You can program and I'll show you how right now,
just don't turn off your brain. Put the phone down,
unless you're watching me from a phone. If you are, don't put it down.
And pay attention to what you are about to see. Don't give up. Imagine that a is equal to 1 and b is equal to 2 and x is equal to -b. How much is x worth?
Quick, how much is x worth? If you said 1, the answer is no,
of course not. It is -1. Why? Because if a is equal to 1 and b is equal to 2
x is equal to -b. If we replace those values
for their real values, It means that x is equal to 1 - 2
and that is why x is -1 If you answered correctly
and you understand this concept That means something very simple.
You can program. This is really all the algebra you need
to start programming. But people sometimes get blocked
and they swear they can't. Today we are going to talk to the rest,
those who think they can. Today we are going to talk about how to choose
your first programming language. And when you start talking to software developers they will mention a legendary and awesome language
thet everyone uses, which is called C++. C++ tends to be the reason why about half
of systems engineers in Latin America they graduate without knowing how to program. Process for a minute what I just told you. And now let's continue talking about C++. C++ was one of the first
programming languages and is one of the most robust and used
programming languages in the world. C++ is, most likely, the programming language
of the operating system you are using to watch this broadcast right now and it has several traits
that you will find in many other languages for example these brackets
are always the way to group blocks of code and when the lines of code are independent,
they end in a semicolon. Also, this parentheses symbol is the form
in which a function gets its parameters If you do not understand these concepts,
do not worry That's what the Platzi course
on basics of programming is for, which is free. you can go to Platzi.com/programacion or by clicking on it up there in the corner
if you're watching me on Youtube. And the other interesting topic that C++ has
is that functions start by declaring their type. What does that mean? That can you say
this is going to be a number, this is going to be a text this is going to be an object,
this is going to be something else. C++ also has weird stuff like for example this double less than sign
which means bit shift to the left do not worry,
you don't have to understand that yet. you just have to understand that this set of rules
we were talking about a minute ago are known as the syntax of the language. And if you were to talk about the syntax of the language,
it's this one. They are the rules to write the code. Just as you learn the syntax of Spanish, and the words that end in sión
always have an accent on the o, did you know that? That's the Spanish syntax
and like that, there is syntax in each language. You can learn C++, right now the first classes are free at Platzi.com/cpp
or by clicking on it, up there. But it turns out that programming languages
are not interpreted by our computers the way in which our computers work is that the programming code
is executed by the processor also known as CPU, Central Processing Unit but it does not interpret it directly. For a programming language
to run on our processors, a process called compilation must happen. Compilation is basically
an intermediate process in which our programming language
which is "understandable and readable by humans" is converted to machine language. Machine language is the instructions
expressed in bytes, we will get into that later,
but if you do not know any of these concepts there is a course that teaches them to you,
called Fundamentals of Software Engineering, the first classes are free,
Platzi.com/fundamentos. the thing is that this machine language
is the one that gets transported so we take the programming language,
convert it to machine language also known as assembly language. And that is executed by the CPU. The process through which a programming code
becomes machine code is known as compilation. Two languages are derived from C++.
which are the most popular of our time, JavaScript and Java. Many people, especially amateurs, confuse them, but they are wildly different languages
that only share a dad, C++. To explain it in metaphorical terms, Java is like that professional couple,
both work in banks or in the government, of course, they have a put-together life,
they keep an extremely rigid Google Calendar they put all of their appointments on the calendar
and they secretly want to scream and party all the time but they know they can't, because square life,
the law and voting republican is their life. JavaScript is more like a Silicon Valley couple, a bohemian couple, no rules,
probably have an open marriage, have talked about polyamory and they are constantly being flexible
with what it means to wash the dishes, bathing every day is a social construct among many, many other things
that you can learn, of course, at Platzi. Java is a very formal language,
much simpler to understand than C++ but with enough rules, the base of Java
is something called object-oriented programming. and when you think of object-oriented programming,
you almost always think of Java. This is typical Java code,
don't worry, you don't have to understand you just have to know
that it is not a directly compiled language they invented a concept called Bytecode
and virtual machines basically, the language that allows, to not necessarily be aware
how the RAM is being filled up. Have you seen that there are applications,
such as browsers, that fill your memory and heat up your computer? That's because a programmer wasn't checking,
what we call, memory leaks which is when you put a lot of data
in the computer memory even if you don't use them,
and then it becomes slow. Virtual machines and Bytecode grab code and that robot interprets it
and fixes the small bugs of the programmers, like, for example, leaving things in the memory
that are no longer going to be used, to make it much more efficient
and able to work on multiple CPUs so it can run on Mac, on Windows,
on Linux, on the web, on a phone, and so on. That's what made Java so popular. JavaScript is something completely different. JavaScript is a hyper flexible language. It derives as the same C and C++ syntax, but you can put the brackets
or sometimes there are other ways to do it you can finish the lines
with semicolon or not, it doesn't matter and the most interesting thing, it is not a compiled language nor is it a language using a virtual machine,
in quotes, because it does use it it is an interpreted language and who interprets it is the browser
or some server side elements but you don't to worry about that yet. JavaScript is the programming language
of 100% of the websites you use every day. The system you are watching this video on
has JavaScript code. JavaScript is an interpreted language what it means is that the code happens as it runs, the browser is responsible for interpreting it
and sending it to the CPU to be executed with a technique called Just In Time Compiler as the code runs,
it's being transformed to machine code that makes it possible to be very fast
and very, very nonrestrictive. You can begin programming in JavaScript, right now, Should I prove it to you?
