What Coding Language(s) Should High Schoolers Learn First?

Are you just starting to learn how to code in middle or high school? Good for you! It’s never too late to learn new skills, and getting started now will only help you later. After all, coding is an incredibly useful toolbox that you can take with you into your future major or job. But where do you start? What coding languages are the most important? It can be a little overwhelming to make the jump yourself. We have some tips. 

From my experiences in the industry and as a Computer Science major graduate myself, here are the first few coding languages I'd recommend learning. (Further information sourced from Techgig breaks it down very well.) 

Java is one of the most popular and highly applicable programming languages out there, so it's a great one to start with! Once you've learned your first language, every new language you learn will be much easier because the concepts will be similar (but of course the syntax will be a little different). 

TG states: “JavaScript is the most used programming language in the world.” In fact, popular sites like Google and Facebook, among others, utilize this language. JavaScript is perhaps best known for “various frameworks, such as Node.js” in addition to server-side scripting. Not only that, but Techgig points out, you can use this language to build “full-scale games in an external game engine or the browser.” Because of all these advantages, JavaScript is great for “Front-end and back-end web development, mobile apps, and developing games.”

Python has grown immensely in recent years. According to TG: “Python is used in server-side development, web and mobile app development to build machine learning software.” Due to its serious capabilities, Python “has a vast collection of libraries, tools, and frameworks that make it a must in the field of Data Science and Machine Learning.” But that’s not all. “Based on potential and demand, Python is one language to learn in 2021 and it’s intuitive and elementary to learn, even for beginners.” In other words, a great place to start next! Python is most commonly used for “data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, back-end development, web/mobile app development, and the Internet of Things.”

There you have it! Once you've nailed these 3 languages, I'm confident you'll be more than ready to be competitive in the software engineering world. 

But before you go… Remember that even if you "know" a language, it's critical that you practice and build projects (even if they are small simple projects). Building up a portfolio of projects via Github will help you stand out among your peers!

Feel free to reach out to Empowerly if you have any questions about the path to college and beyond. Our counseling community is well-versed in the tech space, and many have firsthand computer science experience themselves. We’re here to help.