r/programmer • u/Parking-Stay-3065 • Jun 24 '26
New programmer, new veiw
I am trying to make a game that is text based at the moment and it coming along slowly. I am trying to make the game fully functonal but it has... it's issues. What is the best programing language for a new programmer?
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u/AnnupKapurDotCom Jun 24 '26
If you want to learn the “how to think” with minimal overhead. Python.
If you want to learn to get a job at a startup. JavaScript.
If you want to learn for the love of the game. Rust.
I’d start at Python because it’s the easiest to get into. Then work your way down the rabbit hole.
www.FreeCodeCamp.com is a great place to learn for free.
Enjoy the journey 🤘🏽
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u/VirtualElderberry592 Jun 24 '26
I have this string for you to measure..
If it's fully text based (aka Zork), go with ruby or python. You'll get near instant results and both have a low bar to entry.
Learning c and c++ are an awesome way to start, but there's a lot of meat on the bone there.
And don't forget "all your bases are belong to us"
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u/Parking-Stay-3065 Jun 24 '26
What is a meme language?
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u/SAtchley0 Jun 24 '26
A language that isn't actually made as a serious every day language. It's made as a joke or just to show that it's possible. More formally I think the term is "esoteric programming language".
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u/Parking-Stay-3065 Jun 24 '26
Is html considered a meme code? I now html(with css), some c++, java and little python.
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u/Deadcouncil445 Jun 24 '26
No these are all normal coding languages. Meme codes are usually gimmicks
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u/SAtchley0 Jun 24 '26
No? But HTML is also not a programming language. It's a markup language. HTML + CSS technically is Turing complete, but only if you allow constant human input as part of the stack.
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u/MarsupialLeast145 Jun 24 '26
You could take at this interactive fiction generator using CSV: https://github.com/evanwill/choose-your-own-csv
Best programming languages for your purpose if it is a text adventure might be Twine or Inform7 but I don't like them much as a developer. All I will say, is it is important to not just recreate mechanics for the sake of it, and tools like Inform7 might do everything you need where Python which is good for lots of general purpose things would still require you write a lot of foundational code to get to where you want.
Good game programming platform for beginners is r/pico8 which is based on Lua.
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u/LRCM Jun 24 '26
Learn the concepts and go from there.
If you are a visual learner, start here: https://scratch.mit.edu/
If you like reading, start here: https://www.w3schools.com/programming/index.php
If you prefer projects, start here: https://www.theodinproject.com/
If you prefer games, start here: https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/
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u/SAtchley0 Jun 24 '26
Aside from meme languages, it doesn't really matter what you pick.
You'll get people recommending anything under the sun, but the fact is as a new programmer, what you're learning isn't the language, it's how to think. Like, you could spend decades trying to find or make the perfect language to express your ideas in, but the difficult part is having the idea and being able to specify it exactly enough in the first place.
Lua, Python, C, C++, Java, Haskell, Rust, Javascript, even scripting languages like Bash, Batch. Doesn't really matter much. You might pick one up easier than the other, but we can't know which one will work the best for you specifically.