Learning a programming language is hard, but choosing the right language can be even harder. Today, there are already a plethora of programming languages, and choosing the “right” one makes it even harder for the programmer to choose the right language.
What should you look for in a programming language?
In a podcast from Jane Street, functional language designer Richard Eisenberg talks to co-head of technology Ron Minsky about what they look for in a programming language.
“For a programming language to be effective, everything has to be selectable,”
says Eisenberg.
Minsky puts forth the idea that good language is “pay-as-you-go,” in the sense that it has a low barrier to entry, but gets harder as you try to solve more and more complex problems.
To make the difficult process of making the right choice easier, today we’ve chosen to introduce you to some of the best programming languages you can learn easily without the need for experience. About them efinancialcareers informs us.
The Best Programming Languages That Need No Experience
Python
For the indecisive coder or whoever wants the best chance at a job, Python is the obvious choice. The number one ranked language on the TIOBE index is incredibly popular for a simple reason: it’s easy to learn and adaptable.
When non-technical staff are asking to learn programming in finance, they’re asking to learn python. It’s the backbone of systems for companies across the buy-side and sell-side.
Python’s various libraries easily adapt key aspects of other languages to fit whatever mold you set for it.
Clojure
For hipsters looking to learn the language of tomorrow, Clojure is a great choice. It is the highest paid programming language according to the stack overflow survey, though jobs are much harder to find given its niche nature.
Another factor that makes it perfect for beginners is its unorthodox approach to syntax. The language doesn’t work quite the same as others, meaning a developer stuck in their ways with a previous language would have a harder time learning it than a fresh face.
Haskell
For the more scientifically inclined and experimental in nature, Haskell is a highly customizable language you can get to work for you.
Eisenberg of Jane Street is a huge proponent of it, having spent much of his academic career as an open-source contributor to it. “There are lots of different things you could turn on and off” he says, “so there isn’t one Haskell or two Haskells, but there’s like ten thousand different Haskells
Rust
If Clojure is the language of tomorrow, Rust is the language of today. It’s recently cracked into the top 20 of the TIOBE index and has a loyal following for its attempts to make low level code effective and attractive.
C++ is the industry standard at low-level, but Rust is far more enjoyable to code with and safer from crashing. It doesn’t have nearly the same scope for employability as C++, however. On eFinancialCareers there are currently just 31 openings for Rust engineers. Interestingly, much of these are in crypto.
