Hello!
Im 26 years old and have an associates degree, I’m doing a career change from Finance. I realized that going to bootcamp is not worth it , and pursuing a CS degree would help me get a job. It should take me about 2 years to finish but meanwhile I go through those classes I want to self learn, build my skills, get my portfolio going.
My goal is to become a web developer(front end preferably) or even backend if I end up liking it.
My first 2 classes at the university are python related, so would it make sense for me to go all in on Python by taking self learning courses through udemy or youtube? and worry about learning JavaScript later? I already know html, css and a little bit of JavaScript but I’m not sure if its doable learning python and JavaScript at the same time. Has anyone tried learning python and JavaScript at the same time?
Thanks!!
languages don't matter too much. You'll need to learn a new language for many things that you'll do. Learn languages when you need them, so in your case python first. In fact learning a language quickly is a skill in and of itself.
It depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a web developer, learn Javascript. Javascript is the only language used on the frontend and also can be used in the backend (Node.js).
Sure, python has simpler syntax, but if you're really interested in webdev then you might as well start getting used to Javascript and then its libraries and frameworks once you learn fundamentals.
Edit: Also it's definitely a good idea to not go to a bootcamp unless you're really REALLY bad at motivating yourself to learn. There are so many free resources online.
When I picked up programming I started with Python but now mainly use Java. I want to do frontend so I just recently started learning JavaScript. Before I thought JavaScript was a language for frontend only, but now I realized that it could be used for backend and I'm thinking why don't people recommend JavaScript since it has the same concepts as Python and Java but it has more uses?
Videos
I am about to join college in 1 month and will be starting my coding journey. On most youtube videos people say that beginners should start with either java or python.
I like Ai stuff and that is mostly done by python (acc to what I found on the internet) but then Java is for mostly opensource and development( again acc to internet). Open source and development seems like more leaning towards better placements but then python seems easy and most Ai and ml is going on python.
I'm very confused right now, I wanna be able to build some good stuff with either language, but starting out is just overwhelming. No idea where to start.
Edit 1: I have kind of decided to start with Java and my college with probably start with C language so I'll try that in the 1 month I have left.
I’m new to coding and want to learn the fundamentals of it. I just want to know which one is the best and that’s it and give me some YouTube tutorials recommendations.
Which language should be the first one?
Some places online say JavaScript is the most popular, while others say that Python has been increasing in usage/frequency among big companies over the years.
Is one better than the other?
Most bootcamps only teach JS… I think only general Assembly gives a taste of Python…..
I assume Python isn’t that popular? Or the bootcamps are out of date?
Thank you for the advice!
I am so confused. My friend recommended I start with JS, so I went online for some resources and had half of the people recommend Python while the rest recommended JS
I have been studying programming for the last six months. For the first four months I studied Python, and then I started studying studying data structures and algorithms. For data structures and algorithms, I picked the books where the code was written in Python. Now that I am about to finish that, I have decided to pick Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick. In this book all the code is written in Java.
I want to learn both Java and Python, and I will learn Java at some point. My question is whether I should start learning it right now or not? I know it's not necessary, but I think it will be much easier to follow the book if I have some understanding of Java.
Why am I confused?
Well, I have watched videos, read blogs about people recommending to stick to one language when starting out. So, I am scared to start a new language thinking I might forget Python or get into a situation where I don't understand either of these languages.
I hate my career field, and long term I'd like to do something in programming. Web development seems much more in demand which pushes me to learn Javascript first, but I keep seeing learning python recommended to beginners. Long term though, I'd like to be able to do full stack web development and also small personal applications on the side, and most job listings I see want some amount of literacy in both languages. I've heard from both sides "if you learn python first you can pick up bad habits" and "if you learn Javascript first you can pick up bad habits" so I'm not really sure where to go from here.
Also, if Javascript I was going to go the route of The Odin Project. Is there something similar for learning Python?
Thanks!
Hello all, I apologize in advance if this question has been asked before, but I was wondering if it was better to learn Python or Javascript as a first language. I want to go onto full stack development but from my understanding I need to know Javascript for front end development and I read that Python is better for backend stuff. I was also reading that Python kind of "spoils" people if they learn it first, and I don't want to make it harder for myself to learn Javascript if I learn Python first. Thanks! (I'm interested in learning both, so I guess the real question is which I should learn first.)
