Japanese convenience stores, popularly known as konbini, are open 24 hours and revered for well-prepared foods like onigiri, ramen and the egg salad sandwiches on milk bread that Anthony Bourdain loved. Soon, the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven will start to export its konbini-style food to some American stores.
That’s not the only zhuzh coming in convenience-store fare. Gas stations are preparing made-to-order meals, selling their own brand of frozen foods, stocking salads with local produce and creating coffee bars with as many opportunities for customization as Starbucks. The East Coast chain Wawa is bringing its much-loved sandwiches to the South, and the Texas-born Buc-ee’s is taking its brisket to more states. We’re still a long way from road food as good as you’d get at an Italian Autogrill, but we’re getting closer.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word zhuzh in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
If you want a better idea of how zhuzh can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Thinking about learning to code but not sure where to start? One of the most common questions we hear is, “Which programming language should I learn first?”
The answer is: It depends. As Web Developer Pat DePuydt explains in the video below, the tech industry changes fast. And with over 600 possible languages to choose from, it can feel daunting to find the one that best suits your needs.
Still, it basically comes down to what you’re looking to achieve. Here, we’ll explore some of the most popular languages (and their uses) so that you’ll have a better idea of which one is right for you.
But, before we dive into different programming languages, let’s first address some common questions.
What are programming languages?
Programming languages are the tools we use to write instructions for computers to follow. Computers think in binary, and programming languages help us translate 1s and 0s into code that humans can understand.
Programmers are the ambassadors between the worlds of humans and computers, and programming languages are the tools they use to tell computers what to do.
Learn something new for free
Is it possible to choose the “wrong” programming language?
New developers often hesitate before picking up a programming language, fearing they’ll waste time and energy learning something they’ll never use. But the truth is, there’s really no such thing as picking the “wrong” language. No matter which language you choose, you’ll still be learning valuable skills.
Programming languages may look different on the surface, but they have a lot in common. They share similar patterns and structures, and by learning one language, you’ll be introduced to key coding concepts that’ll help you learn other languages in the future. Once you pick up your first programming language — no matter which you choose — it’ll be easier to pick others up.
Plus, it’s not uncommon for developers to move between different languages throughout their careers as they’re asked to solve different sorts of problems. You’re definitely not locked into using the first programming language you choose. So don’t worry too much about focusing on whether you’re learning the “best” programming language. Instead, focus on gaining that foundational knowledge with whatever language you choose.
What programming language should I learn?
Now that you’ve got some background, it’s time to decide what programming language you should choose. There are a couple of routes you can go with making this decision. The first is to choose a programming language based on your goal, and the second is to choose a programming language based on what’s the most in-demand or popular in the industry.
Finding the best programming language for your goals
Why do you want to learn a programming language? Are you programming just for fun? Curious about what coding is like? Trying to build something specific or get a new job? Answering this question is a great way to get an idea of what language might be best to start with.
That’s why our free course Choosing a Career in Tech walks through some of the most popular careers in the field and the skills they require. It’s like working in reverse: Once you know where you want to end up, it’s easier to figure out how to get there.
If you’re just learning for fun, pick any language you like! Some popular languages for those starting out include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or Python. (More on these languages below!)
Web development
If you’re at the very beginning of your coding journey, you’ll want to learn basic markup languages like HTML and CSS to get your foot in the door. These two are essential to front-end web development and can be used to structure and design attractive web pages with interactive elements.
Learning HTML and CSS is an excellent starting point for those who want to build websites from the ground up. Once you’re familiar with HTML/CSS, you can move on to languages and libraries like JavaScript or React to give your website the functionality it needs. Keep in mind that you’ll need to showcase a diverse portfolio of your past projects to become a Web Developer.
Data science and analysis
Want to analyze data? SQL is great for data management, and Python and R are good starting places for data visualization. Ruby, JavaScript, and Python are useful for automating tasks.
If you’re looking to make a career transition or get a new job, talk to people in the industry you’re interested in. If you’re interested in mobile development, web design, data science, IT, AI, or another industry, reach out to folks in those communities and ask what a typical day looks like for them. What languages do they use? Which do they recommend starting with?
Python is known as a beginner-friendly language because of its high-level, readable syntax. Unlike many older, low-level languages Python is very concise and familiar: Code statements are intuitive and read much more like conventionally written instructions.
R is another popular first language, especially in academia, due to its strengths in scientific and statistical computing. Like Python, it has a very large community of users and developers that provide a rich ecosystem of libraries and learning resources that are particularly useful for new programmers.
JavaScript is the language of the web, and as a result, it’s an incredibly popular and well-documented language. It has become more user-friendly over the course of its more recent development, and there are alternatives available that users can migrate to after learning the basics. For example, Typescript is a superset of JavaScript, that provides additional syntax and features that make developing applications in JavaScript easier.
