Part 3: How to Become a Pentester in 2025: Programming & Scripting Foundations for pentester
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Summary
In the journey to becoming a pentester, learning to program is essential to automate tasks, solve problems, and create custom tools for pentesting.
The two most important programming languages for pentesters in 2025 will be Python and Bash, with C# becoming increasingly important for certain scenarios.
Begin with the fundamentals: variables, data types, conditional logic, loops, functions, file handling, error handling, string manipulation, and regex in Python, and shell basics, file management, piping, text processing tools, variables, quoting, conditionals, loops, and script structure in Bash.
Further skills for each language include modules & packages, networking with sockets, OS and system interaction, security-focused libraries, and building pentesting tools & automation scripts.
To help with the learning journey, two recommended YouTube channels are CS50 and NetworkChuck, and Curso em video for Portuguese-speaking individuals.
The key to success is consistently learning and practicing programming fundamentals, progressing to intermediate and advanced topics over time.