HACKER Q&A
📣 ukrainian

Which programming language to learn in AI era?


Hi. I'm in my 40s, relocated to a new country. I am thinking of changing my career and learn a new programming language to get a job . I've always had a passion for technology and something useful I can develop with it. AI is changing the IT landscape and the way people build software. At this time I'm not sure which language I should start with. Should I choose React.js, Python, or is there something else that's trending? Any courses, youtube channels, recommendations are welcome


  👤 WallyFunk Accepted Answer ✓
> Should I choose React.js

React is just a framework. Learn vanilla JS instead.


👤 tsingy
My free open source bootcamp https://github.com/Lesabotsy/bootcamp. Made it when I got asked your exact question too many times.

👤 l33t7332273
Do you have any programming experience? If so, you really shouldn’t have to “learn” python in any serious sense of the word. It shouldn’t take much more than a solid afternoon to be able to use much of the language.

👤 kubota
Go is a small language that is widely used and easy to pick up.

👤 consoomer
In all honesty, the language is almost irrelevant. It's the technology and use that is critical.

Instead of learning React, focus on building websites (learn SSR, CSR, etc). Become familiar with different techniques for it.

Will you learn Python in the process of learning to build websites? Probably. Is it necessary? Nope.


👤 gary17the
Learn a strongly-typed programming language (so the compiler can guide you on how to fix your mistakes), preferably with garbage collection (so the compiler can take care of memory management for you), preferably one that supports modern language constructs (so you can later on switch from one programming language to another without a lot of re-learning). The obvious choices are Golang, Rust, Typescript, Swift. I would probably recommend Golang, since it's the simplest and can be applied to various problem domains: command-line utilities, web development, etc. All you need to get started is YouTube online tutorials.

👤 ezedv
Python is a popular choice due to its extensive libraries like TensorFlow and PyTorch. If you're into data manipulation, R is great. For performance, languages like C++ and Julia are valuable. Remember, the language is a tool; understanding AI concepts matters more.

Start with one that aligns with your goals and explore from there!


👤 quickthrower2
Hey there, it depends on a lot of things. Out of interest, what programming languages do you already know, and why do you want to learn a new one. It sounds like perhaps you are experienced in a language with fewer jobs and want to maximize your chance to get a job?

In any case JS/Typescript or Python are safe choices. If you want to learn more data-science/AI stuff then Python would be a good choice. For front-end or full-stack web (as in front-end and back-end) JS would be a good choice.

Another choice is Go - if you think you are likely to go into a devops type role and want to understand Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, etc. more closely.

Other decent choices for finding work are C# and Java.