In truth, every language has its own pros and cons for beginners. In our free course Choosing a Programming Language, we take a closer look at the applications of popular programming languages and their learning curves.
Popular programming languages to choose from
If you’re considering a career in coding, stick to mainstream languages when you’re getting started. They generate the highest demand in the tech industry, with most job openings listing them as required skills for entry-level developers.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular programming languages and what they’re used for:
C++
In Stack Overflow’s survey of thousands of developers around the world, 23% listed C++ as their favorite programming language. It’s a powerful, all-purpose programming language used for building applications with faster performance and far more effective scalability. In fact, the basic foundation of most Windows software was written in C++.
C++ is ideal for managing resource-heavy applications, like web browsers, operating systems, desktop apps, cloud computing, and even video games. It’s used in a variety of industries, including VR, robotics, software and game development, and scientific computing. The key features of this language are its cross-platform hardware support and adaptability to a changing internal environment.
C#
C# is Microsoft’s programming language. Being one of the most popular languages, with 27.1% of developers naming it as their favorite in Stack Overflow’s survey, it has since been adopted into the Windows, Linux, and iOS and Android platforms. C# is also known for having a huge collection of libraries and frameworks.
It’s often the language of choice for game developers and mobile app creators, though it’s also used in enterprise software like Azure and IoT. If you’re interested in game design, you’ll most likely encounter C# when building assets in the Unity engine for a new game.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a dynamic programming language used primarily in web development to design interactive, user-friendly websites. It provides stylized web pages with added functionality and allows brands to increase their user engagement by displaying animated elements on their websites.
JavaScript is the most popular language in Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey at 62.3%. This versatile programming language is the core component of web browsers and is suitable for most beginners who are curious about front-end web development or mobile game development.
Ruby
Ruby is a general-purpose, dynamic programming language, most popularly implemented with the Ruby on Rails (Rails) framework. Only 5.2% of surveyed developers listed it as their favorite, but it provides developers with cutting-edge features, all thanks to its concise syntax and object-oriented support.
Although Ruby is a back-end language, it’s designed to be readable by people instead of just machines, and it’s turned into a staple language used by companies like Twitter, Airbnb, and GitHub.
Python
Python is another general-purpose programming language, and ranks as the third favorite programming language in Stack Overflow’s survey (51%). It plays an important part in data science, machine learning, and web development. You can even use it to program desktop applications. This versatility is one of the reasons why it’s ranked as the fourth most popular programming language in the survey linked above.
Python has a low barrier to entry. It’s simple but elegant, with many real-world applications — one notable example being artificial intelligence. As seen in web scraping, Python has the capability to extract a large amount of data.
R
R is another programming language used for data analysis and visualization. It has statistical computing capabilities that make it a helpful tool for data scientists and business analysts. R serves a specific niche, but it’s quite popular in the data science industry, being 4.3% of developers’ favorite language.
SQL
SQL (pronounced “sequel”) is a data-driven programming language. Its purpose is to store information into separate data sets so you can retrieve them to generate accurate reports based on your search query. SQL is an absolute must for any aspiring Data Scientist, given that data science uses relational databases. But, it’s not the best language for building apps from scratch.
SQL is the fourth most popular programming language in Stack Overflow’s survey (51%), and it’s even helpful for non-technical careers. SQL also allows marketers to translate and analyze business data to understand how well certain products perform on the market or which sales funnels are converting leads into customers.
More resources for getting started
If you’re still unsure about which programming language to learn first, we’ve got a couple more tools to help you out.
The first is our free course Learn to Code with Blockly, in which you’ll learn programming fundamentals and concepts shared between languages. Then, once you understand how coding actually works, try our coding personality quiz to find out which language is right for you. It’s kind of like a personality test, but for programming. Basically, it determines which language best matches your approach to problem-solving.
You can also check out our Code Foundations skill path. Code Foundations will introduce you to the world of code, explain the paths of web development, data science, and computer science, and help you make an educated decision about which path (and language) is right for you.
This blog was originally published in August 2020, and has been updated to include the latest statistics, as well as new details about our course offerings.
Whether you’re looking to break into a new career, build your technical skills, or just code for fun, we’re here to help every step of the way. Check out our blog post about how to choose the best Codecademy plan for you to learn about our structured courses, professional certifications, interview prep resources, career services, and more.
I think about this a lot in school — each test, assignment, and class is different for everybody. Some people are meant to be smart and study, but others are meant to be singers, actors, or comedians. Why are these people, all with unique abilities, expected to “excel” in school? They all have different, unique abilities, and the outcome of a specific task is going to be different for everybody. For example: If a phenomenal singer works really hard in school but fails a test, does that necessarily show who they are as a person? No — they worked hard and that’s what should count. I think that instead of focusing on “excellence” in school, we should focus on a person’s dedication, potential, work ethic, and unique capabilities.
