Programming language for Physics students?

Question

I am currently in my first year of studying physics at university. What programming language would you advise me to focus on learning?
I tried out a little bit of Java, Python and C++ so far but I'm not sure which language would be the most useful.
Thanks for helpful responses!

Answer 1

I'm not a physics student, but from the physicists I've spoken with, I hear a lot in regard to C++ and MATLAB. So that's worth researching further into. Hope it helps.

Answer 2

I'd recommend going for Python. It will make everything you need for physics. Why is it good option? Because syntax is really easy. You can learn syntax easily and then use it for whatever purpose you'd need.

Even though I'm a fan of C++ (working in it for 5 years now) its syntax and pointers can overwhelm newbies (or even more advanced users) and make them reject this language and go for another one.

So in my opinion Python is just shorter path, since you will not need to create complex systems that strongly rely on quick runtime.