So you’ve just decided to learn programming. Maybe even after reading my article about 17 reasons to do so. But before you dive into online course, YouTube tutorials or books, you need to choose which programming language to start from. I strongly believe that Python is the best choice in this case. Keep reading to discover why.

Originally posted here, on my blog Coders Bible.

PYTHON IS EASY TO LEARN

Do you know what the syntax is? It’s a set of rules defining how to write instructions correctly in a given programming language (feel free to check this lecture about common programming slang to learn more about it). For beginners this is probably one of the hardest things to comprehend - they forget about commas, colons, brackets, then quickly become frustrated and quit. This experience is similar to a situation when you visit a website and immediately get bombarded by ugly pop-ups, ads and cookies consents. The website content may be useful, but who wouldn’t get discouraged by this clutter? In website design this is often referred to as bad User Experience (UX). Well, I believe that some programming languages can have really bad Programming Experience (PX). Python is certainly not one of them! Python was designed to be easy to learn (its syntax can be read almost as easily as text in pain English) and friendly to programmers of all levels. Imagine visiting a website that delights you with fancy animations, clean user interface, no ads, no pop-ups and essentially no unnecessary clutter. This is what programming in Python feels like to me.

PYTHON HAS BIG COMMUNITY

Do you know what is the advantage of choosing a popular programming language (like Python)? It all comes to the way you will learn it. Whether you like it or not you will google A LOT at the beginning. Probably you will not even be entirely sure what to google exactly. This is where a big community helps. Imagine joining a Facebook group with 100 members out of whom 4 have experience with a programming language you want to ask about. Three of them probably will not even bother with typing the answer and helping you and the last one remaining can miss your post in his fat Facebook feed. But what if 50 people of the original 100 have the answer to your problem? The odds are now in your favor! The same thing goes for blog posts (there is a higher chance of finding somebody willing to share the knowledge in a group of 50 than in a group of 5), YouTube tutorials, online courses and quality books. This is exactly what happened to Python. Its community exploded and the variety of available resources blossomed. There’s really no mystery behind it since it was voted one of the most loved programming languages in the top software engineering survey conducted by StackOverflow. Summing up, with a big community comes support and a bigger chance of finding the solution to your problems (and you will encounter a lot of them at the beginning).

YOU CAN BUILD AMAZING THINGS USING PYTHON

Do you know what a tool is? Well a hammer is a tool, but perfection in using it is not as impressive to me as all the things you can build with it. I want you to think of a programming language as a tool too. Python is just a tool. And in my opinion you should choose a tool that enables you to build amazing stuff since it will keep you highly motivated. Luckily, Python was immensely adopted in the software engineering world. My favorite fields, where Python is used frequently, are: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Web Development and Cybersecurity. Python developers are paid really well for all the value they bring into these disciplines. Are you now convinced to join them?

I've just released beginner-friendly feedback-based online course called Learn Programming With Python for Absolute Beginners. Feel free to check it here!

Module 0 is completely free for you without any sign up! Check module 0 here.