If you had to choose 3 languages to become proficient in which would they be?

[Stiganator]

I'm thinking of learning a bit more about programming. I used to sling some basic C++ around, but its been years. What are the best languages to become proficient in these days.

Seems to me that C++, Objective C, Python, Ruby, Perl, PHP/HTML, Java are the ones I see the most.

I'm curious how similar are C++ and Objective C?

Right now I'm thinking of working on

1. C++
2. PHP/HTML
3. Perl


Another question is what is the best way to learn GUI programming and such. Which IDEs have good GUI development tools?

 

[Dravic]

Being a unix guy (engineer/operations)

1. perl
2. Python for web(+javascript)
3. prob C/C++, maybe java

haven't touch C/C++ since college though, on that note.. havent really touch (getting paid for) a non JIT compiled lanugae since college.


Python has pretty good GUI support built in that work across platforms.

 

[Cogman]

Why Perl? It isn't all that popular anymore since the rise of PHP.

I would say

1. C++
2. C#
3. (though it pains me to say this) Java

 

[SunnyD]

1. Java
2. C++
3. PHP

My reasoning, Java first and foremost for marketability. Yeah, that's right. You want a job and you want it now, learn Java.

C++ because if you already know Java, C++ should be easy for you, and if you know both Java and C++, you essentially know C#. This greatly expands your opportunities.

Finally, PHP... because love it or hate it (myself being the latter), if you can't find a job using Java, C++ or C#, you'll find one with PHP. You'll cover your grounds with those three (four) for web, application and r&d programming positions pretty much anywhere aside from niche markets.

Also, one thing in that it's a language but not... SQL. Make sure SQL is part of your tool chain with your programming languages, otherwise for the most part you're useless no matter what language you use.

Now if you were to ask what API's... heh, that's a bit harder. .Net probably, COM definitely. Not sure what Java API's are needed since I don't do Java. Win32, and know your way around HTML and XML, and you should be good to go.

 

[Modelworks]

1. C++
2. Python
3. Assembly

 

[sourceninja]

I'm already very proficient in these:
php
java
python

and I'm fast becoming proficient in ruby as a project i'm working on requires it.

I am also very proficient in javascript, bash, and pl/sql (I don't consider these programing languages).

If I had to select something I would want to spend time working in to learn/limprove on it would be:

Objective-C
C++
C# (mono)

 

[Train]

No one said SQL?

It seems to me everyones answer should be SQL + two others

What programmer doesnt use some form of SQL these days?

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Train
No one said SQL?

It seems to me everyones answer should be SQL + two others

What programmer doesnt use some form of SQL these days?

Its a niche language for very specific purposes.
The other languages are more multi-purpose.


I have never had a need for SQL in 15 years of programming.

 

[sourceninja]

I don't write must sql, I focus on application logic, we have guys who optimize the sql.

For prototyping I usually write the sql, but I don't need to be anywhere near as efficient.

 

[JACKDRUID]

C#/++
java
SQL/t-sql

 

[Drakkon]

C#/C++
PL-SQL (Oracle SQL)
And I've had a lot of requests for Flex/AS3 lately so that

 

[Stiganator]

Are the C varieties all equally fast? How does Python compare?

 

[Stiganator]

Is SQL built into most applications somehow? I've always wondered how different programs save settings and files etc.

 

[techfuzz]

SQL/T-SQL/PL-SQL (yeah they're all different but yet very similar)
C# (currently proficient in VB so why not go to the dark side... hehehe)
PHP (lots of opportunities out there that require PHP these days)

techfuzz

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Are the C varieties all equally fast? How does Python compare?

No. C/C++ are generally very fast, built for speed, not for ease of programming. C# is an entirely different world, far closer to Java. Python, while I don't know for sure, is probably much much slower even then C#.




C++ (cause if you need speed, you need C++. Not fun though)
C# (slightly more marketable then VB, even if they're the same thing)
COBOL (simply because you get people over a goddamned barrel if you can fix broken antique COBOL stuff.)

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Train
No one said SQL?

It seems to me everyones answer should be SQL + two others

What programmer doesnt use some form of SQL these days?