Check it out, it's very easy. You are in a browser and you right click,
it has to be on a computer phones and tablets are not creation devices,
they are consumer devices a computer with a keyboard, on your computer you right click
anywhere on any website in the browser and you will find a button that says inspect, When you click on it, this little window will be displayed,
don't worry, you didn't break anything, in the corner there is a cross and you can close it, when you open this little window,
you are going to look for a tab that says console and when you find it, it doesn't matter
that there are several things written there, don't worry, the next step is to write exactly this alert("I love Platzi"); It has to be written exactly like this,
including the I love Platzi, exactly like this, alert in lowercase,
the parentheses, the semicolon, exactly in that order and you hit enter. If this works, you will get a floating window
that says "I love Platzi", and you just programmed your first line of code. But we can go a little further. right there you can write a=1, b=2, c=a-b
and you will get -1, immediately. Plus, if you just press c,
the -1 appears again This is programming, congratulations! You already know how to program
or at least the beginning of your first line and you can understand the rest in a 100% free course.
Platzi.com/programacion. And if you're watching me on Youtube,
up there in the corner. This is what happens.
You take JavaScript, you send it to the browser, the browser converts it to machine code,
and sends it to our processors JavaScript is, in my opinion, the language
that all of us should learn first. But there are many other languages, for example,
if you want to program for iOS, for iPhone you can use Swift or Objective C,
which are languages of the Apple world. There's an easy way to explain it, Objective C is like C++ but a bit more advanced,
a little older, a little wiser. If you program in Objective C, you have, at the same time,
a lot of money in your hands because you have been investing that money,
your whole life, in Apple products and a lot of stress thinking about the different ways in which you have to program your next apps and despite the money, you understand that money
is meaningless without true love by your side. Or you can program in Swift,
which is exactly the same but with a little more money
and a little more happiness. Because Swift is an Objective C
high, high, highly simplified. If Objective C is C++,
Swift is like a slightly cooler Java. On the other hand, if you like the Android world
is the same story. You can program in Java, which was the first language in which
people programmed in this industry or you can program in Kotlin. Up there at Platzi.com/kotlin,
you can access the course. Kotlin is a more fun Java,
that is the most important. And Python? I know that many of you
are wondering about Python. Because Python is a hyperpopular language
that is mentioned all the time. I'm going to explain, very quickly,
why is Python special. This is a picture from a developers event in Python, What do you see differently?
It looks like any developer event, right? With one crucial exception,
Do you know what Python programmers have? They're happy. No one is unhappy programming in Python
because Python, Python is joy. Python is written like this and you will find
various quirks in Python syntax, it doesn't have brackets for code blocks,
it has two points and that indentation those spaces in front of the block
are what defines the block so it's much easier to read. You will also find that when a line of code ends there is no need to put a semicolon, Python understands that if you hit enter, you're done,
and because the line ends there, Python trusts you. In Python, you don't need to declare variables,
you just write them and then the first value assigned to them,
that is the value of the variables. Python is happiness, Python is smiling, Python is knowing that there is a language
that not only you can trust it but the language trusts you.
Until it's your turn to execute it. Because the life of Python
is to have a very pleasant experience writing and then a very stressful experience
running and compiling. Python is an interpreted language
with a just in time compiler, similar to JavaScript. It is also possible to package Python in bytecode and there are a lot of turns,
Python is a very complex universe. But fundamentally,
you need to know about the terminal. It can be the Windows terminal,
the Mac terminal or the Linux terminal. The thing is that when you know Python,
you have a universe of options in your hands. You can work in banking, in investment,
in pure sciences, in astronomy. In astrology no, in astronomy yes. You can work doing artificial intelligence. People who do Python do data science, machine learning, high frequency trading,
financial technology and are hyperrich There is always a gigantic demand for Python.
