<p>I've been having god awful luck with getting internships, which I need to get a real job. So I thought maybe having stronger computer skills would make me a better candidate.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about taking C. But I also thought of taking SAS, which seems to be more specific to business analytics rather than general programming.</p>
<p>I'm majoring in Finance and Supply Chain Management (Also covers operations, logistics, project management, and even IT). I'd like to work on in operations type jobs, but some finance positions like investment banking is interesting to me too. It's not really where I want to work that matters but what type of positions I want to work at. After all, I'm not really in the position to be picky about where I could work at.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it’s easier to start off with Java. But most CS cirriculums will have you code in multiple languages such as Java, C/C++, assembly, etc.</p>
<p>Start with Python, it’s a nice lightweight scripting language that allows you to use it without as big a learning curve as say, C. If you want to delve into OO programming, then starting with Java also works as suggested above.</p>
<p>Ruby on Rails is a basic first language for many; Matlab is also an easy to learn language & is extremely useful for problem solving. For a beginner, out of the list of Matlab, C++, Java, & Ruby on Rails, I would consider C++ to be the most archaic, Java to be the hardest, Matlab to be the most useful for initial problem solving, & Ruby on Rails to be the easiest to learn to become accustomed to programming. Also, many companies are adopting Ruby on Rails for database usage, which it is extremely useful for.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I’m actually teaching myself Java right now (More like re-learning since I learned this stuff in high school but need a refresher).</p>
<p>I have mixed thoughts about Python. I did hear it’s more simple and easier to understand than Java or C, but isn’t Java still the most widely used language right now?</p>
<p>And are there overlaps in structure among any of these languages?</p>
<p>Also again, I’m not a compsci major. So how I may use programming in my career may be much different from a compsci major’s</p>
<p>Also, when I helped my old stats professor on a data mining project, he was using R. Like SAS or MATLAB, it seems more specialized for problem-solving and not general programming. Are companies still using R for data analytics?</p>
<p>Yes, my friend is using R for analysis and he is a quant at a hedge fund.</p>
<p>From your initial post I gather that you’re not looking for a pure programming job, like the ones at Google, MS, Facebook, etc. In that case don’t bother with general purpose languages like C/C++/Java, instead look at the other more specialized languages that are used in your field (R/Matlab/Python with its math libraries). Avoid Ruby on Rails, I doubt you’ll ever use it in finance.</p>