KAGreen.dev

What Language

May 11, 2020

“What language should I learn?” is a common question among newbie programmers (myself included), which is often met with the answer “it doesn’t matter, just pick something and go with it.”

That’s tough advice to follow.

Because every time you look at a job ad for a developer, they are very specific about programming languages.

A job ad almost never reads:

  • 3 years of coding experience

It usually reads:

  • 3 years of experience with [Language1]
  • 3 years of experience with [Language2]
  • 3 years of experience with [Language3]
  • 3 years of experience with [Tool with ridiculous name, of which there are many other tools that accomplish the same task]

As someone who isn’t in the industry yet, it’s difficult to tell if these potential employers literally want someone with that exact experience, or if, as my developer friends tell me, they would be just as happy with an applicant with a couple of years of experience in a different language.

It’s difficult to ignore that the job ads are written as if only candidates with a specific skill set will be considered. That’s what drives me (and I’m guessing other newbies) to continue circling back to the question of whether I’m learning the “right” language.

I started out coding with a fun class in Python.

I switched to learning Javascript because I like my code being on the web.

I spent some time learning Ruby on Rails because a friend made Ruby sound like so much fun.

For now, I’ve decided that Javascript will be my focus, although even that leaves a plethora of choices for exactly which libraries and frameworks to focus on. I’m setting out to learn the MERN stack so I can practice building full web apps with a back end.

React seems a little crazy so far, but I’m telling myself to have faith that it’s popular for a reason, and eventually, if I keep learning how to use it (and don’t forget to develop my vanilla js too), then it’ll all come together and make sense.

In the meantime, my first CS class starts in June, and we’ll be expected to code in Java. It’ll be nice to get back to some basics of coding, and learn the building blocks.