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What is the best language to learn at this moment?

7 points by aspiring ↗ HN
I used to write html and was in a magazine way back in 1995. After joining the service and doing other things for the last several years, I have forgotten most of what I learned during that time period. However, I have constantly kept up to date with the user-facing side of technology. I would like to learn a programming language. What is the best language to learn, and in what way can I help and contribute in that language in 2013 and beyond? I used to spend hours coding html back in the day when I was a kid, and those were the best times of my life...I seem to have lost it, but the fire still burns.

12 comments

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jasonngpt
If you are looking at web languages, you can't really go wrong with PHP, Ruby or Python.

There are many tutorials and screencasts of the various frameworks for the different languages.

Main thing is to just try them all out and see which clicks for you.

Enjoy.

Edit: And Javascript!

kls
If you are looking to do web, learn Javascript the future of the web is moving to platforms that expose themselves as JSON services and Javascript/HTML application consuming those services to create workflows ontop of a mixture of those platforms. Javascript has become an essential language to the future of the web.
CyberFonic
I was going to say "JavaScript" but upon reflection - you might find Go (v1.1 is out) a better choice for back-end heavy lifting - if it's good enough for Google ... (BTW you could say that for Python too).
Goranek
Python or Ruby. I know Go and Node.JS are trendy right now but still i would recommend Python or Ruby
spo81rty
Can't go wrong with C# and the Microsoft stack. I've been using it for 10 years.
nayefc
You're mentioning HTML so it seems that you're more into web. I'd recommend: Python, Ruby and Javascript.

Some would say Python or Ruby. I suggest both. Once you learn one, it's very easy to pick up the other. As much as their similar, their library support and tools make them useful for different purposes as much as the same purposes. To go into a little detail, if you're building a website with some offline or non-web aspects, go with Python. If what you want to build is entirely on the web, go with Ruby on Rails / Sinatra. With these skills, you can build awesome web apps and tap into the huge library support of Python for non-web related issues.

Finally, you just have to learn Javascript if you want to dive into web. Start with pure Javascript, some jQuery and pick a library (Backbone, Ember etc...) and learn it.

runjake
Python and Javascript will probably still be around with a healthy ecosystem long after the current (and next) trends die, so they'd be safe bets, in my opinion.

The other languages and frameworks are neat, but I can't help thinking the above will be around long after the current and next trends die.

username111
Ruby has a big enough foothold that it should stay around for quite some time.

Though I do prefer python.

ibudiallo
I'm surprised almost no one recommend php even though it powers almost all of the web, and is the easiest to setup. I strongly recommend php, javascript and css. And everything else will just follow.
tagabek
I'm planning for a career in mobile development, so Objective-C and Java are my two main languages right now.
sydneyitguy
I guess PHP is easiest to start, Ruby and Python are more fun. Javascript is obvious if you consider web programming. I'm interested in Scala, GoLang nowadays, but I feel it's in too early stage still.

Anyway I would recommend just trying every language, so you can select the most suitable one depending on the project.

mcartyem
Perhaps unbeknownst to you, you suggested that languages can be ranked, and that one of them stands out on top as best.

You are almost right. There is one language that is the best, though it's so young it doesn't stand out yet. This might be the only time in history people still have the chance to contribute to the best language.

That is, Arc: http://arclanguage.org