If you're planning to learn to code, the first language you should learn depends heavily on what you plan to do. However, some languages are easier and offer more portable skills than others. We asked you for your favorites, then looked at the five best languages for first-time learners. Now it's time to highlight the winner of our poll.



Voting was tight all weekend, but when the polls closed and the votes were counted, Python emerged on top, with over 34% of the overall vote. Those of you who nominated and voted for it praised its portability, community support and documentation, ease-of-learning, wide use, and the fact that it's largely human-readable.

Hot on its heels in second place was C/C++ with over 23% of the votes cast—clearly there are more than a few of you who believe that difficult or not, immediately applicable or not, learning the basics and starting from the bottom up is a valuable approach to development. In third place with close to 18% of the vote was Java, which was probably the most divisive of the contenders, with many people saying it's a nightmare in general, much less for first-time learners, but other people pointing out that it's broad use and applicability makes it a solid contender. Just behind it in fourth place was JavaScript, with over 16% of the vote, with many people noting that JavaScript's rapid rise in popularity and ease to learn makes it a great option. Bringing up the rear with 8% of the votes cast was Ruby, the super-easy dynamic language that's the newest of the contenders but also the least broadly used.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com !

Photo by Ayumu Kasuga .



Five Best Programming Languages for First-Time Learners If you're thinking of learning to code, the language you decide to pick up first has a lot to do… Read more