Learn JavaScript first for web development

I was asked the other day what languages to learn in order to quickly gain an edge in web development work. My mind went back to college, where I used Pascal, Fortran, C, and assembly, but I had different goals.

If you want to do web development, learn JavaScript

Given the current state and trends, the answer is relatively easy to come by: learn JavaScript. Looking around, what used to be low-end browser scripting languages are now ubiquitous, and there seems to be more choice every day, from the server to the client.

Humble origins

The momentum continues

Over the years, many new technologies have emerged (the evolution of websites provides a great technical timeline), but one important aspect of JavaScript is that it has been around for about two centuries. Today it is firmly established as a feature-rich language.

This is a far cry from the beginning, when JavaScript was never proudly included on a resume because real programmers didn't bother to master it. Now, JavaScript is the focus of most recruiters.

When you're looking for a job in web development, I think JavaScript is a great language to start with, and here's why:

Not your buddy's JavaScript

I've heard JavaScript described in the past as easy to learn but difficult to master. This may be true for many languages, but the JavaScript saturation of the web means that novice developers can quickly copy proven code from other sites and make the necessary changes to use it without fully understanding the code.

JavaScript is the backbone of the web today, so anyone who wants to be a web developer should focus on it as the first language to learn.

Do you agree? If you disagree, what do you think is the first language that developers looking for a job in web development should learn? Let us know in the comments.