F IVE BEST

PROGRAMMING
L ANGUAGES TO LE ARN
IN 2019

W W W. A N DY S T E R K O W I T Z . C O M
 W H AT ’ S I N T H I S G U I D E ?

I GET ASKED ALL THE TIME “what are the best programming languages to learn?”

When you’re brand new to software development (and even if you have been in the field
for some time) this question feels like rocket science. Everybody is touting a different
programming language as the “one” to know. By the time you have decided on learning
your first language another person is telling you that it’s outdated and to try this other
“shiny” cool new language. Even after you finally manage to choose something you feel
good about you have this sinking feeling that you just don’t know enough and should go
back to the drawing board.

It’s completely overwhelming trying to understand how all programming languages,

frameworks, paradigms and technologies fit together in the software development
universe. What are the most lucrative languages to know? What type of developer should
I be? Should I be a frontend or backend developer?

All the questions used to make my head spin and gave me the sinking feeling that I was
in way over my head. But getting the right answer for these questions isn’t as daunting
as it seems.

In this guide I wanted to share with you the five programming languages I think every
developer should know. This is for beginners as much as intermediate developers. I am
going to cover what I think you should know to make sure you have skills that can 1.)
make you valuable to have on a team and 2.) will be relevant for years to come.

If you are brand new to software development the idea of learning five languages may
really intimidate you. Don’t be intimidated! This is meant to give you an idea of languages
you should aim to get experience in over the coming months and years when deciding
what to learn. You don’t need to be an expert in any one of these languages necessarily
but if you can build some applications demonstrating these languages then you are going
to have a real solid foundation and skillset moving forward.

2 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m

J AVA S C R I P T

TIOBE Index Rank: 8

Stack Overflow 2018 Rank: 1
Github Popularity Rank (2017): 1

IF THERE IS ONE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE that I’m confident in being relevant

ten years from now it would be Javascript. More than anything else I base that on the
fact that Javascript is quite literally everywhere. You encounter it when you open up your
browser and go to your favorite websites every day. That alone should prove that Javascript
is one of the most popular programming languages. But far beyond that Javascript has
expanded past its humble origins in the browser.

While Javascript is most commonly referred to as a front-end language, the truth is that
it actually has a use in every layer of the software development stack. It is a backend
language because of its use in NodeJS. It can develop mobile apps using the Ionic
framework. You can also build desktop apps using Electron (a framework). It is used as a
database language in CouchDB and MongoDB.

Long story short: javascript isn’t going anywhere.

You may hear people calling for the death of Javascript because of the real flaws that the
language has. However I am wary of these types of predictions. Javascript is so thoroughly
entrenched in the internet that it would take considerable time for Javascript to lose it’s
stronghold as one of the most popular programming languages.

At the end of the day if you can understand the basics of javascript development you
have a skill that is going to be in need in the coming years.

3 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m

 C#

TIOBE Index Rank: 6

Stack Overflow 2018 Rank: 8
Github Popularity Rank (2017): 8

C# IS MICROSOFT’S LONG-TIME PROPRIETARY (but now open-sourced) object-

oriented programming language developed to be run on the .NET framework.
C# can be used in so many types of software applications ranging from simple
command line scripts, web development servers, mobile apps to video games (via
the Unity gaming engine).

From my experience, C# was more difficult than Javascript to learn as a beginner

but I grew to love the programming language once I had a little experience in
developing apps. I have found it to be incredibly stable and reliable (due to the
fact that it’s a strongly typed and compiled language) which makes it very well
suited for enterprise-level applications.

Microsoft has been pushing hard to make the .NET platform able to run anywhere
with it’s development of .NET Core. This development has massive implications.
Previously .NET applications like C# could only be deployed to Windows
environments. In the future with .NET Core you will be able to not only write
applications in non-windows environments such as Linux or a Mac, but you will
be able to deploy applications to non-windows servers. This bodes well for C# to
continue its upward trend. The fact that Microsoft is pushing hard to develop C#
and support the language give me confidence about its future prospects.

More than anything else, C# will give you experience in working with an object
oriented programming and strongly typed language. After learning C# you will be
able to pick up Java, C or C++ much more easily as well.

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PYTHON

TIOBE Index Rank: 3

Stack Overflow 2018 Rank: 7
Github Popularity Rank (2017): 2

PYTHON HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR programming languages

to learn in part because of it’s straight forward syntax. Many people (including
myself) recommend Python for newbies who are just starting out in code. Don’t
be fooled however; Python is a serious programming language. Companies like
Google, Facebook, Spotify, Netflix and Reddit are just a few big name companies
who have used Python to meet their business needs.

