[jaybill]

What kind of "beginner"? If you mean someone who has never programmed before, Go is much simpler to learn than C and makes a lot more sense.

If you mean someone that is a programmer and hasn't used go before, I can tell you I went from "never having seen Go before" to "reasonably proficient" inside of two months. Further, my Go code is easier to read and maintain than anything I've done in other languages. (I came largely from Java, so maybe that's not saying much.)

I think that for beginners of either kind, the documentation and community support are just as important as the language itself. I mean, look at something like JavaScript, which is picked up by "beginners" all the time and is, frankly, obtuse as hell. Go has great docs and a really friendly and helpful community.

[millerfung]

Wow, that is very good. I am total beginner in coding so there is nothing much I could say but I am just saying from a total beginners perspective. What would be your suggestion for me if I am planning to build some social application? Learn C first to gain some fundamental knowledge? And because it is still the most widely used language, if I don't know it I wouldn't be able to find a work in the future?

[jaybill]

I think that really depends on your goals. If your goal is to bash out a web application and get a startup off the ground, you ought to learn something that is tailored to doing that. Ruby on Rails and Django(Python) aren't bad choices. I'd avoid PHP, but that is my opinion and you'll find lots of people who disagree. Research your options and learn something that makes sense to you and will enable you to bring other people on later.

If you want to launch a career as a systems programmer, which is a fundamentally different goal, then yes, you should learn C, even if you end up using other things.

[millerfung]

Thanks. Currently, in your opinion, what kind of programmers are high in demand and what skill set does it require?

[jaybill]

Two part answer. First, I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head. Second, though, is that I don't think it matters. You need to find something you like to do and then get someone to pay you to do it. If you don't do that, the money won't matter, because you'll be miserable.

[genwin]

That depends on the city. Guage demand by checking out monster.com, indeed.com and other job sites (craigslist?) for the city or cities you're interested in. Job postings tell you the skill sets too (no two of them alike!).