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Thanks for asking, let's start with choosing the programming language before we go any further :-). I am kind of old school, can do anything but have spent 25 years of my life in some exotic crossplatform crossdatabase language called Omnis. I really feel like having some fun and doing something with Steem blockchain, what language am i looking at? C++?
Will be very grateful if you just tell me the language to start with, i hear there is even a js api for Steemit. I am asking you more for a favour to give me a 1 word advice, hope you understand that i can probably only follow and upvote you for the first 6 months and have to learn a new language first. With love, thanks!

If you want to do frontend development then learn JavaScript and use SteemJS
If you want to do backend development then learn Python and use Steem-Python or Piston