I'm completely new to programming and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I want to start with JavaScript and SQL, but someone told me I should learn C and Rust first so I can understand what's really happening underneath the code. Is that actually necessary, or would it be better to start with the languages I'm interested in?
3 Answers
Focus on learning programming fundamentals rather than a specific language. Practice writing output, using variables, passing values into functions, understanding scope, making decisions with if/else statements, looping, and working with arrays. You can do all of that in JavaScript, perhaps using Node.js for simple exercises. SQL is somewhat different because it’s mainly used to query and modify databases, so learn SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE as your starting points.
Low-level knowledge can make you a stronger developer eventually, but it isn’t required to become good at JavaScript. Plenty of professional front-end developers rarely use C, and you can learn about memory, performance, and how runtimes work later when those topics become relevant. Starting with an unrelated language can make the learning process harder if it isn’t connected to your goals.
No, you don’t need to know C or Rust before learning JavaScript. Start with the language you actually want to use. JavaScript is perfectly capable of teaching you core programming ideas like variables, conditionals, loops, functions, arrays, and objects. Learning C later can help you understand memory and hardware, but it’s optional and shouldn’t be a prerequisite.
JavaScript can be a good introduction to algorithmic thinking. Once you’re comfortable with programming concepts, low-level languages tend to make a lot more sense.