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Nick Alexeev wrote: IMHO, a good modern programming language can be learned in a month and a half by a person who already knows 3-4 languages (C/C++, Java, VB.NET, Pascal)
Not fully. After 15 years and nearly 1,000,000 lines of code I have written I am still learning new concepts in C++.
Here is one concept I did not know after 14.5 years of C++ but now I use every day.
http://www.codeproject.com/Lounge.aspx?msg=2997457#xx2997457xx[^]
John
modified on Monday, April 13, 2009 12:22 PM
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Right, off back to school to learn a truly different language then - I suspect you may form a different opinion if you try to learn, for example, Haskell.
On the other hand, you'll pick up lots of insight that'll carry over to the languages you already know.
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Use the language that's most suited to the job at hand. Every language has it's strengths and it's weaknesses. Trying to make one-fits-all...
rgds /Jonas [using five languages in day to day work]
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Jonas Hammarberg said: "Use the language that's most suited to the job at hand."
Absolutely agree. Plenty of languages to choose from nowadays, and each has its strong points. Besides that, the very idea of learning another one gives me heartburn.
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But you can't learn them all
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The first book i ever read on programming languages (vs. one specific language) had a "tower of babel" drawn on the cover. That book is decades old now, and there must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of new languages created since it was published.
Build! Build! Ever higher...
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I believe having thousands of computer languages is a huge detriment to innovation in the whole computer industry, just like I believe having 1000+ different variants of linux is to the linux os. I mean it causes programmers to waste time learning a new language that does basically the same thing and the wheel gets reinvented over and over again...
John
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Yeah, right ...and while we're at it, how about elimination of all those different types of cars, wines, clothes...
In my 30-year career as a programmer, I have written production code in over a dozen assembly languages, and over 20 high-level languages. Often using two or more on a single project. That's because different languages have different tradeoffs, so that the "best" language depends on several factors -- like 1) what's available for the platform, and 2) what kind of problem is being solved. And sometimes 3) whether you can find programmers that know it (that's what's currently killing Forth and Delphi).
"Should we move to a single programming language?" Get real. This can't even be a serious question. Although one of the things I tell all of my students is that there is no such thing as a stupid question, I might consider this one an exception.
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