is the king of versatility. Why do I say that? Because it’s everywhere web development, app development, backend code etc. If you absolutely have to learn one language to cover it all then it should be javascript. It’s also one of the easiest languages to learn with a syntax that comes in naturally and for the most part self explanatory as python. The libraries are a lot and you can pretty much find anything you want for it.

One of the biggest disadvantages of Javascript is that it’s slow and it runs inside a virtual machine. Meaning there’s a translation engine that sits between you and your browser that converts javascript into native code. Each platform has it’s own implementation of it but that shouldn’t bother you as a beginner. With Javascript you can land any job you want as the market for it is massive. From AWS nodejs development to app development with react-native to even web development in general. It can also be used as system scripting if you are courageous enough!

Another point that I’d like to make here and I believe it’s an important consideration is debugging and testing. Javascript has excellent frameworks that deal with both of those situations. When you have a framework that assists you do unit testing and debug your code your life becomes much easier in the long run. Having said that I want to stress out that the tools are not the golden bullet you still need to be able to understand and cope with the coding on a day to day basis however it’s like having a shortcut that saves you a lot of time that you would otherwise spend on a screen debugging. Some honorable mentions here are:

• React Native / JS Debugger tools, this is particularly useful if you are debugging a react app.
• JestJS this is a great unit testing tool that’s flexible enough and can be incorporated in various aspects of your project.

Conclusion

Both languages in my opinion are great for someone starting out. It really comes down to personal taste, whether or not you would be participating in a particular project that uses it or not the choice is really yours. If you have a friend or a mentor that knows either of two this may be another reason of why you may consider going down that path. If none of the above exists and it’s truly your choice maybe try to identify and picture where you see yourself going in a few years from now. I believe Python is more on the machine learning/AI library sets and Javascript is more on the frontend such as App/Web products. If it’s just a backend solution then I think both work great!

If you see the interest over time in the screenshot below from google trends, you will notice that Python is being searched a lot more in the last 5 years than Javascript which to me it says there’s rising interest over time.

If you found this article useful and you think it may have helped you please drop me a cheer below I would appreciate it. Today we discussed about easy programming languages for beginners while the language itself is a tool you still need to understand the basics of programming in order to do well.

If you have any questions, comments below I check periodically and try to answer them in the priority they come in.
Also if you have any corrections please do let me know and I’ll update the article with new updates or mistakes I did.

If you would like to learn more about Python or Javascript please take a look at my section here for more articles.

Which is your favorite beginners language?