Is Python Still Worth Learning First in 2026?

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about learning Python as my first language. Do you still think it's the best choice in 2026, or would you recommend something else?
If you started with Python, how long did it take before you felt comfortable building projects on your own?
I'd really love to hear your experience. Thanks.

Short answer yes long answer Python removes the two things that make a first language painful, manual memory handling and heavy type ceremony, so the gap between having an idea and having it run is small enough that you keep going. That matters more than syntax elegance, because most people who quit programming quit during that gap rather than at anything conceptual. On your second question, I would drop the timeline framing entirely. Comfortable building things on your own is not a function of months elapsed, it is a function of finished projects, and roughly five completed small ones gets most people there because finishing is where you hit the unglamorous parts, error handling, dependencies, the thing that works locally and not anywhere else. Three months of tutorials leaves you further back than three weekends of shipping something small and ugly.

Basics + Claude is enough in my opinion. Just reach junior level so you know what you are doing and combine it with Claude or codex

Chunkulus said:

Short answer yes long answer Python removes the two things that make a first language painful, manual memory handling and heavy type ceremony, so the gap between having an idea and having it run is small enough that you keep going. That matters more than syntax elegance, because most people who quit programming quit during that gap rather than at anything conceptual. On your second question, I would drop the timeline framing entirely. Comfortable building things on your own is not a function of months elapsed, it is a function of finished projects, and roughly five completed small ones gets most people there because finishing is where you hit the unglamorous parts, error handling, dependencies, the thing that works locally and not anywhere else. Three months of tutorials leaves you further back than three weekends of shipping something small and ugly.

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I like the idea of focusing on finished projects instead of the timeline. It definitely makes more sense to measure progress by what you've built rather than how long you've been learning. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

python is extremely powerful still in 2026 , took me few months before I could even make anything, but your fortunate that a.i exists so you'll be able to make projects much faster!

Its amazing what can be done with it. Theres already prebuilt modules and directories+. Need a scraper? Theres different types with different actions. Even if I dont know all about Python I did ok..

Can set reasoning on the chatbot AI, even select your favorite model with Co-Pilot Github ($50 plan). If I didnt know something I explained it or got further terminology on the subject from Google. Using synonyms may have come in handy too, I recall I used to have a synonym book that came with a dictionary.

Coded my whole app in Python, inside Visual Studio with the chatbot on Full Auto. Of course it was on manual at first, thats why it took 5 months. Before you laugh though, I have around 50 features! I coded it going back and forth with the chatbot, checking the new EXE download each time visually and giving my feedback after troubleshooting features. Its in one App store now, though I will update it and add it to 3-4. The whole thing was exciting, kept me looking at the code, which now I want to learn the programming pieces. The Python bootcamp book 3rd edition was very insightful, though there is a newer version too.

Building some B2B marketing systems Im familiar with to market this SaaS, even on backend newsletter too. PBX/Cold outreach mainly.

Good luck!

as with ai exposure it extremely worth it even how efficient this is with resources it will be in increasing in demand as fast things getting smart

william011 said:

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about learning Python as my first language. Do you still think it's the best choice in 2026, or would you recommend something else?
If you started with Python, how long did it take before you felt comfortable building projects on your own?
I'd really love to hear your experience. Thanks.

Click to expand...

python is always king for all coding. It is very usefull for digital marketing tasks. You can use ai to learn fast.