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When learning computer languages, order matters a lot, and I think I got lucky by learning them in roughly the best possible order.
Just like a linguistic ladder[a], itâs better to take many small steps than a couple of big steps.
Bash is a great first language because you can start instantly, and do regular things easily.
Consider the following python commands to see which files are in a directory:
os.listdirs
Whereas in bash, we have:
The Python equivalent of grep sounds positively terrifying.
And for python, downloading some new library involves pip (or pip3 on some systems), then youâll need to decide if youâre installing that locally, system-wide, or using a virtual environment. Alternatively, some of those python packages could be in the systemâs package manager, but then you need to ensure you donât get those packages mixed up with a system-wide installation from pip.
Once installed, the package must be imported every time itâs called, and when using multiple files, the package must be called in the correct place.
With bash, itâs just âapt install fdâ, and youâre good to go.
These little programs[a] can let you know when a big downloadâs complete, find where you stuck some old project, or search for and download torrents.
Of course, once a bash script grows over a hundred lines, and starts to need some structured data, python becomes the easier tool, and you can breathe a sigh of relief that you no longer have to tell bash that a number is not a string every time you want to work with it.
I did a couple of afternoons of C++ shortly after the python. I donât have any use for it, but learning the basics about memory management gave me a better idea of how python (or any computer process) works.
Iâve just started JavaScript, and would definitely not recommend this as a beginnerâs language, and I feel bad for everyone who wanted to be a web developer and began with JavaScript. Its focus on events to refresh objects provide an additional block to just declaring some functions and variables like python.
While one could just create a nodejs program, the standard use of web-pages mean youâll come across three languages within the documentation, as so many examples include HTML and CSS specifications.
The wrong-headed approach of putting JavaScript first becomes shiningly apparent when you see how many websites have âtry JavaScript free hereâ pages. Anyone with a basic understanding of bash can just install nodejs and start coding locally - restricting oneâs learning to a foreign playground, available only on-line, suggests someone doesnât really understand how to use their computer.