Imagine you had a choice to learn to ride a bicycle or tricycle (maybe you are still 5 years old). You hear a tricycle is easier to learn, but you don't want to be spoiled, so you learn to use a bicycle, except you keep falling off, don't know how to stay balanced, and eventually decide it hurts too much to learn the bicycle, and so you just quit because you figure it's not worth it.
Unfortunately, Javascript and Python are different enough that whichever you learn first, you'll still have to relearn it. That is, if you learn Javascript first, and then Python, you won't say "Wow, Python is so easy" at least if you expect it to behave just like Javascript.
More realistically, it's be like picking up a second language and thinking "Wow, Python makes so much more sense than Javascript".
On the other hand, if you learn tennis then want to play pickleball (kind of a small version of tennis), the skills roughly translate, so tennis does help (or vice versa).
I mean there is some overlap, but not enough that you'd feel like it was a breeze to learn one if you knew the other (I think).
Python kind of "spoils" people if they learn it first
Nonsense. Either language is fine to learn as a first language. I would personally argue that Python is the better option, because the syntax is extremely quick to pick up and the structure enforces good coding practices (yes, I like indentation). It allows you to focus on the problem-solving aspects of programming, and understanding fundamental concepts like making decisions, repeating code, creating functions, etc. Javascript is also good, mind you.
What you should be looking at is where you might want to go with that language. If you are looking to develop for the web, Javascript is by far the dominant player, so you'll have a head start. Python, while it can be used with packages like flask or django, won't have the same wealth of resources as Javascript does.
I am very conflicted. I know a small bit of python and javascript (as in the only thing I can do is print things like hello world in them) but I have seen many videos about learning java's basics in 15, 14, even 10 minutes.
I should probably say my reasons for leaving it though as that will affect this quite a bit. I wanna make a website and small applications and some games but I want to learn the basics in a video shorter than 11 hours.
At the end of the road I wanna be able to make a small operating system that contains its own code app, a custom Web browser, settings, built-in games, a messaging/calling app, video player, files app, and all the other things a good operating system has.
So, which language should I code in?
Edit: I have had a change of mind, im learning binary first.
Ok so I want to learn coding.
If you had to do it all over again, would you want to learn JavaScript first or Python first?
Pros and cons of JS->Py | P->JS? Why?
I probably just butchered the above line. But hopefully you get my point.
Hey, I want to main java but heard it's difficult for a first language so should I begin with JavaScript to get used to programming fundamentals and then move to java? Guidance will be very appreciated
I will just be to the point, I just find it fun to learn how to code and want to be able to independent create code create things without error. There’s an interval between where I learn hello world then language I don’t understand. It’s very small and I don’t know where. Is it all important to learn?
Hi, I'm 17 right now and currently wasting a lot of my time so thought of getting into coding. I did some research and came to a conclusion that most recommend either javascript or python as their first language.
I have a very basic foundation in C, like very basic so wondering which one would be more useful to learn first. I'm thinking of giving both js and python a week or a month and then decide which one I'll study further. Would this be a good idea or a waste of time?
I'm choosing js because of web development and python since many said it's easy to understand and won't take much time to learn. I don't exactly have a goal to pursue either web development or any js things OR the machine learning, data science thing from python which is the reason i thought of learning both for a week or month to figure out what I would be suited for most. But I plan to get a job on this related firled quick. Thank You.
So I've seen a couple of video's about both. But for school I have a test on python which is just basic things, like multiply etc. and the else and if command. But JavaScript seems a bit more interesting for me. So im in a dillema. should i learn Python, because its easy and comes in handy for my test. Or follow JavaScript since it fits me better?
Hi! I'm a junior DevOps engineer and I would like to start developing backend too. I already know intermediate python and worked a little bit with django and I would like to dive deep into python and learn it well.
I asked my supervisor for his advice and he thinks that it's better for me to learn Java first. From his point of view Java is more technical and I can become a better developer by learning the fundamentals with it (like polymorphism, interfaces, data types). He considers python as an uneffective shortcut to learn bad software development practices.
At first he convinced me with his argument but then I documented myself better and I saw that even python has all of those concepts, so I feel like if I'm not lazy and l study python well I can achieve the same expertise I would get with Java.
