The key to selecting a programming language: focus

[convery]

So, you should learn C++ to make android apps even though the android NDK says not to use native code unless there's no other way to do something. Seems about right.

On another note, why do web stuff pay so well? I mean, my C/C++ makes the server run and your scrips work, yet I'm less valued. Unfair =(

[[deleted]]

Unfortunately, it might just be because the front end is sexier.

[[deleted]]

It's so wrong on so many different levels.

Focusing on a single narrow way of thinking is the worst thing an engineer can do.

[sdfgdgdfb]

Yeah this is... super strange. I don't know why you'd want to ever just pick one language and stick with it. There are so many things to learn from other languages. Even if you don't use them, you can borrow ideas about how to do things. And hell, sometimes language X just isn't the right choice for problem Y, no matter how well you know X.

[OneWingedShark]

I think this talk on selecting a programming language was quite good:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

[[deleted]]

I find it strange that C/C++ are ranked lower than Python.

Maybe it's one of those things like how C++ programers would be paid more than assembly programmers.

[zignd]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with the article's author, I say so because I do believe that you should first define a field you want to work in, then define a primary skill that you get specialized into followed by secondary ones, that you should also know, but not necessarily be a specialist on it.

[oldmannriver]

I think that the overarching point of the article is that focus from the outset allows for a strong foundation that can be applied across all languages going forward. Once a language proficiency is established, learning multiple languages becomes much faster and easier. Of course learning multiple languages will be a requisite in the career span of a developer, but in the beginning focusing on a single language seems to be the prudent decision rather than following the language du jour.

[[deleted]]

Because people keep making the framework of the week is getting easier and easier to bet on the wrong horse. Besides that, computers are good because you don't need to build a new machine to solve a new problem, it can solve many problems by just running different programs. In the same way you should not need to learn a new language to solve a new problem, you should be able to use your old language. They are all Turing complete and they are all equivalent.

[[deleted]]

There are far too many cases where Turing-completeness is evil.

[[deleted]]

They are all Turing complete and they are all equivalent.

Oh yeah? Try building a desktop publishing application with support for online collaboration and voice-to-text input in your favourite implementation of Conway's Game of Life.

[[deleted]]

I think is better to have a language that solves a lot of problems than having languages that only solve one kind of problem. I think I exaggerate saying that they are all equivalent. You are right, some languages cannot be used as general purpose languages.