One question I get often, is which programming language should you learn?
… I’ve been getting this question for years!
Things change in the programming world, languages come and go. But the good news is that the basics, the core concepts and techniques, are 90-95% the same in all the modern programming languages:
- JavaScript
- Python
- Java for web apps or Java for Andriod
- PHP
- C#
- Swift
- C++
- C
…. What that means, is that your programming language choice, isn’t nearly as critical as you’d think. Why? Well, once you know one programming language, it is easy as apple pie to switch to another!
How to choose between PHP and Python?
The key to choosing a language comes down to two things: market viability of the programming language and what KIND of programming you want to do.
Kinds of Programming
You have many choices in terms of marketable programming languages … there is plenty of work for the languages listed above. Each language though, means a different kind of programming, and that often means a different type of person would enjoy programming language ‘A’ vs programming language ‘B’.
For example, PHP programming is focused on web development, and that’s all you will do with PHP. In fact, PHP is the most used server-side web app programming language today.
On the other hand, Python is a general purpose language that is used in many areas:
- Data sciences
- Ai and ML
- Web application
- Server automation
… Python strength is the flexibility of the language. PHP’s strength is that it is the best at building web apps, all things considered.
Choosing your language
The key is to explore a little on your part, check out which TYPE of jobs you can get with Python, and the type of jobs you can get with PHP.
Again, different programming languages mean a different type of job.
The good news is that you don’t need to worry about your choice too much, because you can always switch languages later. It’s easy to switch over, because all the above languages share about 90-95% of the same principles and concepts. The code looks different, but learning the code is the easy part.
Suggested first programming languages?
I would suggest Python if you want to get into Ai and ML, and PHP if you want to create web apps or work with WordPress in a serious way.
Hope that helps!
Stefan Mischook
Source: Killerphp