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If you have to learn just one programming language

blog.srinivasan.biz

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Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#11

Post by ihumanable »

sosuke wrote: post #2

I'm learning C# so I've got a little bias but the author says that C# never really took off? He doesn't even list it as failing one of his criteria. He says in the comments later he bases it off of it's listing here http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.... . Baloney I say.

I'm not a big fan of C# but I have to agree. Even in the TIOBE index it may only have ~4% but that still makes it the _7th most popular language_.

He ends up with Scala, which according to TIOBE is 27th with 0.433%.

Interesting read, but clearly this is making the solution fit the data more than the other way around on the original author's part.

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#12

Post by shaunxcode »

AndrewO wrote: post #3

if (you_have_to_learn_one_language) { make_highly_subjective_claims(); eliminate_good_candidates_for_specious_reasons(); arrive_at_questionable_conclusion(); } else { broaden_your_understanding_of_programming(); be_able_to_evaluate_multiple_solutions_for_problem(); } The underlying premise is flawed. No one has to learn just one language and anyone who stops at one is limiting themselves to being a journeyman program…

  (if (you-have-to-learn-one-language)
      (begin
          (make-highly-subjective-claims)
          (eliminate-good-candidates-for-specious-reasons)
          (arive-at-questionable-conclusion))
      (begin
          (broaden-your-understanding-of-programming)
          (be-able-to-evaluate-multiple-solutions-for-problem)))

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#13

Post by chc »

I didn't understand his reasons for eliminating Haskell and OCaml. It's not even that his reasons were subjective like with a lot of the other languages — he just didn't offer any. He names a bunch of things Scala can do that they can also do and then goes, "So I'm eliminating Haskell and OCaml." Like, does he not realize those languages can do monads and XML processing?

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#14

Post by Periodic »

I like to think of programming languages as tools. You should always pick the right tool for the job. Otherwise, someday you will pick up your hammer and realize not everything is a nail.

Language design is all about trade-offs. Some languages are better at string processing, some make it easy to write quick scripts, some have good framework support, some have high speed, none has it all.

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#16

Post by AndrewO »

plinkplonk wrote: post #9
swombat wrote: post #6

If you have to learn just one language, and you're forbidden from learning another, you'll mentally hobbled, a technical cripple, like someone who's been forced to express their thoughts using only 5'000 randomly selected words of the English language. The premise is completely flawed. No single language is enough to "be a programmer". You need other languages, if only to understand what your language does. And you n…

"The premise is completely flawed. " Sure,(and I think your "algorithm" is better than the author's for choosing which langauge to "deep dive" into), but the whole point of a Thought Experiment is to work off a "crazy" (by whatever logic) hypothesis to see what kind of thinking results. "If I were to hitch a ride on a light wave what would I see? ". "If I knew I was going to die exactly a year from now what would I c…

Well, let's not forget that the pay-off for that particular thought experiment was relativity. :)

I (and possibly others) would probably be a little less cranky about the whole article if he'd followed his steps rigorously and arrived at something interesting. And I don't mean it has to be revolutionary like relativity, but something better than just highlighting his new favorite language.

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#18

Post by mynameishere »

Kilimanjaro wrote: post #8

I'd pick Javascript. Code and reach is all I need to be rich.

You know what language is pretty good that no one would ever pick? Actionscript. It's like javascript but it has strong types (if you want them) and a decent toolset. Of course, everyone hates flash now...

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#19

Post by plinkplonk »

AndrewO wrote: post #16
plinkplonk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The premise is completely flawed. " Sure,(and I think your "algorithm" is better than the author's for choosing which langauge to "deep dive" into), but the whole point of a Thought Experiment is to work off a "crazy" (by whatever logic) hypothesis to see what kind of thinking results. "If I were to hitch a ride on a light wave what would I see? ". "If I knew I was going to die exactly a year from now what would I c…

Well, let's not forget that the pay-off for that particular thought experiment was relativity. :) I (and possibly others) would probably be a little less cranky about the whole article if he'd followed his steps rigorously and arrived at something interesting. And I don't mean it has to be revolutionary like relativity, but something better than just highlighting his new favorite language.

"Well, let's not forget that the pay-off for that particular thought experiment was relativity. :)"

I agree :-) . But even Einstein didn't know what he would end up with before the thought experiment.

"I (and possibly others) would probably be a little less cranky about the whole article if he'd followed his steps rigorously and arrived at something interesting."

I agree that the article is completely tangled and confused and not worth the time spent reading it. I was just using the question posed (and ignoring the source and the accompanying article) to do some thinking to see if anything interesting results.

Re: If you have to learn just one programming language

#20

Post by aaronblohowiak »

plinkplonk wrote: post #9
swombat wrote: post #6

If you have to learn just one language, and you're forbidden from learning another, you'll mentally hobbled, a technical cripple, like someone who's been forced to express their thoughts using only 5'000 randomly selected words of the English language. The premise is completely flawed. No single language is enough to "be a programmer". You need other languages, if only to understand what your language does. And you n…

"The premise is completely flawed. " Sure,(and I think your "algorithm" is better than the author's for choosing which langauge to "deep dive" into), but the whole point of a Thought Experiment is to work off a "crazy" (by whatever logic) hypothesis to see what kind of thinking results. "If I were to hitch a ride on a light wave what would I see? ". "If I knew I was going to die exactly a year from now what would I c…

He dismisses C because "You probably already know it." and yet it is a post about a single language to learn. That's cloudy thinking.
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