What language is best to start a career in programming?

I was recently asked for advice on how to get started in a career in programming, I found that I had a lot to say and that it is not a simple question.

As far as what is the best language goes, it really depends on what you want to do and where you want to do it. I would say that the powerhouse language is, and has been for a very long time, C++. It is fast, widely used and very powerful. Is it the best language for you? Well that depends. C++ programmers can make a wide variety of things but the tend to make things on the hardcore application/operating system side of things. Is that what you want to do? And BTW if you are seriously, or not so seriously, considering programming as a career (or hobby) I highly recommend "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and Dave Thomas. It is an older (in the tech world) book, but the information is invaluable, it is easy to read and it will help you improve and enjoy your code. Here are a couple questions to ask yourself, they may seem obvious, but I have found them to be important and wish someone had made me ask them when starting out.

• What type of programs do I want to write? - There are many many types of programs out there including games, operating systems, drivers, web applications, databases, productivity tools, etc. And there is a market for all of them, however coding drivers is more difficult and specialized and has a smaller market than writing business applications.
  
• Where do I want to live? - This may seem like a silly question right now but think about it. When you get a career going you will be in demand by employers (if things keep improving in the tech field). The language(s) you know and the types of applications you write are in higher demand in different areas of the country. For instance Microsoft is in Redmond and a lot of Seattle companies use Microsoft products. Sun is in the Bay Area and Java is used more often there. If you are an OS coder you will most likely want to live in Redmond or go open source. Something to think about.
  
• What is in high demand/Who am I working for? - Are you simply wanting to be a programmer and work for the company that treats and pays you well or do you have other ideals in mind. Would you rule out working for Microsoft for personal reasons? Remember Microsoft treats its employees very well but also works them hard. If you are simply happy to work programming computers, you will want to find a niche that people are paying for.
  
• What is important, elegance or end result? - A good language is not always a successful one. Successful languages are not always easy to use. Smalltalk was way ahead of its time but was not often used. Java has many nice features that make it easy to use and maintain but it is generally slower than poop. C++ is very powerful but allows you to make some huge mistakes. Ruby (my current pet language) is not the most popular language for what it does, but has a strong community around it. You might call it a cult language. Visual Basic is easy to learn and highly supported and is integrated into nearly every Microsoft product (very useful) but is lacking in nearly other area.
  
• Do I want to support a specific operating system? - Languages such as Java are truly cross platform. C has compilers for almost any computer and can be ported to which ever. You are not going to find VB on a Linux box. Of course there is always the web where the language is JavaScript on the client side and wide open on the server side.
  
• SQL? - SQL is a language I use every day because I use databases. It is quite different from other languages however if you were a DBA you would have to know it. Most applications have to store their information somewhere and SQL is the language that is done with.
  
• Status? - No matter what type of programmer you are someone will thing they are better than you simply because you use language X and create Y type of programs. Does this matter to you? What about your audience? Do you want it to be large or small? Are you wanting to run a small company or be part of a bigger one? All of these things will affect your status. Personally, I've worked in environments where I've been looked down on because I was on the low end of the coding scale and where I was the only techie person around. They both had advantages and disadvantages. When you are on the low end of the skill scale people can point you in the right direction so you can learn quickly. When you are the local code god it gets very lonely.
  
• What experience do I have? - Apply what you already know.

I'm sure you were looking to think about all this, just asking a simple question. I do think that these questions are important when planning a career in technology.

Here are a few lists to give you somewhere to go from here:

Languages I know

• Visual Basic (Including VBScript, VBA)
• Java
• SQL
• Powerbuilder

Languges I have used

• Visual Basic (Including VBScript, VBA)
• Java
• SQL
• Powerbuilder
• C++
• Perl
• Ruby
• AWK
• BASIC
• ADA
• Assembly
• Delphi
• Javascript

Languages I would recommend to someone wanting to be a programmer

• Visual Basic - A decent beginner language and the brunt of the coding world will get you a sense of accomplishment when you see your code run. It is widely used and the glue of the Microsoft world. It is used widely and with .NET is the same code underneath as more sophisticated languages like C#.
• Ruby - As I said this is my current interest. An amazing elegant language. Though you will want to know another language as well to find work.SQL - You won't code any applications with it, but if you are using databases you must know it.
• C++ - Much of the world runs on C++. In fact most of the software you are running right now was most likely written in it.
• JavaScript - If you are doing any client side web programming you need this.
• Java - This is an excellent introduction into programming for the simple reason that it supports good application design which is very important.

Other things you should know about

• XML
• CSS
• HTML
• Object Oriented Code
• N-Tier Applications
• Databases
• Refactoring
• Unit Testing
• Design Patterns
• UML

Books you should read early in your career - I love tech books, read as many as you can.

• Pragmatic Programmer - Andy Hunt / Dave Thomas
• Design Patterns - Gang of Four (Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides)
• Refactoring - Martin Fowler

Well there it is. My biggest piece of advice is keep learning, don't settle on one language or technology. There are many web resources that can keep you in the loop such as slashdot.org, msdn.com, oreilly.com and google.com

There is also a good essay on being a programmer here.