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What is the best first coding language?

What is the best coding language for beginners?

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Christian’s Answer

Hi @Almaz! Thanks for posting this question - let me start by saying that I think many people will say "it depends", but in my opinion, the best programming language to start would be Python. It's a great language to learn as it's easy to read (reads much closer to English) and is relatively simple to understand for someone who is brand new to programming.

However, in place of jumping straight into Python, I'd recommend checking out Harvard's free CS50 course. It's an incredible intro to CS course that takes you through programming in C, Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The professor is fantastic and learning to program in C really helps with understanding what is happening "under the hood" of the computer.

If you're set on learning Python, I'd recommend MIT OCW 6.0001 and MIT OCW 6.0002.

Christian recommends the following next steps:

Try out CS50 from Harvard - https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2022/
Intro to Computer Science & Programming in Python (MIT OCW 6.0001) - https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-0001-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-in-python-fall-2016/
Intro to Computational Thinking & Data Science in Python (MIT OCW 6.0002) - https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-0002-introduction-to-computational-thinking-and-data-science-fall-2016/
Thank you comment icon Christian, thank you! Almaz
Thank you comment icon No problem! Best of luck as you learn programming and have fun! Christian Dowell
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Joshua’s Answer

You can try Excel VBA, if you have access to Excel you have access to VBA which is actually used to code the formulas used by professionals. It is relatively simple to understand and someone who rarely coded (like me) is most likely able to use it with some relative ease
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Venkat Raghavan’s Answer

I have had the privilege of learning and working with many programming languages and I second the opinion expressed by many that Python may be the best programming language to start with. It is very close to plain English ("pseudo-code" in computer science terms) and very easy to pick up and get going.
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Rebecca’s Answer

Thank you for your question. I am glad that you are interested in coding.
I suggest you can start with some simpler programming languages first. Please find my suggestions below :
1. Consider to start learn simpler programming languages, e.g, Scratch, Python, etc.
2. Find the resources online on programming languages, .e.g. syntax, structure, examples, etc.
3. Start using the programming to on some simple coding
4. Consider to use the language to some simple projects, e.g. control robot, etc. Practise makes perfect!
5. After you get familiarize on one language, you can consider to learn another one.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Thank you comment icon Thank you for the advice, Rebecca. Almaz
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Blaine’s Answer

I would say python is the best language to learn for someone who's new to programming. It's simple to understand and it allows you to obtain a basic knowledge of coding practices that will give you a great exposure to learning other programming languages.
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Fred’s Answer

Hello @Almaz,

I would probably suggest Ruby as a good starting language. Ruby is well-designed as an Object-Oriented Programming language. And rather than whitespace, Ruby denotes the end of a logical block with end. Most languages have clear delimiters for the start and end of a block. Both of these transfer well to other programming languages.

Here are some resources you can look at:
https://pine.fm/LearnToProgram
http://www.rubykoans.com/
http://www.rubykoans.com/
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Zachariah’s Answer

Hi Almaz,

I would recommend starting out with Visual Basic. This was my first programming language and it is a good resource that teaches you the basics of programming. The language is not too complex, but allows you to grasp beginner level concepts. Another good language to start with is C#. C# is a little bit more in depth and requires more actual coding in order to make things work. There are plenty of useful applications for C# and it is similar to JAVA. C# allows for plenty of creativity, you can even make games that are moderately complex.
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