Home College Insider Looking to develop your tech skills? Here are 10 entry-level programming languages for you to choose from!

Looking to develop your tech skills? Here are 10 entry-level programming languages for you to choose from!

D2C Admin

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Looking to develop your tech skills? Here are 10 entry-level programming languages for you to choose from!

0 min read

Every budding engineer must be ready to write. Yes, write! From code to writing computer programs, you will require in-depth knowledge of a programming language. Automation is the way forward for every sector and every domain, be it storage of information or drawing up trends of the previous years.

Programming languages such as Python, Java, C++ are age-old languages that have been quite popular amongst both beginners and professionals. However various new programming languages have made way into the computer world. These languages are used in web applications, mobile applications, game development, distributed system, etc.

How to choose the correct programming language for yourself?

The bottom line to the answer to this question is that only you can decide which language you will be comfortable with. However, the best way to come to this decision is to read and educate yourself about each language that is out there.

So here are a few options to choose from, to start your journey in programming languages:

Python - Python is the most widely accepted programming language for beginners. It is not only easy to use but also acts as a primary language for most startups across the world. Most popular websites such as Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. are all built-in Python. The developer community base for Python is also quite widespread.

Pros	Cons
Extensive library support	Not very suitable for mobile computing
Can scale even complex application	Is an interpreted programming language, i.e. reprocesses every line in a loop, making it slower by virtue
Provides support for a plethora of platforms and systems	Immature database access
Very easy to learn	Has Global Interpreter Lock (GIL), which allows execution of exactly one thread, making the threading not up to the mark.
Ideal for building prototypes
Has OOP (Object-oriented programming) which makes it creation and usage of classes and objects easy

Java - After Python, Java is the most popular general-purpose programming language. It has been used in large organizations for decades. Web applications that are used in enterprise-building usually deploy Java. It is known for its stability and is famous for development-based jobs. One extremely favorable characteristic of Java is its wide use in Android App Development. With the increasing popularity of android applications in the business world, Java opens up a number of opportunities for Java developers.

Pros	Cons
Large number of open-source libraries	Limited creation of high-quality data structures due to absence of templates
Automatic memory allocation	Memory management is expensive
High degree of platform independence	Slower as compared to natively compiled languages (C and C++)
Exclusion of explicit pointer and inclusion of security manager makes it highly secure
Support multithreading

C/C++ - C/C++ is used in almost all low-level OS, file systems, etc. For a system-level programmer, C++ is the best entry-level language. C++ is an extremely stable language with a very fast processing speed. This combination makes it highly useful for competitive programmers. Library support and fast speed make it a popular choice for the field of High-frequency trading community as well

Pros	Cons
Compatible with a large number of compilers and libraries	Complex syntax
Eases access to blocked/hidden objects written in other languages	It is not very easy to learn for a beginner
Faster execution as compared to other programming languages	Smaller standard library
Offers a great deal of portability	High-level constructs need to be created manually
Makes debugging, testing, and maintaining the programs easier	Less efficient than OOP-based programming languages
Rich function library	Has buffer overflow and memory corruption

JavaScript - JavaScript is used popularly in designing frontend applications. This means that the on-screen applications and popups function. Tech jobs have great utilization for JavaScript. It is immensely useful to produce dynamic web page content before the page is sent to the user’s web browser. It is fairly easy to learn and has great scope for job opportunities.

Pros	Cons
Gives a richer interface to the final product	Absence of equivalent method
Highly versatile	It can expose data to malicious content due to execution on user machine, so many people choose to disable it
Very fast - rens immediately within web browsers without any compilation	Different browsers interpret it differently
Simplistic implementation	Allows only simple inheritance, i.e, every object can be used as a prototype for another object, hence are not independent of each other
Several add-ons make it a compatible language
Used in a very diverse range of applications
Works well with other programming languages

Go programming language - This language is built by Google. It is also called ‘Golang’. While it has not gained the momentum achieved by Java and C++, it is being used widely in startups across tech hubs such as Silicon Valley. It is not very popular in India yet. However, foreign startups have started to adopt Golang as their foundational programming language.

Pros	Cons
It is backed by Google	Lacks versatility
Its is more secure owing to its statical-build	Underprivileged library support
Smart documentation	Implicit interface
Ideal for single-page applications (SPA)	No Graphic User Interface (GUI) library
Fast due to machine code compilation	Complex programs run on Go are less efficient

R programming language - This is the most popular language in Data Analysis and Machine Learning. I assists in the development of powerful Machine Learning algorithms with its string framework and built-in libraries. It is not very difficult to learn and also has great scope in the Analytics sector.

Pros	Cons
Runs seamlessly on various operating systems	Security features are questionable
Highly extensible	Lacks strict programming guidelines
Grants the ability to make optimizations as per the requirements	Poor memory management
Powerful package ecosystem	Some packages have subpar quality

Swift - This language is for those who wish to work with iOS applications. Swift is the programming language used in the popular iOS devices. The market share of iOS devices is the highest after Android. It is also an expensive software to develop so the salaries in this community are significantly higher.

Pros	Cons
Backed by Apple	Limited community support and resources
English-like syntax; clean, readable code	Limited community support and resources
Auto-memory management, less memory leaks	Can be used only for iOS7 or later apps
Much faster than other popular languages such as Objective-C and Python	Can be used only for iOS7 or later apps
Easy to add new features	Unstable due to its new arrival in the industry
Easy addition of functionalities to the product	Unstable due to its new arrival in the industry

PHP - Backend development (server-side of applications) makes great use of PHP. PHP developers are in great demand even though the language faces a lot of competition from Python and JavaScript.Old organizations with large markets hire PHP developers in large numbers.

Pros	Cons
First-class debugging with Xdebug	Lacks in terms of security
Easy for entry-level web page construction	Error handling is very poor
Very strong community support	Website developing completely in PHP can be relatively slower
Powerful frameworks	Requires a lot of extensions
Abundance of automation tools for testing and deploying	Requires a lot of extensions

C# - C# is developed by Microsoft. It is a general-purpose programming language widely used for backend programming, building games, apps for Windows mobile phones etc.

Pros	Cons
Much safer than C and C++	Offers less flexibility than C++
Works with shared codebases automatically scales and updates	Requires time and effort to perfect
Quick compilation, fast execution.	Allows pointers in ‘unsafe’ blocks
Ideal for all types of Windows development	Resolving errors in C# requires great expertise and in-depth knowledge of the language
Follows a similar syntax to C programming language
Component and object-oriented programming language

MATLAB - This is essentially a statistical tool, used in Data Analysis. It is also used the Computer Vision and Image Processing industry widely. It also has a large number of job opportunities.

Pros	Cons
It does not require a compiler for execution, has high coding efficiency	Requires purchasing a license
Ideal for scientific research applications	Slower as it is an interpreted programming language
The coder allows conversion for usage in other programming languages such as Java, Python and C++	Usage does not go much beyond numerical computing
Easy developing of scientific simulation due to a rich inbuilt library	Error- rectifying requires extensive knowledge and experience.

Highlights

Python and JavaScript will present you with multiple opportunities. They are fairly easy to learn and are used widely in the startup world.
Java and PHP are used mostly by big corporate companies. They are used mainly in the web backend framework.
In the Data Analytics sector, R and MATLAB are very popular. C/C++ and Golang give immense opportunities in building of low-latency systems.

Knowing a programming language will never work against your professional experience. It is a skill that will make you more desirable to employers, especially in companies that have a wide digital base.

Want to know more about the technology sector and the skills that could help propel your career in it? Check these out!