Talking Tech: The Basics of Computer Languages

Communication is the key to understanding and learning. Yet, how often do you think about learning to "talk" to your computer? You use technology in so many ways, great and small, each day. It only makes sense that you learn to communicate better with the computers in your life. Start with one of these great five computer languages to see what you are missing.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language, more commonly known as HTML, is a way to tell web browsers to display text and images in a particular way. It is the code that gives us the coding for web pages. 

Despite its name, many programmers and developers do not consider HTML a language in and of itself. This is because it does not actually execute a function, but rather only affect show things look. That does not mean, in any way, shape, or form, that you should skip learning to use HTML. In fact, it is a great first foray into learning computer languages. 

HTML uses tags to tell web browsers whether text should appear as standard, bold, underlined, or italicized on the page. They indicate indenting, font size, spacing, and lists. Tags look like this <function tag>your function goes here</function tag>. 

Ruby

Released in 1995, Ruby is the work of Japanese computer scientist Yukihiro Matsumoto. It is designed to be intuitive and natural to use, yet Ruby is capable of executing very high order tasks. 

Anyone with a computer can access Ruby for free. it is an open source language that is free to download, use, change, and even distribute. So, once you learn to communicate with Ruby you can go ahead and share your version with others so they can learn the language too. 

Many people find RUby easy to learn. It is a flexible, object-oriented language that integrates seamlessly with the web framework Ruby on Rails. You will find that it is excellent for creating simulations and 3D modeling. 

Java

If you have any interest in developing Android apps, then you should take the time to learn Java. This computer language is incredibly popular, and one of the most widely used ones in the world today. It is also relatively simple to learn and gives you a good foundation to learn other, more advanced or complicated languages later on. 

Because Java has been around for more than two decades, pretty much any question you could think to ask about it has probably already been answered. There is an amazing support community built around the programming language where you can turn for help. 

Python

This is an advanced programming language, and maybe not the best place to start if you are a complete computer science novice. However, Python is used by many major businesses, including Google, YouTube, ESRI, and NASA. 

It is an object-oriented programming language that is flexible. It can be used to design everything from basic games to advanced content management systems. 

If you have an interest in natural language processing (NLP), the Python natural language toolkit can help you set up a system to query and analyze blocks of text. This is useful if you want ot set up a news feed, gather general meaning, or work toward discovering hidden patterns between seemingly unrelated information. 

SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) is another programming language you should take the time to learn. It is used to mine and analyze large amounts of data. SQL allows communication between databases so they can share and compare data, uncovering patterns and organizing the information into manageable chunks. Competence in SQL is a necessity if you want ot work in any type of app or web development. 

Computers are integrated into virtually every aspect of modern life. From scan-in-your-cart convenience at the grocery store to automated grammar assistants, we use technology for small tasks throughout each day. Then there are the bigger projects, things like autonomous vehicles and communicating with a rover on Mars, that make learning computer languages a skill that is increasingly necessary.

Whether you are looking to advance your career or simply want to expand your skillset, consider learning a computer programming language. They just might open up a whole new level of understanding in your daily interactions with technology.