Which programming language should I learn first?

There are so many programming languages, so many platforms and so many ways to learn. Even knowing how to get started can be stressful.

“What if I choose the wrong language?”

“What if it doesn’t do what I need it to?”

The truth is there is no wrong first language. You will hear strong voices in favour or against every language under the digital sun, most of them will have valid points however, all of them will miss one key thing.

Learning to program is different from learning a programming language.

Programming languages are a tool that enable you to learn how to write code and solve problems. Most languages share similar underlying concepts, so concepts learned with one will apply to most of the others.

You don’t want to hear me waffle on about ideological aspects of programming vs programming languages though, you want an answer!

Learn Javascript first.

It’s the only language that is natively supported in web browsers, it can run on servers, it can run locally on your computer and you can even build mobile applications for iOS and Android with it. At this point, Javascript is the universal language. So, as a starting point, it’s perfect.

Once you have a good understanding of Javascript you can then move on to other languages that are more specific, if you want.

Your first language is not your last language, no language is wrong but Javascript has the broadest application.