Newbie in programming. Should you start your journey in front-end web development by learning C/C++/Java/C#?

Question

IT education

Good day! I decided to write only after I did not find answers to my questions on various resources, including this one. Maybe I didn't search well. And I apologize in advance for possible confusion in terms.

I'll start with a brief educational program about myself, so that the general picture of my worthlessness is clear. I am 24 years old, I have an incomplete higher education in the direction of PMI (Applied Mathematics and Informatics), I quit out of my own stupidity 2 years ago in my 3rd year. After that, he survived, as it turns out. Somewhere I worked part-time as an ordinary office worker with relatives, after which I tried to sell something on the Internet. Recently, the realization has come that my life is slowly going to hell, from which there was a great desire to change something. I don't know if it's all too late or not, but I'm very motivated to learn something new and unknown.

Of all my acquaintances (mostly English speakers) , half work in web development. After talking with each of them, I came to the conclusion that it is also worth a try, because before that, all I was doing was developing custom game UIs for orders in (don't laugh)in the World of Warcraft online game using the game API along with LUA and XML. I liked it to such an extent that I could spend nights on end solving some problem or writing an algorithm that is simple for most, but difficult for me. The very realization that something is working out for you, that you see some kind of result, gave me strength.

To immediately understand my level; until the age of 18, he could not write even the simplest "Hello World" in Pascal (computer science was not taught, although it was) . In fact, I didn't even think about it. Programming seemed to be something distant and incomprehensible. At the end of school, I did not know where to go, as a result, choosing inf. direction. At first it was very difficult, but over time, understanding came and interest arose.

And, it would seem, open youtube, specialized forums and look for courses, manuals, download books, read, do projects, but I got stuck on the very first step. I don't understand how to start my programming journey. Over the years of being in the peculiar IT world , I have formed the opinion that every self-respecting programmer should understand at least one of the following languages: C, C++, Java, C#. I understand that it is wrong to put them in one row, but for me they have always been some kind of basis, without which it is impossible to move on to another. Tell me, please, is it so? Or you can immediately, without worrying, move on to actively learning JS / PHP (HTML & CSS)without any real development skills in already said languages? Will it be needed in the future? Do they lay some particular pattern, concept in your head? (There is no experience of participating in the development of at least something serious, knowledge is fragmentary and has settled on the concepts of OOP in Java / C # since the time of the university)

And the second question. Is it worth trying to immediately restore the gaps in such sciences as discrete mathematics, combinatorics? Or leave it until the moment when all this is really needed in any project?

Sorry for the long volume, there are many questions, but everywhere they are answered in different ways. And thanks in advance for any advice.

Answer 1

Frontend is primarily js. No matter how much this fact distorts the faces of programming atts, but it is so.
In order not to be unfounded, I will cite myself as an example - until about the age of 24 I was engaged in all kinds of finance (tower - finance and credit), worked in banks, was engaged in audit and monitoring recently. At some point, I got bored with it, I thought, what is there where you can see the result of your work, and not a pile of reports? The answer is found in programming.
Because I didn’t have familiar progers, then the question from the topic didn’t torment me - somehow I immediately came to js. I started with simple self-written sites, then I made extensions for browsers and a la applications. At some point, I decided to try my luck in the IT world in my small city of about a million people - I posted a resume in which I attached the sites, applications and extensions I made (everything was hosted on my site, which was also there, for what programmer without his own site? Joke).
And I started getting invited for interviews. Most of them were complete slurry, tk. they only pretended to be looking for an employee, but in fact they refused, although the test tasks were done correctly, although not optimally (but they were also looking for newcomers). As a result, these vacancies hung for months.
Somewhere it was suggested to do form-slapping on CMS, which did not inspire me at all, but for a beginner this is a good option.
As a result, I was invited for an interview at a company that gave me a start in IT life. And they invited me just because of my pet projects, so to speak. So they should be if there is no work experience.
At this job, I first poked Bitrix and at the same time began to learn Angular2. It was all hard, I was already 26 then, but step by step, day by day, I had to figure it all out. Moreover, several progers who were engaged in the main project, which fell on my shoulders, soon left at once.
Somewhere in six months, I also needed to make a mobile application - I had to learn Ionic.
Then there were various projects, my level and the level of salary grew (which, nevertheless, was modest, but by the standards of IT, so in general).
A year later, when I was already the main developer, I began to slowly do refactoring - the web project was transferred to the latest version of Angular, and the mobile one to Flutter.
In total, four years later from the first line of code, I am a la full-stack web developer with good skills in mobile development.
As for other languages, you need to answer the question - why? Just like that - it's all quickly fly out of my head. Well, if there is a goal, then any language is suitable for general development.
As they say, language is a tool. You need to learn to program. And you need to want it. I, that then, that now I can sit at night on an interesting project, I get high on getting new knowledge, getting an endorphin rush from a finally solved problem - I live in programming, and would do it, even if I didn’t have to at all work.
If you have such a desire, all roads are open.

Answer 2

Or can you immediately, without worrying, move on to actively learning JS / PHP (HTML & CSS) without any real development skills in the languages ​​​​already mentioned?

This is a much longer journey, and given that you also have to work, it is a very long one. Yes, he, IMHO, is more correct, a better understanding of all programming will be, which will be very useful in the future, but how much can you afford it now?
In fact, taking into account the work, you will need a year or two (I did not really understand your programming skills now).
The alternative is to immediately go to JS and then, when (if) you already get a job, start learning the basics of programming in other languages. Although some do without it and nothing.
And yes, there are a lot of trainee fronters, so it’s not a fact that the alternative will burn out. As well as vice versa. Self-learning still has its pros and cons.

C, C++, Java, C#

IMHO, again, I would make such a list here: C / C ++, Java or C #, Haskel or another functional language.

Is it worth trying to immediately restore the gaps in such sciences as discrete mathematics, combinatorics?

Knowing is useful, but at the front you are unlikely to need this knowledge.

Answer 3

Brief impression:
1. Programming was never interested ("not taught" - never an excuse for those who are interested in it themselves. We taught our teachers).
2. Study as such is also not interesting, since I left the tower. Foolishly or not, but it speaks of aspirations.
3. Now it's burning, and it seems that this is a good motivation.
4. But instead of digging into textbooks, procrastination began - dreams of cool languages ​​and questions on the Toaster.
I do not see a real development prospects with such data.
If you want to see it yourself - grab onto what you can quickly master and generally understand right now, postponing wet dreams and throwing to at least some real results. Frontend is a good choice for the incompetent, the entry threshold is low. Stop suffering bullshit, come in if you can.

Answer 4

Should you start your journey in front-end web development by learning C/C++/Java/C#?

No. For the first YaP, they are not suitable at all.