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Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

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Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#12

Post by hliyan »

danso wrote: post #6

- C - Python - JavaScript This is, of course, only based off of what I know so far and what I would find most useful. I could probably trade JS for a SQL, though, if I was thinking purely in terms of work that I'm into now. I don't use C at all, except to look at Python bindings occasionally...but all the concepts I've learned from learning C are vital, even when working with high-level languages. Plus, it'd be nice…

I second this, although my order would be:

1. Javascript

2. C

3. Python

Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#13

Post by kaolinite »

Ruby, Swift and Javascript. Assuming Swift, once open-sourced, gains popularity outside of Mac/iOS development, these three languages have you covered pretty much completely (besides really low-level stuff, of course). These three let you build server-side apps, web applications (including client-side code), mobile apps (iOS) and desktop apps (Mac).

That said, whilst programming languages are fun to learn and tinker with, I find a lot of people give them too high a priority (hence you hear stuff like "now that Swift is open-sourced and available on Linux, iOS developers will be able to easily write Android apps"). Compared to UI frameworks like Cocoa, etc, a programming language is very quick and easy to learn.

Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#15

Post by possibilistic »

1. Rust - Low level systems programming. It has a ways to go, but it is so pleasant to write. In reality this has started to replace my usage of C++.

2. Javascript - Both a scripting language and the Web language. If it weren't the lingua franca of the browser I would much rather choose Python or Ruby instead.

3. Java - A typesafe, managed JVM language perfect for writing microservices, Android apps, etc. For anything bigger than would be appropriate for a scripting language or that must be maintained by several people. Java hits the sweet spot.

Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#16

Post by mafribe »

Scala, C, Javascript.

Scala covers mainstream OO-programming and Haskell-style modern functional programming (monads, higher-kinded types). Moreover via Akka you have access to Erlang-style distributed programming.

C is vital for low-level programming like operating sytems and network stacks. C might be replaced eventually by Rust but if that happens at all, it will take at a decade or so.

Javascript is without competition for anything in the browser.

All three languages have vast library and tool ecosystems at their disposal.

Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#19

Post by possibilistic »

kaolinite wrote: post #13

Ruby, Swift and Javascript. Assuming Swift, once open-sourced, gains popularity outside of Mac/iOS development, these three languages have you covered pretty much completely (besides really low-level stuff, of course). These three let you build server-side apps, web applications (including client-side code), mobile apps (iOS) and desktop apps (Mac). That said, whilst programming languages are fun to learn and tinker…

I'm singling out your post because of how "scripting language"-weighted it is. (Minus Swift.)

Ruby makes for a pretty slow server side language. It's appropriate when moving fast, but at scale it's rather icky. Your other languages seem to fill anything it can do.

Have you considered Go, Java, Scala, C#, etc.? None of these are "low level".

Re: Ask HN: You can only be fluent in 3 programming languages. Which ones?

#20

Post by sparkie »

Kernel - The most abstractly powerful langauge I know (ie, Blub). It's trivial to implement the behavior and semantics of other languages in, and very few restrictions on how to do it.

C - For interfacing with existing systems (POSIX, OpenCL, OpenGL etc) which would be too much effort to reproduce.

I struggle to think of a third which I'd absolutely need (other than assembly), so I'll opt for VHDL - for when we need to break free of the shackles of our CPU.

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