Get a language leg up

WHEN it comes to jobs, the past five years have been all about the computer world. Highest of salaries, ample job opportunities, a bright career in top MNCs have been enough to lure the young and ambitious students in the country. Computer programming is the core of the software world and is a leading skill on a CV today.

Suresh Chouksey

WHEN it comes to jobs, the past five years have been all about the computer world. Highest of salaries, ample job opportunities, a bright career in top MNCs have been enough to lure the young and ambitious students in the country. Computer programming is the core of the software world and is a leading skill on a CV today.

Yet almost every newbie in the programming pastures goes about typing “The best programming language to learn” or “How to earn by coding”. With the ever-changing dynamics of Software and Information Technology industry, every six months, the essential requirements change. In such times, it is in the best interest of every budding programmer to hit the right note the very first time and for coders already having some experience, to bid farewell to their favourite languages which are fast losing their value in this dynamic industry.

Today, the market is no more about one-size fits all. In fact, the line between backend and front end is also blurring. With that in mind, languages that are no more good enough to make a life with programming such as Dart, Erlang, Objective-C as the means should also be avoided.

If you already are into programming and are looking for fresh challenges, here are our picks of languages that will make your task easier and upgrade your resume:

Kotlin

Kotlin is a programming language that is here to stay for the next 10-15 years. Designed by Jet Brains, it is a language that was designed keeping in mind all that the programmers had to tackle all these years. Kotlin is an open-source language and is easily convertible to Java anytime. For advanced programmers, it presents a weapon that saves a lot of time. The best way to get a grasp of Kotlin is through their official website. For mobile developers Udacity comes as a great resource.

Introduction: https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/
For android developers https://in.udacity.com/course/kotlin-for-android-developers--ud888

Google in 2012 said to its developers to use the 'Go' on the go. It is known for its simplicity, clean syntax and quick easy integration with Google family products like Google Lab. Sometimes using Google's own Go might be a hassle as need of clever features is clear. Still, it has made quite a mark in the industry since its first appearance in 2009. As such no certification is required, Google Go, however, has its own limitations that is the dependency on Google environment.

You can take a tour of the whole language divided into modules here https://tour.golang.org/
Tutorials Point has a comprehensive reference material for Go https://www.tutorialspoint.com/go/index.htm

Elixir

Expanding your programming repertoire to include some of the newer, emerging programming languages such as Elixir could really give you an edge in the technology sector. First introduced in 2012, Elixir is a general purpose, functional language which is designed to build applications that are to be run concurrently. Thousands of concurrent files, highly maintainable can be run together using Elixir as the language. Online available guidance for this new language is the best means so far.

Dave Tomas's Learning Elixir is a famous book for learning Elixir.
Introductory chapters available at https://elixir-lang.org/getting-started/introduction.html

For an interested candidate, programming can easily turn from a job to a passion. The best part of learning how to code is that the world is waiting to teach you. Thousands of tutorials, online sessions, free courses and what not. You just need to start, happy coding!

Expert take

It is important for programmers to understand that trends are set by USA. We need to follow along as Indian IT and SE market works in tandem with the Silicon Valley. Programmers in 2018 are becoming loyal to their interest in either of the two — back-end or front-end — by distinguishing it on their resume. Plus, it is relieving to know that there are plenty of online freelancing opportunities like on upwork.com, freelancer.com available to a beginner to start earning as well. Aditya Tiwari, Security Associate, Accenture