Every few weeks, I come across a programming article/blog post/project/forum debate etc that gets me excited about another programming language. I maintain a list of languages I’d like to learn, a list of applications I’d like to do, a list of skills I’d like to develop.
Every so often, I ask myself if I should start learning a new programming language, and which one to pick (so many to choose from!).
When it comes to languages – not programming languages but actual spoken languages – I’ve got a mixed track record. On the one hand, I have transitioned from my mother tongue, French, to my current first language, English, without much difficulty (if you forget about my first year living in England where I felt rather frustrated at my inability to express all the subtleties of my thinking). On the other hand, I have started learning Spanish, Russian, Japanese and German without much success and can barely ask for directions in any of these.
Now, my experience with programming languages is more recent, assuming I don’t include my first attempt at programming, when, aged 8, I learnt some Basic and banged out a few simple programs on my Amstrad computer. My (adult) programming journey started with web design – html and css (which are not programming languages, I know) led me to javascript and php. Then I had a quick look at C++ and decided I preferred Java. I have been learning Java for over 6 months now – I have made some good progress but there is still so much I need to learn (the more I learn, the more I realise I have so much to learn).
Over the last few months, I have asked myself, in turns, whether I should learn Ruby, Python, C++, SmallTalk and now Scala.
The question is: how do you know it’s time to learn a new programming language, and how do you decide which one to choose? (OK, that’s 2 questions!).
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