Since I want python to be my main language I'm essentially very skeptical in using my energies in learning java from zero while I could dive deep in python and get solid with it. It's not like I only want to know python overall, but reading a book of 1600 pages like "learning python" takes time and effort and I feel like I want to make that effort on python, not java.
What do you think about it? I could really use your advice, thanks a lot in advance.
I'm beginning month 2 of my self taught journey with additional mentoring from my dev friends (perk of living in the Bay Area). I've always been into tech and have been following several programming subs for years even though I didn't know what people we're talking about most of the time. I kept telling myself to actually learn and finally decided to start.
I started with the front end path of HTML-CSS-js intending to learn full stack (was recommended to make it easier to land a job).
HTML and CSS were easy enough, I'm no designer but I can structure, use Flexbox/Grid etc and all the necessary things to create a page. I also know basic GIT via command line. As soon as I started js earlier this week I started having WAY more fun however.
I really enjoy programing. The building & problem solving aspects as well as the frustration and joy that comes from figuring out what you were doing wrong is far more satisfying.
Python has always interested me and I originally intended to learn foundational js & then Python however I've seen a lot of people say to pick a language and stick with it. I also listened to the recent Lex Fridman podcast with Carmack & it made me start to wonder if I should just start with Python instead.
There are two things that are making it hard to decide if this is a good idea or I should stick to the original plan
A. The "World is built on js" so it's pretty much used everywhere. However this also means there are a ton of js devs in a competitive job market
B. My friends have said it doesn't exactly matter what you learn because you'll end up using whatever the rest of the team is using at the end of the day so whats more important is understanding how to problem solve, demonstrate your thought process/logic & thinking like a programmer.
So should I stick to js first, or can I learn Python first without it holding me back?
I want to do an internship this summer(if I ever get on) and I'm wondering what other languages I should learn( Already know Java). I think it's between Python and Javascript. Which one would be better to learn first?
edit: Thanks for all the responses
Just knowing a bunch of languages isn't really what being a programmer is about -- rather, it's about being able to apply what you currently know to solve complex problems (along with being able to independently research and learn so you can fill gaps in your knowledge as necessary).
What this basically boils down to is that if you want to get better at programming, you should prioritize completing on complex, non-trivial projects in languages you already know. (Starting with small projects and working your way up is fine too.)
You should probably pick up a new language only if the project you want to work on requires/strongly encourages you to use some particular language, or once you've completed a handful of decent sized projects in the language that you're currently learning (which in your case is Java) and so feel comfortable moving on.
Note that one good way of increasing your odds of being invited to interview for an internship is by building up a strong portfolio of projects -- this can be personal projects, projects you do for clubs you're a part of, any undergrad research (if your school has an undergrad research program), perhaps some of your more complicated classwork, past internships and jobs, etc...
Generally, somebody who knows only one language but has an impressive portfolio will be picked over somebody who (claims) they know many languages but has a practically non-existent portfolio.
This is because the first kind of person is probably a good problem solver (and so probably won't have too much difficulty picking up a new language if needed) whereas it's unclear if the second person is actually capable of applying what they claim to know.
Python is simpler and promotes better programming practices and styles. If you don't have an immediate need for Javascript I'd go with Python first.
Javascript is very "hacky" and full of idiosyncrasies. For example the typical way to transform a string into a number is to have
var x = "11"
+x // this is now the number 11or the infamous boolean cast.
Until very recently it lacked the facilities to build large scale programs, leading to the development of TypeScript and a lot of new functionality in ES6. However the majority of teaching material won't be based on these updated practices.
Then there's the whole modern ecosystem of frameworks, transpilers, template systems and bundlers. They are all rather opaque, ther exist several widely used versions of each and they share very little in common with each other.
For learning general programming Python is clearly better in my opinion. You're much better off learning from Python materials then transferring your skills to Javascript than the other way around.
I've searched this sub but didn't get an conclusive answer, hence my question.
At the moment I'm working towards becoming a UI/UX/web designer. I know HTML and CSS, but would like to expand my skillset and learn some coding. From what I've understood is that Python is easier to learn than JavaScript, but JavaScript is more useful to learn as a webdesigner. Eventually I want to design apps, so I'm wondering if perhaps learning Python first might make it easier to learn JavaScript.
I would like to have some input in this, thanks!