Less Wrong thread. I still advocate learning Python; it’s an OK or good choice for almost anything you’d want to program, and I think its simplicity and readability mean that it will give you the best conceptual foundation out of anything out there. I listed a bunch of resources on learning Python in this post. They’re a bit deeper and more conceptual than the resources you’ll see on learning Ruby, which is a good thing because it will differentiate you from all the Ruby web development types and give you the opportunity of becoming a backend developer, which has higher salaries and barriers to entry (and is a better fit for someone who has more of a traditional math/engineering mind since it’s less forgiving of mistakes and has more challenging mathy engineering problems). If you’re sure frontend web development is all you want to do or you have some cool frontend thing you’re inspired to make, I guess JavaScript is fine.
Less Wrong thread. I still advocate learning Python; it’s an OK or good choice for almost anything you’d want to program, and I think its simplicity and readability mean that it will give you the best conceptual foundation out of anything out there. I listed a bunch of resources on learning Python in this post. They’re a bit deeper and more conceptual than the resources you’ll see on learning Ruby, which is a good thing because it will differentiate you from all the Ruby web development types and give you the opportunity of becoming a backend developer, which has higher salaries and barriers to entry (and is a better fit for someone who has more of a traditional math/engineering mind since it’s less forgiving of mistakes and has more challenging mathy engineering problems). If you’re sure frontend web development is all you want to do or you have some cool frontend thing you’re inspired to make, I guess JavaScript is fine.
I have also found Python to be very useful. I learned through Udacity’s Intro to Computer Science course, which was really user friendly.