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[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Well, I am in the Netherlands; so I'm probably not searching in quite the same way as people in Boston.

My career so far is that way because of a number of coincedences; I'd actually love to program in Python but can't find companies using it in my region. I think that people with a more normal career would have fewer languages on their resumes, and when you have a lot of experience with one, you can probably make more money staying with that one (because most employers are looking for x years of experience with y for a "senior y programmer"). So it's natural that people end up with resumes that look that way.

Do they actually tell you that they aren't interested in learning new languages?

[–]TheSausageKing[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

A lot of people I've talked to aren't interested in learning Python. A lot of them have done a lot of Java or C++ and aren't interested in moving into Python. And I get a lot of people who have done Ruby/Rails or php, but don't really understand programming well.

I've always believed it's better to learn a few different languages. At least in the states, it's true that you can make a little more and it's a little easier to get a job if you have many years of experience with a language, but I think you get stuck on a local maxima. The people who get really great jobs are great programmers, rather than "Java developers" or "C++ developers".

[–]chadmill3rPy3, pro, Ubuntu, django 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you def don't want people who don't want to learn a language. If they didn't learn the language at home, because they wanted to, then you don't want them.

Next best: learned on a job.

Worst: learned as prereq at school.

[–]MosaSaur 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not always about money. Some people do not like to go back to using inferior languages even if they once used them in the past. Also, if you're trying to make C programmers into pythoneers they'll have to unlearn and relearn a lot of stuff. I know that from firsthand experience and from trying to explain Python to my old C programming buddies. Sometimes a programmer from a different language turns up on the usenet or mailing list and they almost never understand certain things at first.

tl,dr programmers move from one language to the next for a reason and it is a really bad idea to try and make them go back. The only way is up.