What is the best programming language to learn first?

Either for hobby or as a real opportunity to find a job, with countless resources on the internet (most of them free), learning a new programming language has never been as easy as it is today. But even with the overwhelming information that’s out there, choosing a programming language to learn can be a daunting task. Especially if it’s the first language that someone is learning.

A good programming language to start with should be one that teaches best practices and common paradigms and designs that can be found on all other languages. Some people may prefer a language that has a clearer syntax, like Python for example others may prefer a language that is more verbose but that teaches a lot on what is happening “under the hood” like C. Languages that have an easier syntax especially have a lot more tutorials and resources to learn for beginners than languages that may be a little more complex as syntax goes.

One should also keep in mind that a programming language is just a tool to be used, and as such every language out there has it’s strengths and weaknesses and is better suited at a certain thing rather than others. So for example, JavaScript is essential to anyone who wants to learn web development, C++ is widely used by game developers worldwide, Java is needed for Android development and so on. So another thing to keep in mind is the area where you want to focus and that also should influence your choice.