Stepping into the programming world, you’ll find yourself in a sea of terms and names. You may also be wondering if it’s even worth to take the time to learn coding or if some other language is a better option. If you’re looking to start new career path or hobby, you need some advice before going too far down a rabbit hole.
I think that programmer is the most beautiful work. It’s interesting, not boring, you can earn money, gain new knowledge and communicate with like-minded people in programming communities. So what is the best programming language to learn? I’ll try to answer this question based on my experience.
Codility
Codility is a skill-testing platform that offers screening and interviewing functionalities. It’s somewhat similar to HackerRank, but at a lower price point. The platform counts Tesla and Microsoft as its users.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Enterprise-level organizations that need robust compliance features and teams with less tech-savvy hiring managers.
Pros
- Codility offers compliance features that can be helpful to enterprise-level organizations.
- The platform includes features that make it easy to compare programmers’ skills, so it’s ideal for non-technical hiring managers.
Cons
- For teams with true coding skill assessment needs, Codility’s screening tests might not be enough.
- Users report that candidates aren’t always graded properly, which might lead to overlooking qualified candidates.
CodeSignal
FouCodeSignal offers three products: Screening and real-time interviewing tools, as well as Certify, a proctored coding assessment test. This platform also includes tools for developers to practice their skills.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Fast-growing companies that need to scale their hiring efforts quickly.
Pros
- Certify can help make more data-driven hiring decisions, as hiring teams need to rely less on resumes and more on actual skills from the start.
- A sleek UI, which makes it easier to set up tests and invite candidates.
Cons
- Some of the plagiarism detection features can repel clients from completing the challenge (for example, video recordings).
CoderByte
CoderByte offers a platform with three different functionalities: screening, interviewing, and take-home challenges. The customizable platform allows hiring teams to manage different stages of the hiring process in one place. CoderByte offers many integrations and customization options, which makes it a good choice for teams with very specific needs.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Companies that need a cost-effective tool that allows them to manage different hiring process stages in one platform.
Pros
- One of the cheapest options available, with unlimited assessments for all plans.
- Advanced customizability and options for integrations.
Cons
- Users and candidates report that the experience is sometimes not optimal.
- Take-home challenges don’t support that many languages (18).
CodinGame
Founded: 2012
Free trial: Yes
CodinGame provides a platform for coding skill tests, as well as games for developers to help them practice their skills. As the platform is created by former video game designers, it takes a slightly different approach to developer hiring. Developers can develop their skills with fun games and employers can create engaging tests that take 60 seconds to set up. You also get access to challenges that aim to retain talent.
Who is it for?
- Companies that are looking to engage and retain talent.
Pros
- CodinGames engages a pool of developers through their skill practice solution. You can tap into that talent pool to fill your hiring pipeline.
- The platform takes a slightly different, fun approach to coding assessments. This can help you create a more engaging employer brand.
Cons
- If you need a more robust assessment tool, CodinGame’s tech skill tests might not be enough and you’ll need a different tool to create an advanced hiring process.
- Some users have said that the assessments are not close enough to real work to provide a good indicator of skill.
TestDome
TestDome is a technical skill assessment platform for various industries, including programming, accounting, and customer service. Many of its skills tests are more general (rather than focused on a specific coding skill) and assess skills like sales and reasoning.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Companies that are looking to screen candidates, don’t need a robust skill assessment, and don’t have a lot of requirements for their tests.
Pros
- Pay-as-you-go pricing that can be advantageous to teams that don’t want to sign up for a subscription.
Cons
- Not a niche solution, which means that the platform might not cater to all the needs of technical hiring teams.
- Only supports 10+ languages/frameworks.
- Plagiarism detection can be intimidating to candidates (for example, the platform’s webcam monitoring feature).
Toggl Hire
Toggl Hire is a simple screening solution for developer hiring and allows you to “go from 500 applicants to the 50 strongest candidates in one afternoon.”
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Enterprise companies who have hundreds of candidates and want to narrow down the top 10%.
Pros
- Easily filters candidates by scores and tags.
- Integrates with the most popular ATS.
- Offers a public API.
Cons
- Currently only supports 30 languages.
- Skills tests are more like quizzes and do not resemble real world projects.
HackerEarth
Founded: 2012
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Companies that have the “champagne problem” of too many qualified candidates and need to screen candidates quickly. These are mainly companies with enterprise needs.
Pros
- A platform that makes it easy to get started (you don’t need to talk to sales).
- Robust tools to fight plagiarism.
- The platform allows you to both run hackathons and screen candidates.
Cons
- Many of the plagiarism-fighting features can repel candidates because they make tests feel like whiteboarding tests (eg. recording candidates while they’re working through the test).
- This is not the most robust tool for assessing candidates’ actual skills and identifying the right candidates.
HireVue
Founded: 2004
Free trial: No
Who is it for?
- Teams that need a tool with more capabilities than just assessments and that have the capacity to work with a non-specialized tool.
Pros
- Strong reference customers, including Unilever and Dow Jones.
- Includes a video interview process for those companies that want to reduce the number of phone screens.
Cons
- This is not a platform that specializes in technical assessments, even if the platform includes these types of tools.
- Candidates can feel intimidated by the video interview features.
Qualified
FQualified is a developer-friendly developer skill assessment platform. This tool lets you test skills with multi-file, language-specific online coding tests that developers complete in their own development environment. Customers include Apple and GE. The founders are the creators of Codewars, a code challenge platform for skills development.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Companies that need a simple, but effective way to assess technical talent and that don’t have a lot of requirements for the languages and frameworks they assess. For example, smaller startups or teams hiring for certain developer roles.
Pros
- The platform offers blind reviews, which can help you build a more diverse team.
- Also offers pair-programming interviews and code playback features that make it easy to review developers’ thought-process.
Cons
- Qualified only supports 28 languages, which is on the lower end for most coding assessment platforms.
CoderPad
CoderPad offers a live programming environment with both live interview features and a new take-home challenge offering. Hiring teams can use CoderPad’s challenges or use their own. CoderPad also comes with some integration options.
Free trial: Yes
Who is it for?
- Companies planning on using live assessments but who are also maybe interested in take-homes.
Pros
- CoderPad offers one of the cheaper take-home options, as its subscriptions start at $50. This grants personal access to one user.
Cons
- Supports approximately 30 languages and frameworks, which means that some teams might not be able to use this tool for their assessment needs.
- Take-home offering is in the fledgling stages and not fully realized.
Byteboard
Byteboard is a relatively new tool that focuses heavily on helping enterprise companies create diverse teams. The company is founded by Google’s own in-house incubator, Area 120. Byteboard is currently available for mobile, web, backend engineering, and data engineering roles.
Free trial: No
Who is it for?
- Enterprise teams that want to level up their hiring processes when it comes to diverse hiring.
Pros
- Byteboard offers an end-to-end solution, which makes it ideal for teams that need more hands-on support.
- Advanced tools for diverse hiring, such as anonymization features.
Cons
- Byteboard only supports nine languages, which can make it very challenging for many teams to use this tool.
Conclusion
Coding is one of the most important skills that can help you get a job in today’s technology-driven world. Programming allows you to create an app, game, website, anything digital really. But which language should you learn? Should it be Python or Ruby? What about .NET? Here’s the scoop on the most important programming languages for both beginners and professionals.