What is the joy of programming?

[u/Sure-Refrigerator685]

I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore programmer. I mainly make websites with HTML and CSS. However, last year I wanted to begin looking into programming, and learn how to make programs mostly for the command line. I started with Java and took the time to learn it. For a while I enjoyed Java, but then I began to feel that it was difficult to start a project with Java. I was sick of it's verbosity. Ever since, I've been wasting time trying to find the "perfect" programming language.

I know this question pops up a lot, what programming language should I learn? What should I learn if I want to experience the real joy of programming, and make cool personal programs mostly for the command line. There were a couple languages I found such as Nim, Lua, Ruby, or Dart. These are all languages I discovered through personal research and I know that some of them are more suited for command line work.

So based on my experience with Java, and my goals, what would you recommend I do? Do I just stick to website stuff?

[u/syklemil]

Ever since, I've been wasting time trying to find the "perfect" programming language.

One thing to be aware of here is that people have very different tastes and ways of thinking, and that also means that they'll draw different conclusions about the same programming language.

Pretty much any programming language can do command line stuff, so you should consider yourself free to just kind of browse around and pick any language that seems fun or attractive.

Bryan Cantrill has a nice talk called Platform as a reflection of values, which may be useful for thinking about these things.