Weekly Bytes

The programming language that you "need" by 2025

November 8, 2024

Hello there,

I was recently scouring the web for software development news and was surprised to see a large number of "You must learn this language!" type articles telling me why I'm probably outdated and need to catch up soon.

So I read all of them. Or skimmed all of them. And the results were in. I needed to know Python, HTML, JavaScript, C++, Rust and SQL.

I won't point out the fact that HTML is a markup language and that SQL is a querying language and not true programming languages. I won't even go into the fact that the federal government is encouraging software manufacturers to ditch C and C++ due to safety concerns. No I won't.

But I will point out that I think these type of articles are kind of a disservice to the programming community. Particularly to new developers who are right in the middle of having to decide which direction to take their careers in. And thinking that you have to learn the top 7 or 8 languages all at once in order to be able to keep up and compete in the job market isn't helping anyone. Because ideally, I'd like to know 20 programming languages myself.

But I don't. I use JavaScript daily for my professional React development. And I use C# for my personal projects. And I use HTML, CSS and SQL daily, because you pretty much have to in web development.

And I didn't really choose any of these languages out of personal preference. They were the languages being used in my University courses and they were the languages that I was hired to work on at some point in time. And they slowly began to grow on me, the more time that I got to spend with them.

So if you're feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to know every language under the sun, just remember: mastery isn't about quantity; it’s about building a reliable toolkit, piece by piece. Focus on the languages that naturally come your way, the ones you actually spend time with. Those are the ones that will end up teaching you the most. And hey, if someday you find yourself picking up the '20 languages' badge, make sure to send me a postcard from that mythical place. ✌️

-- Walt

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Weekly Question

Q: What are some effective ways to stay up-to-date with rapidly changing programming languages?

I admit that it can definitely be challenging to know in real-time how the software development field is doing as a whole. Are there new languages that need your attention. Are there languages that are on their way out (like C++ apparently).

For me personally, what's worked for decades at this point, is to let your work and your hobbies determine where to look next.

When it comes to professional programming work, I'll say that it rarely changes for me. My first 5 professional jobs were as a C# developer, because that's what I was slowly becoming better at and because many companies are still looking for professional C# developers.

When I became an instructor for a coding bootcamp, I took a deep dive into learning React for several years.

When I co-founded my first startup, I chose C# as the primary language. But when I co-founded my second, I went with React.

More recently I've been getting more involved with indie game development, and so my attention has been pointed towards learning the newer 2D engines and frameworks and the languages associated with them.

I almost never choose a language first and then hope that it leads me in the right direction. So give yourself a goal, mission and or hobby and see what's required to accomplish them. And everything else sort of falls into place on its own timeline.

Have a question? You can submit it here and I might answer it in the next newsletter.

That's all for now. Until we meet again next week 👋