Thanks for the complement! But I didn't mention the word "succeed". Generally, one should fail many times before success. I just said if you have feeling for this language or it touches you, then continue, otherwise give up.
I believe you two are all skillful developers. However, for most people, 1 or 2 languages are the limit number that they can learn during their life. I have witted eager HRs (yes, human resource) worrying about whether the candidate is able to code. For most people, they don't learn languages for fun or for hobby, they learn it for living. Thus, for them, the choice of language should be related to their career goal. In derivatives pricing or computer vision, it's C++; in software development, maybe Java? In web, html, css, javascript, php, sql; in scientific computing, R, matlab, Julia... These languages differ a lot, whether in its syntax or philosophy. Maybe you can use many languages to write the same program. But you can only use 1 or 2 language to write elegant, efficient code so as to get all benefits that a language can provide. And this need years of practice, and should be a part of your career. Moreover, people rarely code for themselves. Mostly, they code for others and with others. The knowledge which you get from one language may not be useful for learning another language. Most time, it will only be an obstacle. That's why when people are learning a second foreign language, they are required to forget the first foreign language that they have learned. That said, it is still important to learn the first language well, because it often determines the height you can get in your whole life. For Julia, there are many revolutionary points in this language, and you can find many things that you cannot find in other language. It is really a next-generation language. Even I have learned a dozen of languages, I still feel difficulty to handle its flexibility and its requirement for the enormous knowledge of basic computer science needed. On Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at 8:10:06 PM UTC+2, Gregg Reynolds wrote: > > > On Aug 4, 2015 11:36 AM, "Sisyphuss" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > > > > Or just start to read some Julia material, does it make sense to you? If > not, just give up. > > Brilliant! If at first you don't succeed, just give up! I wish my mom > had told me that decades ago. > > Julia as a first language might work if you have the right kind of mind. > Probably would not have worked for me but YMMV. > > On the other hand, why just one first language? If I had to do it all > over again I think I would pick 3 languages and attack them > simultaneously. Remember all programming languages amount to the same > thing in the end - unlike natural languages. So go ahead with Julia, but > also study Scheme (best book ever for autodidacts: The Little Schemer), and > one more. Avoid Java, shun C++, don't get me started on PHP. Python, > maybe. Javascript, nyet. Lua is very cool. Go is too. And - don't laugh > - any form of Rexx, probably NetRexx. Designed by a genius as a kind of > programming language with a human face. > > By working with multiple languages you will avoid having your tender gray > matter deformed by the biases of any particular language, easing your > transition to computational enlightenment. > > HTH, > > > > > > > > > On Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at 5:34:40 PM UTC+2, phineas vang wrote: > >> > >> Hi, > >> > >> Just wondering if Julia is a good choice as a first programming > language to learn. I have limited experience in vba for MS Office apps and > SQL but these may not be considered true programming languages. > >> > >> Thanks >
