On Mar 3, 4:44 am, Miroslav Pokorny <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Whats the point of learning lots and lots of languages when there are
> zillions(exaggeration but lots) of different techniques, libraries and
> technologies to learn, to help you today with what you are working on today
> and in the future.

Because as the software we work on grows in size and complexity, it
would be nice with a language that grows to work with us rather than
against us. The layer of abstraction since raw assembly code continues
to go up, presently revolving around the subject of concurrency. Some
of the stuff in C# 5.0 is really mind-blowing in what it brings to the
table, without requiring a new programming model or exposing
developers to nitty-gritty detail.

> One could continue to learn more and more languages for no particular reason
> except for the learning experience. Sure you will see and become aware of
> different ideas and approaches but after a while all that has happened is
> time has passed and those interesting things learned are useless for your
> practical work experience.

So what you are really saying here, is that you assume that in 5-10-20
years you are still doing Java? Depressing.

> I could learn French, I could learn German I could learn some language that
> 5 people in Papua know but whats the point - we live in a world dominated by
> English. Computer languages are no different.

The point is to not always expect people to conform to you and limit
yourself that way, for no other reason than "practicality". I speak
French, German, English and Danish. This allows me to quickly draw
parallels and infer subtleties, as there are often no 1:1 mapping
between two language terms or expressions. This is much that same in
programming languages where you may need to express yourself a certain
way, sometimes you need a pattern, other times you are offered a first
class language construct - but if you know only one language you rob
yourself of the chance to these "other dimensions". This comes back to
Steve McConnell quote, "Program *into* a language, not in it".

/Casper

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