Most colleges don’t really specify on what languages you’ve taken. If I have the option to take a programming class such as Java, should I do it instead of taking Spanish or French?
No. I don’t think that any college will count a programming language as a foreign language.
When colleges suggest a language as part oh HS preparation, they mean a language like Chinese or Spanish. Not Java.
Take a programing class uf you like, but not in lieu of a foreign language
Great, thank you for the clarification. I’ll just take a foreign language instead lol.
No, programming is not a foreign language, but it’s still extremely useful to have, especially if you plan to major in a STEM field. On that note, while it’s fine to explore multiple languages in high school, it’s not recommended to take 1 year of Japanese, 1 year of French, and 1 year of Spanish (for example,) to satisfy a college’s language requirement: Admissions wants to see that you stuck with one or two languages throughout high school (4 years is highly recommended for those applying to Ivies etc,) not just taking the intro classes every year.
Hope this helps!
A more concise way of saying that is that the level achieved always matters.
Taking Japanese 1, French 1, and Spanish 1 will probably be seen by most colleges as “one year”.
The answers to your thread last month were pretty clear. You need to fit a foreign language into your senior schedule this year.
@ucbalumnus True 
I’ll try to edit my posts more than just writing while I’m thinking 