Are You Better Off Learning JavaScript or Python?
Many people will debate about whether Python or JavaScript is the most useful programming language, particularly in the context of advising beginners about how they should get started when it comes to learning programming languages themselves. Both programming languages are going to have their avid fans and supporters, which is just going to make things that much more confusing for beginners. Beginners will eventually have enough information to make their own decisions, but that won’t be the case for a while. At first, if you’re a beginner, you’re going to have to rely on the opinions of others in order to plan out your next move or make decisions regarding how to educate yourself in programming languages.
Really, I think you’re better off getting the full story on both of these programming languages, because I don’t think it’s fair to say that one of them is strictly better than the other one. I really think that it’s a good idea to learn both of them if you really want to get a job in this field and you’re interested in trying to diversify as much as possible. Naturally, not all beginners are going to have the time or the energy to learn two different programming languages, which is going to be difficult for a lot of people at the best of times anyway.
Ultimately, I think that the simple act of learning how to learn programming in the first place is a useful skill on a meta level. Programming languages are constantly changing. The utility of them is changing even more rapidly. If I told someone years ago that JavaScript was going to be widely regarded as one of the most important programming languages to master, I think that I probably would have been treated with skepticism at best and outright mockery at worst. JavaScript is more useful now and has a much better image, to say the least. However, the fact that this change happened in the first place is more or less proof that these kinds of changes do happen in a way that is difficult to predict, and a similar change is liable to happen again. You’re better off not really getting stuck with any particular programming language if you really want to manage to stay relevant in the field for years.
I recommend that beginners learn Python in part because of the sheer usefulness of Python, but also because it’s just a good language for beginners to learn. People need to be able to work their way up to the more challenging programming languages, and that means that they need to be good at learning programming languages in the first place. People need to get in the habit of learning these programming languages in order to become skilled at learning them, and that is what they’re going to be able to do if they start out with the sort of programming languages that will offer them some immediate rewards for all of their efforts.