The computer industry is huge and there is always a need for good programmers. As they watch senior programmers succeed, every newbie has several Programming Questions. They search the web reading threads and replies and whatnot. But they still get confused about several questions. In this article, I have tried to answer some frequently asked questions by new programmers.
Which language should I learn first?
This is often the first question newbies ask. Many people often try to argue about which is the best programming language for a beginner. Though they might be correct from their perspectives, I honestly don’t think there is no such thing as the best first language. Anything that helps you understand how to make a computer do something is a good first language in my opinion. Sure there are opinions about it and even I have my own opinions about the first programming language, but it is completely relative. Another sub-question would be about how much time is needed to learn to programme.
When you are done with the first language(Any language you choose), you will see that you can pick other languages pretty fast as well.
Which framework to choose?
Another typical newbie question, many young programmers worry about the frameworks too much. No matter what framework you choose, you have to do the logic yourself. You need to understand the system yourself. The framework can merely organize stuff for you and make it easier to do repetitive tasks. In the end, you will have to write the code and logic. Even the best of the frameworks are ultimately written in the core languages. So just choose anything that u feel is comfortable when building something.
Will this language die?
Sure you have worried about this. But quoting Mark Twain, ‘The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated’. This is true, I am sure you must have read about reports on how PHP is dying. I have been reading about that for 4 years, but guess what, PHP only gets stronger. This also reminds me of another famous quote by Bjarne Stroustrup the inventor of C++. It says, ‘There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses’. Honestly, nothing can die, Not while they are being used in mainstream production. So don’t worry about a language dying. As a programmer, you will end up learning more languages than the number of fingers you type with. So don’t worry about that and start writing code.
Will this scale properly?
Not for a newbie programmer sure, but for someone who knows a little programming and is trying to create a project. I have been there and often thought about it, and the only answer I get is that ‘Don’t worry about the scaling, worry about the software you write’. I mean think about it, Unless you are building the next Facebook or Twitter, scaling shouldn’t be an issue. Anything you make will grow gradually. And when it does, you would have thought about solutions to making it scale.
Where/How to get a job?
Most of my friends who are already working for some really big companies have told me that when they went for interviews, they weren’t even asked about their college education. All they wanted were skills, knowledge, and problem-solving abilities. I would like to clear a simple misconception regarding college degrees. You might have shelled out a lot of money on them, but they do not guarantee a job. The right way to get a job would be to keep working on some projects while in college or while learning to program. It is completely fine if your projects are very basic in nature. The spirit of being able to create something is more important. And you will eventually be making more sophisticated projects. Try to contribute to open source projects by studying their code. Put all of your projects and code on GitHub. If your work gets viewed well enough, a company might offer you a job directly. It makes more sense to show what you have done instead of just answering those interview questions.
What is the salary of a programmer?
The one question that is the most important of all. This is a very broad topic but I can tell you that any above average programmer gets paid well. If you are really good, you will be paid even better. Most programmers are also offered a lot of incentives for the success of their products and even stocks in the organization they work. So even though a programmer might be working on a job, he/she sure can make more money than their salary which is usually already good.
So these were some questions that many new programmers are often confused with and spend hours searching on the internet. I hope all your questions are answered. If you still have a doubt, feel free to post a comment below. I’ll be there for you.
In case you wanna learn to programme, check out edx.org for good programming courses.