There is no such thing as unemployment in Python. And not only does unemployment not exist, Python developers get paid better
than to JavaScript developers. It is very interesting. You could be learning right now
in data science school Platzi.com/datos. But there is another language,
there is another language for data science, it's called R. And R is very simple. R is exactly what I have already mentioned
but with less money. Because it is scientific and science does not pay well,
science must be done with... with passion. And I understand that the next unavoidable question
is what about C# and what about .NET? It is very simple.
If you like to create videogames, learn C#. In fact we have an entire official school with Unity,
and the first classes are free, on how to create videogames with C# and with Unity. You go up there and you click on it, if you're on Youtube,
or Platzi.com/unity. The other option, if you don't like videogames
but you want to do C# or .NET, is working in a bank. So to sum up, do you like banking or videogames? Go for C#. It is a very fast language.
very powerful, very robust. It's basically a Java, but from Microsoft. So which one should I learn? Learn JavaScript. JavaScript is the simplest.
And JavaScript allows you to make websites. But not by itself. Javascript is supported by two languages
that are not really complete programming languages. One is called HTML and the other is called CSS. HTML is a structuring language...
structured? structure? of the information. And CSS is a style declaration language. To put it in non-nerdy terms,
in HTML you place the data, the information, the content. In CSS you put the layout, the appearance, how it looks. And in JavaScript you program the interactivity. This is clearly our most popular school,
the web development school. And the first course is the ultimate HTML and CSS course.
that you should be taking right now. At Platzi.com/web or by clicking on it above. If you're going to learn Python, you can do it too.
Our Python course is incredible. You already know where, Platzi.com/Python. But before learning Python,
honestly, I recommend you learn Linux. Because if you learn Linux,
learning Python is going to be much, much easier. And there is a universe of languages. There is SQL which is a language
to run databases. There is PHP of course
which is a language to get hacked. TypeScript which is when people want to program in Java
but they have to program in JavaScript. There's Ruby, which is for the people
who like Python but don't want to admit it. There's Go which is for people who really
have been wanting to go back to C++ for many years but can't stand the strange things of the language. Among many, many others.
But you don't need to learn them all. You have to learn the basics.
Even if you're not going to program. There is a technology course for managers and directors
that explains to you, in the first class, this concept. There are things that run on the server,
we call that Backend. And there are things that run on the client. And the client can be an app, a website
or a desktop application. And that's the client side. Normally the web means Frontend. And that's HTML, CSS and JavaScript,
but it can also be an app. The key is that you understand this. Once you've mastered one language,
you've mastered them all. Because the languages have a lot of things in common. Functions, variables, cicles,
conditions, recursion the way objects work
among many, many other minutiae. The rest is learning the syntax. If you learn JavaScript, you can evolve to Java,
and from there to C. If you learn Python, you can learn Go very quickly
and from there, whatever you want. Choose a language
the two easiest ones are JavaScript and Python. And then do what you want
because it is very easy to learn the syntax. It's like jumping from Spanish to Portuguese. It's not obvious, but in less than six months
anyone who speaks Spanish can learn Portuguese. Much, much simpler
than jumping from Spanish to English, which are two whole different universes. That is the magic of programming languages,
but much, much easier even. Then you do have to learn things
that have nothing to do with programming, but that are basic concepts of computer science. For example, data structures. This right here is a list,
and everything in computing has lists. This right here is a stack. If you remember something called the towers of Hanoi, and you start getting dizzy, it's because the towers of hanoi is a formula
that we explain in computer science how a stack works. This over here is a binary tree. The way it which the .zip compression algorithm works
is through with binary trees. The way in which machine learning
and artificial intelligence work, it starts with binary trees and then evolves
to a concept called n-ary trees, that's where the artificial intelligence comes from. We also have other more advanced concepts,
like bit shifts, which is direct, electronic, manipulation
of the states of the CPU, for much more advanced things,
such as video compression. The way my voice is reaching you, and the way in which we compress
analog waves in digital formats, among many other concepts,
such as cryptography, which is what all finances are based on,
cryptocurrencies and many other security elements. You don't have to stress about this. What you have to do is go
to the basic programming course, it's free, it's at Platzi.com/programacion,
make the decision. Which one? To write your first line of code. Today. Subscribe to Platzi, today,
in the Basic, Expert or Expert Plus plans. And what you learned in this video, will not stop.
Never stop learning. Click right here, subscribe today, and get access to the only online technology school
that does work.
