What languages should application programmers know?
Well, its not a very detailed question. But generally, you should be fine getting employment if you know C++, Java, and a .Net language. Once you know Java or .Net the other is fairly easy to pick up, and they both are very similar to C++ (although C++ will take a bit more time to learn thtan the other two, in my opinion).
As many as humanly possible.
Depending on operating systems you plan to write for, just to work with old code, you'll need C, Objective C, C++, Java, Visual Basic (the old non .NET version), and probably at least familiarity with all of the .NET languages: C#, VB .NET, Managed C++, C++/CLI and J#. Depending on your definition of applications, you may want to add SQL to the list.
Depending on operating systems you plan to write for, just to work with old code, you'll need C, Objective C, C++, Java, Visual Basic (the old non .NET version), and probably at least familiarity with all of the .NET languages: C#, VB .NET, Managed C++, C++/CLI and J#. Depending on your definition of applications, you may want to add SQL to the list.
Though not necessary, I'd add python and perl to the list of langauges that are good to know. You can save a fair bit of time making little apps (like tools) with them.
A good programmer should be able to learn to understand code in a new language in a matter of minutes, to write useful code in that language in a matter of hours, and to be proficient in the language in a matter of days. Beyond that, it doesn't matter that much which languages you already know.
Quote:Original post by Sneftel
A good programmer should be able to learn to understand code in a new language in a matter of minutes, to write useful code in that language in a matter of hours, and to be proficient in the language in a matter of days. Beyond that, it doesn't matter that much which languages you already know.
I'd agree with you, so long as the programmer already knows a language in the same "family" of languages. For instance, I haven't learned a functional language yet (and really should get to it). Even though I might be able to write something in it relatively quickly, I am guessing that the different thought process underlying the code will mean that I won't be proficient in just a few days.
I find that when people switch programming pardigms to try a new language they often try to use it like whatever they are used to. This usually leads to subpar performance and headaches, and eventually a groan of "Language X sucks, Y is so much better". Because I have heard this so much against almost every major language, I would say the "proficiency" timeline for a language that does things differently is more than a few days.
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