Should You Learn a New Programming Language This Year?
Photo by Jeremy Bishop @jeremybishop on Unsplash
The New Year comes, and we all have the opportunity to start fresh, pick up new habits, and maybe even convince yourself you’ll finally get fit.
For programmers, it’s the time to stare wistfully at your IDE and think, “Maybe I should learn Rust.” Or Go. Or Zig. Or whatever else Reddit is raving about this week.
Stop please. Don’t drop $9.99 on a Udemy course you’ll never finish. As someone who’s spent more hours debugging poorly written code than I care to admit, I’m here to tell you that learning a new programming language might not be the golden ticket you think it is.
Why Are You Learning It?
Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not against learning. What I’m against is learning for the wrong reasons. Do you want to pick up a new language because it’s the right tool for a problem you actually have? Or because someone on Twitter told you you’re not a real developer unless you can write an OS kernel in Assembly?
If it’s the latter, please stop. Software development is not Pokémon — you don’t have to “catch ’em all.” Trends come and go, and you don’t want to waste your time chasing after something that will be as relevant in five years as MySpace layouts.
Focus on Fundamentals
The reality is that the good developers (the ones whose code you don’t want to set on fire) aren’t great because they know 12 languages. They’re great because they understand the principles that apply across all of them. Algorithms, data structures, design patterns, and the art of writing maintainable code will serve you far better than memorizing where the semicolons go in Kotlin.
Languages are tools, and tools are only as good as the person wielding them. A programmer who understands the core concepts of problem-solving will write better code in any language than someone who’s memorized Python but doesn’t know what a hash table is.
Depth Over Breadth
There’s something beautiful about being great at one thing. My Kindle is fantastic for reading books, and I don’t ask it to play Spotify or check my email. The same principle applies to programming languages. Becoming deeply proficient in one or two can often yield better results than being “okay” at six.
If you’re a web developer and JavaScript is your bread and butter, maybe this year isn’t the time to learn Haskell. Maybe it’s the year you master TypeScript or figure out how to make your codebase less of a flaming dumpster fire. Depth trumps breadth every time, and don’t let “full-stack” developers convince you otherwise.
Pragmatism > Hype
Big tech companies love to push new languages as solutions to problems you don’t have. Apple wants you to love Swift. Google wants you to love Dart. Everyone wants you to rewrite your perfectly fine backend in Rust because… reasons.
Here’s the thing: languages are tools, and the right tool depends on the job. If your current stack is working, don’t feel pressured to switch just because a YouTube influencer told you to. There’s no shame in sticking with what works. Pragmatism is a superpower in this industry.
Understand the Why, Not Just the How
If you do decide to pick up a new language this year, don’t just learn the syntax. Learn why it was designed the way it was. What problems does it solve? What trade-offs does it make? What’s its philosophy? Understanding these aspects will make you a better programmer overall, regardless of whether you stick with the language long-term.
Programming isn’t about writing code. It’s about solving problems. A new language is just one of many tools in your toolkit. Treat it that way.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about learning a new language this year, here’s my advice: do it for the right reasons. Learn because it aligns with your goals, not because it’s trendy. Go deep, not wide. Focus on the principles that will make you a better developer in any language, not just the latest hotness.
And for the love of clean code, please don’t let anyone guilt you into learning something that doesn’t serve your purpose. The best resolution you can make this year isn’t to learn a new language, it’s to become a better problem-solver, no matter what language you use.