And some said being recognized for their hard work was what motivated them to keep trying.
As a student, I think teachers should grade students by effort because it shows how much work we put into the assignment. When students are learning, some understand things slower and overthink, unlike others who just write right away because everyone struggles with different things when learning. When students hear you’ll be getting graded on effort, it motivates them to work harder.
Although the essay’s author underscores the importance of teaching students that one’s work cannot guarantee success, comparing these ideas to an Olympian winning a medal for quick swimming rather than best training, students may be discouraged from improving their grades. Thus, a teacher must recognize student effort, and consider incorporating it into their grade.
As a student myself, it is upsetting when I participate, turn in assignments, and study and end up with a B in the class while my other classmate doesn’t participate often, never studies, and turns in assignments but is a great test taker and ends up with an A in the class. Some may argue that the overall grading system pushes students to work harder but I disagree. When a student sees that they have gotten an F on an assignment after they have been an above average student their whole life, they feel disappointed at first but if it becomes a consistent outcome, most students will feel burnt out and give up.
Personally I think grades must be mainly based on effort. Because I think effort its one of the most important things at school. Its better to be a student that tries, study and tells the lesson than a student that doesn’t care and is good only at tests and exercises.
(1) Roediger, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice. Chapter in J. Mester, & B. Ross (Eds.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Cognition in Education. (pp. 1-36). Oxford: Elsevier.
(2) Fritz, C. O., Morris, P. E., Nolan, D., & Singleton, J. (2007). Expanding retrieval practice: An effective aid to preschool children’s learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 991-1004.
(3) Karpicke, J. D., Blunt, J. R., & Smith, M. A. (2016). Retrieval-based learning: Positive effects of retrieval practice in elementary school children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 350: 1-8.
(4) Karpicke, J. D., Blunt, J. R., Smith, M. A., & Karpicke, S. S. (2014). Retrieval-based learning: The need for guided retrieval in elementary school children. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3, 198-206.
(5) Lipko-Speed, A., Dunlosky, J., & Rawson, K. A. (2014). Does testing with feedback help grade-school children learn key concepts in science? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3, 171-176.
(6) Marsh, E. J., Fazio, L. K., & Goswick, A. E. (2012). Memorial consequences of testing school-aged children. Memory, 20, 899-906.
(7) McDaniel, M. A., Thomas, R. C., Agarwal, P. K., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. (2013). Quizzing in middle-school science: Successful transfer performance on classroom exams. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27, 360-372.
(8) McDermott, K. B., Agarwal, P. K., D’Antonio, L., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Both multiple-choice and short-answer quizzes enhance later exam performance in middle and high school classes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 20, 3-21.
(9) Agarwal, P. K., Finley, J. R., Rose, N. S., & Roediger, H. L. (2017). Benefits from retrieval practice are greater for students with lower working memory capacity. Memory, 25(6), 764-771. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2016.1220579
It’s been a whirlwind week for TikTok and its roughly 170 million users in the United States.
On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a law that effectively banned the Chinese-owned social media app.
Late on Saturday, the app went dark nationwide. But less than 24 hours later, it came back.
Then, on Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to delay enforcing a federal ban of TikTok for 75 days.
Have you been paying attention to the recent news about TikTok? How did you feel when the app went dark? What do you think will be the ultimate fate of the wildly popular app?
Starting on Saturday night, TikTok, the short-form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, was unavailable in the United States as a result of a new law that banned the company’s apps in the country. By around noon on Sunday, it was back.
Though the law calls on ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners or face a ban starting Sunday, TikTok said it was responding to new “clarity” from President-elect Donald J. Trump when it restored service.
Mr. Trump vowed early Sunday to stall the implementation of the ban to give TikTok more time to make a sale that would satisfy the law. It’s still not clear how he’ll be able to do so.
The article looks at whether Mr. Trump can legally reverse the ban with his executive order:
The new law has a provision that says a president can issue a one-time extension of 90 days to the ban, if he or she certifies to Congress that a “qualified divestiture” is underway and that it can take place during that period. But it’s not clear if he can exercise that option now that the law has taken effect. The law was passed by Congress with wide bipartisan support, signed by President Biden and now upheld by the Supreme Court. So to simply subvert it now will raise serious questions.
… the argument about the risk has typically been described in hypothetical terms: The government fears that under Chinese law, TikTok executives could be ordered to let disinformation seep into the app, and thus deep into the cerebral cortexes of several generations of Americans. In its arguments to the court, the government made the case that because TikTok collects so much data on its users — their interests, their preferences, sometimes even their geolocation — China could use the data for “espionage or blackmail” or to “advance its geopolitical interests” by “sowing discord and disinformation during a crisis.”
