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Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

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Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#11

Post by quickthrower2 »

I'm a C# + Javascripter too. I learn a few languages on the side, plus some exposure in jobs. Java, Haskell, Ruby, Elm being the main ones.

I think it is worth dabbling to see how things are done on the other side. Learning Haskell makes dealing with Rx / Linq a bit easier - not directly but by flexing that functional-thinking brain muscle.

Having said that I still think of C# as my go-to language and enjoy programming in it, I think it is a great general purpose language and I am glad I am doing my production code in that. It's a nice mix of type safety (so prefer that to Ruby) but with plenty of escape hatches and meta-programming options (prefer that to the strictness of Haskell).

As a C#/JS-er the most useful languages might be Powershell and Typescript, and the most eye opening might be Lisp and Haskell.

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#12

Post by IAmTheTucan »

chipuni wrote: post #3

You will become a better developer if you study more languages. You will become a better developer if you study more mathematics or statistics. You will become a better developer if you study psychology and interpersonal relationships. You will become a better developer in many, many ways. Keep studying. Keep growing.

I appreciate and upvoted everyones comments but I agree the most with you.

Don't get me wrong, I can see a huge difference in my skill based on how I solve problems now vs a few years ago and while that change came from new things in the C#/JavaScript landscape it was still caused by learning how to code differently.

But I feel like I'm at a level where if I have 10 energy points to spend they will go a lot farther if I spend them on something other than programming.

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#13

Post by cimmanom »

duxup wrote: post #10
karmakaze wrote: post #8

I've been looking say more than usual resumes and interviewing candidates. I would now not interview a candidate for an intermediate position who only has Microsoft experience. This is a proxy for operating in a corporate environment with little exposure to a narrow range of responsibility. Having too few languages/tech also indicates a lack of curiosity/passion. That's not to say you can't be an excellent programmer…

>Having too few languages/tech also indicates a lack of curiosity/passion. As a noob trying to start a career I ask.... at what point do you list things on your resume? So I messed around on my own time with Python, PHP, and some other things but feel like I don't know them well. Do you still list it on your resume? At this point I don't because I feel like my knowledge isn't very strong in those areas.

Like anything else, GP’s advice is context-sensitive. In this case, it scales with experience.

If you just came out of a bootcamp and claim to know 3 backend languages, or have less than 3 years experience and list more than a half dozen languages, I’ll assume you’ve worked with each of them so little that you don’t know any of them in a meaningful sense.

If you have more than 10 years experience and know only 2 languages, your exposure is very limited, and I’ll wonder whether you’ve learned by rote rather than knowing how to learn concepts and reapply them elsewhere.

For me as a hiring manager, it’s not about curiosity or passion so much as flexibility and ability to learn and grow in both depth and breadth.

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#14

Post by cimmanom »

twoquestions wrote: post #9
karmakaze wrote: post #8

I've been looking say more than usual resumes and interviewing candidates. I would now not interview a candidate for an intermediate position who only has Microsoft experience. This is a proxy for operating in a corporate environment with little exposure to a narrow range of responsibility. Having too few languages/tech also indicates a lack of curiosity/passion. That's not to say you can't be an excellent programmer…

So how does one break out of only using C# and JavaScript professionally, if such a history is a black mark? I can't imagine you'd interview someone for a junior position looking for said experience, so are such people just screwed?

Some of this is startup vs corporate needs. Corporate employment doesn’t always prepare one well for the agility and initiative needed by a startup (rather, corporations seem to pound those qualities out of employees).

The good news is that there ARE large companies that use non-MS stacks, as well as companies that use MS alongside other tooling (whether it’s having some systems in .NET and others in Java, or using Python/Perl for “glue” code or whatever).

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#15

Post by 3minus1 »

If you are good in one mainstream language you will be good in any of them. And by good I mean, can you think about a complex problem and implement an algorithm to solve it. Don't listen to the haters that say Microsoft tech users must have no curiosity or other such nonsense. Like you think there aren't people working at Microsoft solving crazy problems at scale and that other companies aren't drooling over them?