By having Python as a skillset, you have the power to get up and running quickly to
do damn near anything. You can spin up a web server. Or write a script to process
files on your computer. Or set up automated testing to make sure your website is
never down. Or create a twitter bot. And the list goes on and on and on. Python
can do all of these things and it can be done quickly because of the nature of the
syntax and the ease of which you can get it running in most environments.

At the end of the day I recommend learning Python because it has been on the
upward trend (#3 in the TIOBE Index Rank as of September 2018) which shows
me that Python isn’t going anywhere. Even if you don’t focus on Python as your
primary language of expertise it’s probably a good idea to get your toes wet by
building some applications for your portfolio. It may be a lucrative decision as
python developers have some of the highest salaries in the industry according to
daxx.com.

5 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m

 SQL

TIOBE Index Rank: 19

Stack Overflow 2018 Rank: 4
Github Popularity Rank (2017): N/A

WHILE SQL IS NOT TRULY A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE (it’s a query language)

it is still an important skill to have as a software developer.

Why do you need to learn SQL? Because SQL (which stands for “structured query
language”) is the language of the most popular implementation of relational
databases. SQL is not the only database language available today but it has been
a staple of software applications for years.

SQL requires different thinking from most programming languages. While there
are tools like methods and variables available in SQL, the way in which they are
used differ greatly from your typical programming language.

More than anything else, having a good foundation in SQL opens you up to
thinking about software applications from a data-centric perspective. A thoughtful
software developer should always thinking about efficiency and nowhere is it more
important than that of retrieving data. With SQL knowledge a developer can write
and maintain code that ensures that queries aren’t making multiple or “expensive”
calls that can lead to many headaches.

While there has been a push for web applications to move towards NoSQL (non
relational) databases, relational databases still are the popular route for many
enterprises. New database paradigms may come along in the future but SQL’s
ability to handle data quickly without issues means it’s here to stay in the short
and medium term. If you learn it now you don’t have to worry about it falling out
of favor anytime soon.

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BASH/SHELL SCRIPTING

TIOBE Index Rank: 19

Stack Overflow 2018 Rank: 4
Github Popularity Rank (2017): N/A

THE ABILITY TO WRITE AND RUN SCRIPTS will not be on many software developer
job descriptions but you would be wise to get yourself comfortable with the skill.

If you really want to take your software development skills to the next level, you
should constantly be thinking about automation of every day processes. You need
to start noticing the patterns of things you are doing over and over again and
create bash/shell scripts that can automate those processes and save you minutes
per day and hours per year.

A good example of a useful shell script: renaming files. Say you have 100 files
whose name all needs to be updated. You could go through each file and rename
it individually or you could write a script to do it all for you. This is certainly just
the tip of the iceberg and the limit to what you can do is really only limited by your
imagination (and script writing skills!).

Most people who jump into software development (yours truly included) overlook
the ability to write scripts because it seems like something a system administrator or
maybe even a hacker are concerned with. But don’t be one of those people. Learn
how to write basic scripts that automate little things in your life. Get comfortable
with getting your computer to run tasks automatically that make your life easier.
And then when you get your first job you will be able to be more productive than
the rest of the developers around you.

7 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m

 ABOUT ME

I’M ANDY STERKOWITZ, a self-taught software developer and coach to aspiring

software developers. I also have a YouTube channel where I give advice on how to
become a software developer sharing experience directly from my journey.

Back in 2014 I decided to take the plunge into the software development world
after a friend recommended I check out software development. At the time I was
selling cars and saw the grim future ahead of me if I continued as a salesman for
another five, ten or twenty years. I jumped at the opportunity to start a career in
a field doing something I loved (working with my mind) and haven’t looked back
since.

Since getting my first job as a developer in early 2015 I’ve strived to make software
development a path to mastery.

8 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m

 Ready to Become a Software Developer?

If you’re committed to the journey of becoming a software developer

and want to work with me one on one to reach your goals, go to
https://andysterkowitz.link/mentorship-call and book a free career
strategy session.

During the call, we’ll take a look at what’s been holding you back,
where it is exactly you want to take your career and if the
mentorship program is a good fit we can talk about moving
forward with that as well.

No strings attached, the call is 100% free.

9 FIVE BEST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO LEARN IN 2019 | w w w. a n d ys te r kow i t z . co m