Languages for Systems Administration

Hello,

I am currently working as a systems administrator and my experience has centered around Windows based servers. For personal interest and for career growth, I would like to add a programming component to my IT toolkit. I do have knowledge and experience with HTML, but that is the only language I know. What would be a good language to start off with that would not only be relatively simple to learn (compared to C++, etc) and be applicable to managing Windows based servers?

Thank you

Generally I've recommended Python, and I still do in your case. Beyond it's use as a general programming language, it's effective for writing scripts and that definitely helps for system administration. It's an effective multiplatform language so there's very good value in proficiency with Python. I'm biased towards Python, but I think my recommendation is still valid. If I had to make only one recommendation, this would be it.

Also worth looking into is C#, which I do recommend. C# programs run on the .NET platform, and you'll recognize that as being developed by Microsoft. So you might find working off the .NET platform to be a good starting move as well. If you're writing a number of scripts, as you might do in server administration, writing out programs in C# might be a bit too much versus quickly developed scripts in Python. But it's a very good option if you're trying to expand your marketable skillset.

I think getting started with Python is easier, and in general, you can accomplish much more with less investment of time. The above two are pretty much the two big general languages that you can invest time in. This seems to be what you are asking for, but you might also consider exploring a few other things, because from an administrator's standpoint they can be very useful.

Some proficiency in Batch always comes in handy time to time. It hasn't been the case for me, but you may find VBScript useful as well. Both have native Windows support, unlike the two languages I mentioned above. That is, you can start with either without installing any software on your computer. With Python, you need to install the standard Python implementation, or with C#, you need to install the .NET related runtime and SDK. On a server environment, you may not be able to do so. Also, if you haven't already, maybe start looking at Windows Powershell? I have just started looking into it though.

I would recommend PHP. It's open source and there are lots of PHP frameworks out there.

Most of the top CMSes, Blogs, and Forums software run on PHP.

I'd recommend working with Java first, it has a lot of tools and it's a good "foundation" kind of language. By that I mean once you learn it you can look at other languages and say "Oh so in java it'd be like this but they're doing it this way..."

PHP doesn't get enough love but you should be careful if you don't know anything about OOP because PHP will let you get away with things other languages wouldn't.

Also take a look at design patterns as those will make life a little easier.