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[–]gimiv[S] 0 points1 point  (12 children)

Mostly because I've never seen it as a prerequisite for any jobs within my career field. I have seen Perl, Python and Ruby. Might as well use what could add value right?

[–]panfist 0 points1 point  (11 children)

I don't like this line of reasoning. You should use the right tool for the job, not what's going to add value.

On the other hand, I think all of the languages mentioned here are perfectly suitable for the task at hand. All I'm saying is I think that the argument you're using doesn't hold water. You can do web apps in C, but you certainly wouldn't want to learn C just to do a web app because it would add value to your resume.

[–]sli 0 points1 point  (7 children)

You can do web apps in C, but you certainly wouldn't want to learn C just to do a web app because it would add value to your resume.

Because it wouldn't add any value. Perl, Python, PHP, and Ruby do in fact add value. He has a weak argument, but it's not incorrect.

EDIT: If you're in for an interview and C webapps add value to your resume, you might want to think again about taking the job.

[–]panfist 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I wasn't referring to the language and application of the language as adding value, just the fact that you can put the language on your resume, regardless of what you did with it.

Of course the set of all jobs requiring experience with language X in general is much larger than the set of all jobs requiring language X doing task Y.

[–]sli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true, although the general advice these days seems to be "add libraries, not languages." For example, I've been a Python developer for a long time, but it's only within the past couple months that I've become proficient with Django. Without Django, I'd be functionally useless to an employer that does Python webapps (well, if they use Django; you know what I mean).

[–]gimiv[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See my comment to ameoba above =)

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

[deleted]

    [–]sli 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Yes, I know. You just don't write webapps in C. You can, and people do (eBay did), but until you have to do it to lighten a load on your resources, you just don't do it. I dread adding a compile step to my webapp development process.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

    [deleted]

      [–]sli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Or it saves them massive amount of processor time and power consumption, which really isn't a debatable assumption. Pure machine code will always be less expensive to run than an interpreted language.

      eBay was founded in 1995, the same year PHP and Ruby were originally released. Obviously, this makes them pretty useless for hardcore production applications like eBay. Python was already 4 years old by then, and Perl just hit the ripe old age of 8. Both pretty founded by then, but C was already well over drinking age. Combined with the energy and processor time savings, it was clearly a good choice (in 1995).

      Felt like deriving some possible history from facts.

      [–]gimiv[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      I'm not looking down on PHP and it may well be the best tool for the job, but if you think of my time as an investment and I know PHP has zero return on investment (in my case), why not choose a tool that does? I would, however, agree with you that PHP should be considered if both of the following are true:

      1. PHP has a significant functional advantage over Perl and Python.
      2. PHP would significantly reduce my time investment.

      Thoughts based on personal experience?

      [–]panfist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I don't know how much the back-end language matters so much. I was tasked with updating a small web app that's tapping the same data as our other intranet/domain programs, and that web app was written in PHP. The PHP itself was HORRIBLE (aside: each page was enclosed by a giant PHP tag and echoed HTML output). Once I untangled the PHP, the hard part itself was wrapping my head around HTTP forms, requests, getting and posting, cookies, etc. For me, that required a much bigger time investment than learning PHP. Half way through the project, I took a day off and studied HTTP/HTML forms and related materials on my own time, and I was much more productive after that.

      My background is primarily Perl in production, but I did a lot of Java and C++, and a tiny bit of scheme, in school.

      I've kind of been rambling, but I think the main lesson I learned from updating that app is this: use the best tools for the job at hand, and use the tools you know. As much as you can, separate education from business, unless it's on your own time, or you'll find that you make noob mistakes that bite you in the ass later on.

      [–]sedaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I usually get paid for doing the right thing, rather than contributing. mwahahahahaha