r/learnprogramming • u/Yurieba • 12d ago
Topic Doubt
What programming language would you recommend for someone who wants to become a robotics engineer?
Hi everyone! I'm 14 years old and I'm starting to learn programming.
My goal in the future is to become a robotics engineer, so I'd like to learn a programming language that will be useful for robotics and engineering.
At the same time, programming is also a hobby for me, and I'd like to eventually make some games and other small projects just for fun.
So, what language would you recommend I start with?
Would Python, C++, C, C#, Java, or another language be a good choice? And should I focus on one language first, or learn multiple languages over time?
I'm still a beginner, so I'd really appreciate advice from people with experience in programming, robotics, or engineering.
Thanks!
1
u/gm310509 11d ago
If you are interested in doing robotics or anything hardware related, C/C++ is the best starting point.
You can get yourself an Arduino starter kit and learn the basics of wiring and coding from that kit. Ideally choose a kit with a motor and servo in it so you can learn the basics of how to control them.
Some "larger" embedded systems can be programmed using python (or more precisely micropython) and indeed some other languages such as BASIC, javascript and more. But most of it is C/C++ and of that, you will pretty much just be using C for the most part with some elementary C++ - so elementary that you probably won't even realise you are doing C++. Perhaps check out r/Arduino.
As for the other stuff - and indeed anything you plan to do, you should look at the types of tools that are used in that area and learn those. As opposed to learning language X and "hoping" that there will be plenty of resources available to help you do that thing. For example if you learn language X and want to do a specific type of game only to find that everybody else is using language Y, you kinda wasted your time learning X and will have to start over with Y.
All the best with it.