What should my first programming language be?

Question

I know this question must be asked like 1,000 times a day, but I don't know which one to choose. I want to be a Game Developer using the UDK. Should I dive right in to UnrealScipt or learn a similar language then dive into it?

Answer 1

I dabbled in C# and Java for a little while before switching to web scripting.



C# has the advantage of being easier to learn than C or C++, which is not to say it's "better."



Java on the other hand, while being a bit harder to learn has the upside that it can be used on more platforms than C#.



I'd look at www.thenewboston.org. He has tutorials for many programming languages. Get your feet wet and see which ones stick.

Answer 2

Unless you want to drive yourself crazy, I don't recommend C as your first language. Programming in C assumes you know exactly what you are doing, and will happily do any mistakes you make without telling you that you made any. It is not a language for beginners, but is a great second or third language (and I recommend you learn it sometime). Not to mention you have to deal with heap data memory management, pointers, and other more advanced topics; and most starting programmer can't grasp these topics while learning programming basics at the same time.



Python is probably one of the best languages to start with. It's very basic and you don't have to worry about advanced stuff like memory management, heap & stack, bit-wise operations, and so on. If you own a Mac or Linux Python is already on your computer, if you need to update it or install it (if you have a PC you will need to install python). You can do so here (I recommend using version 2):



http://www.python.org/download/



Other nice starting languages include JavaScript(assuming HTML/CSS is known), Java, C#, and maybe C++(although this is a better 2nd language).

Answer 3

No idea if you'll be just using UDK and UnrealScript for most of your life.

If you're starting programming, most people start with learning object oriented programming first. Java is a great language to start learning object oriented programming. There are heaps of books and other resources out there for beginners. Most colleges and universities start off students with Java.

Good luck, hope you make some awesome games.

Answer 4

Why not considering about learning C as the first language? Then followed by C++, I see those are the common languages that are still being used worldwide(C++)

Answer 5

Java and C# seem to be an optimal option for newbie programmers