Does learning JS make other languages easier?

[oocopperpot]

I have no idea what other things like C++ Python et al are as I’ve not researched them yet but once you’ve got a grasp on JS do things become a lot clearer or is it like when you first started JS?

Cheers.

[Marmiz]

@oocopperpot

once you’ve got a grasp on JS do things become a lot clearer

The honest answer is: “it depends”.

The real transferable knowledge between languages is not the syntax (the language itself), but how to approach and solve problems.
And that’s why for many companies is not really important which language you know, but how you work and solve problems.

Once you are really capable and productive with a language it’s relatively easy to transfer to another language as all you have to do is to learn “how it’s called in the new language” rather than “how it actually works”.

That said however there are obviously “aesthetic” differences that makes even basic reading a challenge when moving to a different language.

JS has a C-like syntax, meaning that reading C or any derived language will be easier, than a non-C one (think any functional programming language).

For example look at a Hello World written in C

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    printf("Hello, World!");
    return 0;
}

You can at least see some familiarity with JS.
Compare it for example with Ruby:

puts "Hello, World!"

You can see for example no parentheses () around your string

To conclude, my advice is to learn and be productive (really productive) with a language, then moving to a different one will be easier than jumping around and be half-good in a variety of languages.

---

Closing with a famous Bruce Lee quote:

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

[oocopperpot]

Very helpful, thank you.

This is why I’ve not even started to look into other languages yet. You summed it up nicely.

So it’s possible to get someone who knows Javascript but terrible at problem solving? This is my fear I think, that I’ll learn javascript but be useless with algorithms and such like.

[Marmiz]

It has more to do with how you approach a problem and are able to research your solution.
And is something that you get better with time.

So no worries, keep practicing and try to enjoy the process

[ArielLeslie]

@oocopperpot

So it’s possible to get someone who knows Javascript but terrible at problem solving? This is my fear I think, that I’ll learn javascript but be useless with algorithms and such like.

Sure. It’s possible to know the syntax of JavaScript, but not be able to use it effectively. There isn’t some mystical ‘problem solving’ skill though. It’s just a matter of practice and experience. If you go through a curriculum like freeCodeCamp and take as much time as you need to to actually work out solutions to the challenges, you will be learning how to solve problems with JavaScript. If you ask us for help here on the forum, we’ll do our best to help you sort out how to get to the next step of solving the problem.

[Opensourcedeveloper1]

I second what what said here for sure! I’ve been away from software development since 2013, but I learned C++ as my first programming language and Object oriented paradigms. JavaScript was my second programming language I learned and it was much easier because the problem solving mindset and skills that come along with it is; what I would argue more important. Learn it and try to really understand concepts like inheritance, polymorphism, class structures etc You then will be able to apply your problem solving mindset to basically any Object oriented programming language. The syntax will invariably be different, but you will understand what you need to do nonetheless. learning syntax in turn becomes a minor detail, that you can quickly accomplish. All the best!

-A computer science minor out of retirement lol

[gillianrbweisgram]

I’ve seen several articles arguing that JavaScript should be the first language for everyone. It certainly pops up in all kinds of surprising plaes.

[ilenia]

are maybe those all web-related? JavaScript is the language of the web, the browser can read JavaScript, HTML and CSS

[ArielLeslie]

I do agree that JavaScript is a very good place to start, largely because there are more good free resources for learning JavaScript than most languages. The fact that freeCodeCamp teaches JavaScript is one of the big reasons I suggest starting there.

It’s also syntactically in the same language family as many other languages that you’re likely to learn, so lessons are more transferrable than they might otherwise be.

[oocopperpot]

Thank you guys, you’ve been super helpful. I will continue on my JavaScript path and see where I’m at after.