Best language for new coders in 2025? (evidence-based)

What's the best first programming language for learning to code? Does it matter at all?

Rather than simply give opinions, this in-depth talk dives into the research and presents key examples and insights. This video covers why new coders should take time to think about what programming language to choose, which programming languages are popular right now for working developers, which languages universities choose to use for intro-level classes, pros and cons of different computer languages, and research comparing these coding languages.

Specifically, this talk will look at: Java, Python, C++, C, Javascript, and a little bit of PHP and C#. We'll discuss why a new coder might want to choose (or avoid) each of these programming languages.

If you're a new coder, a computer science educator, or just someone who is curious about the answer, you'll definitely want to watch this video in full.

Thank you!

Check out my website for more:
www.codeslatetutoring.com/

Or join a live event (choose the timezone/city that fits you best):
San Francisco(US Pacific Time): www.meetup.com/new-coders-sf-bay-area/
Houston(US Central Time): www.meetup.com/new-coders-houston/
Bangkok/East and SE Asia (GMT+7): www.meetup.com/new-coders-bangkok/

References: See pinned comment

Time Stamps for video sections:
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Does it matter which language you learn first?
10:41 Popular languages rankings
16:31 Which languages do universities teach?
19:02 Java
30:28 Python
37:37 Java vs Python research
41:20 C++
47:38 C
56:05 Javascript
1:01:20 Honorable Mentions
1:02:58 General Advice
1:05:32 Specific Recommendations
1:08:40 Conclusion/Contact info