Hi, everyone

TL;DR - post below your suggestion for a good programming language for an almost-rookie teacher/educator/writer to start using.

More info: I am trying to decide on which programming language to learn. I know my way around HTML and CSS from being active online, but haven’t done much programming apart from this. I write, teach, and work with digital teaching/learning products a lot. In 2021, I think there will be plenty of time for me to start working with programming. I don’t mean just “learn to code” - I mean using the language(s) as an educator/writer/publisher. Libre / open source context preferred. Which languages look like they fit the bill, Lemmy?

  • zksmk
    6·
    4 years ago

    Python, Javascript, Rust

    Python - probably the easiest language to learn, big in the science community

    Javascript - probably the easiest language to learn if you’re either impatient or a visual learner, easy to start as a beginner and set up and get visual feedback, if you make stuff with it to teach it’s the most likely to reach a large audience

    Rust - cool and efficient language

  • copacetic
    5·
    4 years ago

    As an educator/writer/publisher, you might be interested in interactive fiction, so maybe take a look at Inform 7.

    To learn a general purpose language, Python would be my first suggestion.

  • acidwash jeans
    41·
    4 years ago

    LISP

    It’s easier to get into than you’d think – and SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, a seminal text) is written in Scheme, a Lisp. LISP

      • acidwash jeans
        1·
        4 years ago

        AFAIK, you /can/ use the parentheses as tags in XML, … but it’s okay if it’s not for you!

          • acidwash jeans
            1·
            4 years ago

            I actually haven’t heard of SXML, so I meant regular lisp. For me, I just mean that this is pretty tree-based, so far as I can tell (I’m not an actual programmer, though, which might be the issue with my understanding):

            (defun foo (bar baz)
  (if (predicate)
      (do if true)
    (do if false)))
              • acidwash jeans
                2·
                4 years ago

                Oh, well if you just mean a formatting thing – you can format a source file however you want :) But yeah, that’s not really the popular way to do it. For me, just the opening tags + indentation work well enough to delimit everything, but to each their own.

      • acidwash jeans
        2·
        4 years ago

        LOLOL I’m definitely a convert! I’m not even mad, though; it’s a meme for a reason

  • Openmastering
    2·
    4 years ago

    It depends if you want to learn it just for yourself or for your students. They will expect to work with a language that is broadly used.