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#17

Post by duxup »

cimmanom wrote: post #13
duxup wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Having too few languages/tech also indicates a lack of curiosity/passion. As a noob trying to start a career I ask.... at what point do you list things on your resume? So I messed around on my own time with Python, PHP, and some other things but feel like I don't know them well. Do you still list it on your resume? At this point I don't because I feel like my knowledge isn't very strong in those areas.

Like anything else, GP’s advice is context-sensitive. In this case, it scales with experience. If you just came out of a bootcamp and claim to know 3 backend languages, or have less than 3 years experience and list more than a half dozen languages, I’ll assume you’ve worked with each of them so little that you don’t know any of them in a meaningful sense. If you have more than 10 years experience and know only 2 lang…

Thank you for the feedback!

I've dabbled in a number of languages but I'm focused on just a few areas and I haven't listed my dabbling as ... well exactly what you said. As a noob listing half a dozen languages seems sort of absurd when in actuality I know just one (and still need to work on it).

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#18

Post by cimmanom »

duxup wrote: post #17
cimmanom wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like anything else, GP’s advice is context-sensitive. In this case, it scales with experience. If you just came out of a bootcamp and claim to know 3 backend languages, or have less than 3 years experience and list more than a half dozen languages, I’ll assume you’ve worked with each of them so little that you don’t know any of them in a meaningful sense. If you have more than 10 years experience and know only 2 lang…

Thank you for the feedback! I've dabbled in a number of languages but I'm focused on just a few areas and I haven't listed my dabbling as ... well exactly what you said. As a noob listing half a dozen languages seems sort of absurd when in actuality I know just one (and still need to work on it).

Yup, sounds like you’ve got the right mindset in that regard. Pick something to focus on and learn to be highly productive with it at a professional level.

Once you have expertise in one thing, you’ll find it transfers well to other languages and to some degree to other domains. You can start picking up secondary languages, or choose one other language to deep-dive into.

At the junior level, most employers are looking for moderate depth in at least one language and area, and an awareness of what the other technologies are that the developers around you will be integrating your work with. The degree of depth and the number of different technologies they’ll want you to know well will also scale with experience level.

Too many new programmers undermine themselves by trying to learn every single technology they can get their hands on. I blame the bootcamps, which by nature have to expose you to at least a handful of different skills and don’t have time to teach any of them in meaningful depth. They send an incorrect message that a few hours with a new technology, tool, or framework is as much as is worth learning before moving on to the next shiny thing.

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#19

Post by PerfectElement »

It depends on what your goals are. I'm a C#/Javascript developer myself and I have tried to start a few side projects using new technologies in the past, but I noticed that I spent a lot of time fighting with the new framework/platform instead of solving whatever problem I was trying to solve. So I decided to double down on C#/Javascript and put my efforts into building products using what I already knew. I'm glad I did because one of these side projects turned into a healthy business, which will likely enable me to "retire" in a couple of years.

I think that if your goal is to solve problems, leverage what you already know. If your goal is to be more employable and improve at your craft, learning new languages should help you.

Re: Am I missing out by only knowing C# and JavaScript

#20

Post by duxup »

cimmanom wrote: post #18
duxup wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the feedback! I've dabbled in a number of languages but I'm focused on just a few areas and I haven't listed my dabbling as ... well exactly what you said. As a noob listing half a dozen languages seems sort of absurd when in actuality I know just one (and still need to work on it).

Yup, sounds like you’ve got the right mindset in that regard. Pick something to focus on and learn to be highly productive with it at a professional level. Once you have expertise in one thing, you’ll find it transfers well to other languages and to some degree to other domains. You can start picking up secondary languages, or choose one other language to deep-dive into. At the junior level, most employers are lookin…

Sounds about right.

Accordingly one of my feedbacks to the camp I attended was to drop like four things, add one (minor thing), and spend more time on the rest. Rather than sort of shotgun it.

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