I want to automate boring work: rename files, clean spreadsheets, read CSVs and maybe call an API later. I'm not choosing a language to maximize future salary or prepare for interviews. Python looks like the obvious practical option, but browser-related tasks keep pulling me toward JavaScript. If you started from zero with this exact goal, what first project would you use to learn the basics without spending months comparing languages?
Choosing a first language for automation rather than for a future career
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I'd start with Python. Rename a folder of files, read a CSV, make one little script spit out a clean spreadsheet, and you'll hit the basics...
I'd start with Python. Rename a folder of files, read a CSV, make one little script spit out a clean spreadsheet, and you'll hit the basics without getting buried in language debates.
Same here. My first useful thing was a script that renamed homework files and sorted them into folders, which sounds boring until you don't have to do it by hand again.
If browser tasks are the thing pulling you toward JavaScript, I'd still learn Python first for the file and spreadsheet part. Then learn a little JS later when you actually need the browser side, instead of trying to make one language carry the whole plan.
That split makes sense. One language for local chores, one for web chores, and your first project can be something like 'take a messy CSV an...