“I can’t believe I’m making an Instagram reel to complain about this right now because normally when anything happens in the world, I go to TikTok,” the influencer James Charles said in a video late Saturday night.
Mr. Charles, who has 20 million followers on Instagram, was reacting to the notification that users in the United States had received earlier in the evening informing them that the app would be going dark.
The article continues:
“It was just so disappointing,” Casey Lewis, who writes the youth culture newsletter After School, said of using Reels after the ban went into effect. “TikTok, the algorithm, just knows me and gives me everything I want to see.”
Students, read one or all three of the articles in their entirety and then tell us:
What’s your reaction to the whirlwind of TikTok news? Did the temporary ban of the popular social media app affect you? How about your friends?
Do you use TikTok? If so, how much and what for? What, if anything, would you lose if the app were permanently banned?
Congress overwhelmingly passed the law last year to ban TikTok or force its sale over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to gather information about Americans or spread propaganda. However, lawyers for TikTok and creators who use the app argued before the Supreme Court that banning the platform would infringe on the First Amendment. Which arguments do you find most persuasive, and why?
In the guest essay “I’m a 17-Year-Old TikTok Junkie. I Need This Ban,” Juliet Weisfogel writes: “I love TikTok so much that I cannot imagine a life without it. And yet I desperately need a life without it.” Does her point of view resonate with you?
What, if anything, do you think is missing from the debate over TikTok? What do you think adults, particularly those with the power to make decisions about the app, may not understand about it, and especially about how young people use it?
What do you think will be the ultimate fate of TikTok in America? Do you think it will be permanently banned or sold? What do you think should happen?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Would you want to live to be 150? How about 1,000? If you could, would you want to live forever?
A recent article in The Times reports that though the expected span of an American life has increased by about three decades since 1900 — to around 78 as of 2023 — for many people, even 78 years just won’t do. Many of them are taking radical steps with diet, exercise and cutting-edge science to try to live as long as possible.
Do you share this fascination? What would you be willing to do to extend your life — and how far would you want to extend it?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Despite the popular image of this generation — that of Greta Thunberg and the Parkland activists — as one driven by idealism, GenZ students at these schools appear to be strikingly corporate-minded. Even when they arrive at college wanting something very different, an increasing number of students at elite universities seek the imprimatur of employment by a powerful firm and “making a bag” (slang for a sack of money) as quickly as possible.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word imprimatur in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
If you want a better idea of how imprimatur can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Welcome to Conversations With Journalists! In this new series, we invite students every two weeks to join a discussion about a New York Times article with a Times journalist and other teenagers from around the world. Learn more about the feature and find a schedule of the pieces we’ll be reading together in the future here.
Langston Hughes. Zora Neale Hurston. Duke Ellington. W.E.B. DuBois. Bessie Smith. Jacob Lawrence. Paul Robeson. Josephine Baker.
You may recognize these names as some of the most influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s cultural movement that reshaped the landscape of American culture and opened up new possibilities for Black artists around the globe.
What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? Do you have a favorite writer, poet, activist or artist from this era? How does the movement still reverberate today?
In this conversation, you’ll get to chat with Veronica Chambers, who helped to curate and edit a New York Times series celebrating and examining the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. In an overview of the series, she wrote: “I’m a Brooklyn girl, but I’m low-key obsessed with the Harlem Renaissance.” Join the conversation this week to find out why.
Ms. Chambers is the editor of Narrative Projects at The Times, a team dedicated to starting up multilayered series and packages. She has worked on such projects as Black History, Continued, a series that explores pivotal moments and transformative figures in Black culture, and Suffrage at 100, a package about the 19th Amendment and women’s fight for the right to vote. She has also written and edited several books, including some for middle-grade readers.
Questions to Think About as You Read
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Are you a teacher or student who has feedback on this new feature or would like to suggest a Times piece for future discussion? Please post a comment here.
When was the last time you made something, just for the fun of it? What was the experience like?
Making something with your hands is good for your brain. And research shows that do-it-yourself projects, whether planting an herb garden or building a birdhouse, are rewarding; they can help boost happiness and lower stress.
What have projects like these given you, even if you haven’t done one in awhile? What projects might you plan for 2025?
Tell us in the comments, and then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
The problem, as far as he could tell, was that the people who study tarantula venom are biologists, and they generally lack the experience and technology to sequence it efficiently. On the flip side, his pharma colleagues had the tools and know-how to dismantle and reassemble infinitesimal droplets, but they tended to think of venom (if they thought about it at all) as a blunt instrument of pain and death, not a treasure trove of compelling molecular designs. And, of course, they had no idea where to get it.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word dismantle in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
If you want a better idea of how dismantle can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
