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Andrew Baisden
Andrew Baisden

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The benefits of knowing two high demand programming languages

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The need for developers is increasing as the field of programming undergoes continuous change. It's critical to keep up with industry developments and pick up new skills as they become available.

Learning two in-demand programming languages, like JavaScript and Python, is one of the best ways to achieve this. Knowing these languages will help you find work as a software engineer or web developer because they are frequently used in the industry.

If you're thinking about learning one or both of these languages, here are some reasons why it might be worthwhile:

1) You'll be able to land a job more quickly

When applying for jobs, learning two high-demand programming languages such as JavaScript and Python will offer you an advantage over other candidates. When employers discover that you know these languages on your resume, they will presume that you have more experience than someone who just knows one or two languages—which means they will be more likely to hire you!

2) You'll Have Additional Choices

You'll stand out from the competition when applying for jobs if you have knowledge of two in-demand programming languages, such as Python and JavaScript. Employers will view your knowledge of these languages on your CV as evidence that you have more experience than someone who just speaks one or two languages, which increases the likelihood that they will choose to hire you.

The JavaScript language

JavaScript continues to be an extremely popular language with very high employment prospects. This statistic is not just limited to local markets it applies all over the globe which is why JavaScript dominates many programming conversations. It remains the number 1 programming language in the Stackoverflow 2022 survey and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. It is without a shadow of a doubt the first choice programming language for the majority of beginners learn.

The language is quite advanced and you can do many things with it. I'm not going to do a deep dive here because this subject would require an entire course. Let's just have a quick introduction to how variables work.

JavaScript Variables

The name of a storage place is all that a JavaScript variable is. Local variables and global variables are the two categories of variables used in JavaScript. While defining a JavaScript variable, there are several rules to follow (also known as identifiers). A letter (from a to z or A to Z), an underscore (_), or the dollar symbol ($) must come first in the name.

In JavaScript, you can create a variable using the var, let, or const keywords.

Here's an example of how to create a variable using the var keyword:

var myText;
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By doing this, a variable named myText is created but has no value. The variable can also be given a value when it is created in the following manner:

var myText = 'hello world';
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This creates a variable with the name of myText and assigns it the value of 'hello world'.

A variable can also be created by using the let keyword like so:

let myText = 'hello world';
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The keyword let is similar to var but it has a few more properties that make it more appropriate in some circumstances. Let's take the case of the block-scoped variables, which can only be accessed within the block of code in which they are defined.

Lastly, you can make a variable using const like the below:

const myText = 'hello world';
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const variables are similar to let variables in that their values cannot be altered once they are created, but they are read-only.

It's often a good idea to use const for variables that don't need to be reassigned and let for variables that do. However, var is still extensively used and a viable solution in many situations.

The Python language

Python comes second only to JavaScript if we are referring to traditional programming languages that have complex business logic, functions and arrays etc... It is ranked 4th in the Stackoverflow 2022 survery with HTML/CSS and SQL taking the second and third spot. HTML is a markup language and CSS is a style sheet language so they don't really count as traditional programming languages. And SQL is a database query language.

Nonetheless Python is a general-purpose programming language with a high level of abstraction. Its design philosophy prioritises code readability with extensive indentation. Python is a dynamically typed and garbage-collected programming language. It is compatible with a wide range of programming paradigms, including structured, object-oriented, and functional programming.

Python Variables

Simply assigning a value to a variable in Python allows you to create it. As an illustration,:

my_text = 'hello world'
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This will create a variable with the name of my_text with an assigned value of 'hello world'.

When creating a variable in Python, a data type is not required to be specified. Depending on the value you give the variable, its data type will be decided. Since the string value "hello world" was set to the variable my_text in the example above, the data type of that variable is a string.

Additionally, you may make a variable and give it a value of a different data type, such an integer or float:

my_num = 42
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By doing this, a variable named my_num is created and given the integer value 42.

Giving your variables descriptive names that represent their function or the data they contain is a smart idea. The standard in Python is to name variables using lowercase letters and underscores (for example, my_text rather than myText).

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