Top 5 Programming Languages You Should Learn

There is an overwhelming amount of languages out there. If you're looking to become a developer, you might be looking to pick the first language. So you might ask yourself, "what is the best language?". If I had to restart and relearn languages, these would be the first five I would pick.

#1 Javascript

Javascript was originally designed to make website development easier, but now Javascript is used everywhere. Websites, applications, and servers; multi-platform at that. There are massive open-source communities built around it, including NPM. It is a general-purpose language that is easy to learn. Javascript is now my go-to language when developing projects and I suggest it whenever people want to learn to code. Learning Javascript could take 9 months.

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#2 C++

C++ is a very powerful programming language. You can use C++ to best utilize your CPU and RAM. With C++ also being a very fast language, you find it in speed-sensitive applications like game engines, simulators, and virtual machines. If high performance is a necessity, C++ is easily the go-to if available. Learning C++ could take 12 months.

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#3 C#

If you come from experience with C, even with C++, transitioning to C# can be smooth. It is most commonly used to build Windows applications. It can be said to best suit the .NET Windows design library to create reliable user interfaces. While sharing similarities to C++, it is simpler to work with, albeit slower. Learning C# could take 3 months.

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#4 Python

Most people's first learned language is Python. It is among the easiest languages to learn thanks to its simple syntax and readability. Python was designed with data analysis and visualization in mind. Learning Python could take 8 weeks.

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#5 SQL

SQL stands for "Structured Query Language". It is a programmed language used for databases. A widely preferred database language at that. Every project I've used that required a database utilized SQL. SQL lets you see how exact data looks and works, which makes workflows smooth. Learning SQL could be as short as 3 weeks.

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Summary

There is no best language. Each language is better at certain tasks and you may need to switch between languages for different projects. These five languages are what I recommend learning and they cover a wide variety of project types.

Disclaimer: The estimated learning time assumes you have no background knowledge. It could be much shorter if you already have coding experience.