Getting Started With Programming

If you are looking to learn about programming but don't know where to begin, look no further! In this article, you will find which programming languages you would want to jump into first.

Whether your goal is to create apps for Android or make websites from scratch, there's one language you should be familiar with and that is Python.

The reason you should begin with Python is that it's the most beginner friendly language out there and has a huge growing community to help you with. Not only that but also Python is a very capable language that offers hundreds and thousands of libraries for you to use in, for example, machine learning, web development, data mining, data analysis and many more.

After getting comfortable with programming you are ready to jump into other languages. If your goal is to be a web developer you should get started with JavaScript (it's different from Java), CSS and HTML. Learning these languages are very rewarding and will be enough to make you stand on your feet as a web developer.

If your aim is not to be a web designer but to create apps for Android then you need to learn Java. Java is a language that can run on any platform and that is a huge upside because that means you don't have to learn additional languages to export to different platforms. With enough Java knowledge, you will be able to code anything you want ranging from simple games to complex software. You can turn your creative game ideas into real apps and get a stable income.

There are mistakes some beginners make that make them feel like programming really isn't for them. These mistakes would be:

1- Being too ambitious and hopping into the world of lower-level languages. This may get them frustrated and give up on programming, remember low-level programming languages are difficult, learn the higher level languages first.

2- Losing confidence after their code gives errors, this is only normal and that's how we learn the best. Just search the web for it.

3- Not thinking simple enough. This may sound weird but we as humans tend to over-complicate things and that ends up with messy code that distracts us from the main goal.

If you are going to be programming, you will need a companion. In this case, they are called IDE's (Integrated development environment), there are various IDE's for any language. Here are some commonly used free IDE's:

1- Visual Studio Code

VSC is a very flexible IDE fit for any language you want and runs on any platform, it is highly customizable and lightweight.

2-PyCharm

PyCharm is a big helper for those who are new to Python.

3-Code::Blocks

Code::Blocks is a cross-platform IDE for C/C++/Fortran, has its own compilers too.

Note: If your end-goal is to purely become a web developer, you can start with JavaScript instead of Python. They are very similar languages but starting with JavaScript will give you a nice boost.