Its a niche language for very specific purposes.
The other languages are more multi-purpose.


I have never had a need for SQL in 15 years of programming.

Sadly, your niche is probably a lot smaller than the SQL niche. Even straight up applications development uses databases more often than not now.

BTW, I did mention SQL further up. But I categorized it with API's, not programming languages, as SQL on it's own does not make applications.

 

[Extrarius]

"best languages to become proficient in" for what purpose?

If you want to make money, go for COBOL. Few people know it, nobody likes it, and it's a skill in high demand. You can easily make tons of money if you're willing to spend long hours deciphering ancient COBOL script on the dark dank walls of long-lived business.

If you want to program business software, go with C# or Java. They're both languages designed to be easy to use for such purposes, and are good at it.

If you want to program in the PC or Console game industry, go with C++. It's traditional, and it's likely not leaving anytime soon.

If you want to expand your programming horizons, learn Smalltalk, Lisp, and (toss-up for third) Prolog. They're each significantly different from each other in some way and learning them should teach you quite a bit.

If you want to do hobby projects, pick a language that looks nice to you and go for it. Python is rather popular for that kind of thing since it's simple and has a large community.

etc

 

[presidentender]

Fortunately, I don't have to pick. I work in Java for school and play, PHP for my job, and can hack servicably at any C dialect, Ruby, Python, or (given a reference) anything imperative or object-oriented. I've been told that my knowledge of Abstract Algebra makes functional languages my playthings, too, but have yet to try this out. Learning more is possible, since there's the internet, you know.

However, if I had to choose:
Java or C++, for application development.
C, for lower-level stuff (gcc can optimize the binary much better than I can in assembly).
Python, for quick-and-dirty scripting.

For purposes of this exercise, I guess I'm treating SQL as an extension, not a language in and of itself.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

as3
php
sql


(and markup 'languages' xml/(x)html/css)

(as3 I suppose is like Java/C)

 

[Woosta]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I'm already very proficient in these:
php
java
python

and I'm fast becoming proficient in ruby as a project i'm working on requires it.

I am also very proficient in javascript, bash, and pl/sql (I don't consider these programing languages).

If I had to select something I would want to spend time working in to learn/limprove on it would be:

Objective-C
C++
C# (mono)

You don't consider ECMAScript to be a fully fledged programming language?

As for me

1. Lisp
2. Haskell
3. Python

Working on #3 now ;p

 

[drebo]

For me, for marketability, my choices are (in no particular order):

RPG3 (maintaining mainframe code is very, very marketable)
.Net Framework (I say this because learning the particular syntaxes of VB/C# is academic compared to knowing all of the tools in the framework...like it or hate it, it's here to stay, unfortunately)
Objective-C (I'd like an option for higher performance, more portable code)

I purposely chose languages I did not already know to a fair degree of proficiency. For rapid web development, I use ColdFusion. For elaborate web development, I use PHP. For what little applications development, I use Visual Basic.Net and struggle through with the framework as I need to.

SQL is a good tool, but it is not a language. It's definitely something that you do not want regular code-monkies to be using in production environments. In fact, it's probably not something most programmers will ever see, except in very small utility-style applications or prototyping (as mentioned before). As your application grows and your dataset expands, efficiency becomes paramount, and for that you need specialists to optimize your data model and your SQL code. XML kind of falls under that same specialist categorization.

 

[xtknight]

x86 assembler
VHDL (inherently parallel)
Objective-C (looks neat)

These are also languages I know little/nothing about (besides the obvious). I would like to learn how to multithread better and how to optimize my algorithms to the fullest extent, regardless of whether or not they "need" to be. I'm not someone who likes to waste power when it is not needed.

On second thought if you're looking for a job:

C#/C++
Java
PHP

 

[Evander]

Guess I'm the outsider 'round here:
1) Visual Basic (it's easy to learn and gets results fast, and thanks to Mono is now cross-platform. I'm learning it now using Microsoft's Visual Basic 2005 Step by Step book and am 3/5 finished with that)
2) Visual C# (I've heard "What's the difference between VB and C#?" A: About 3 months) Also the XNA Game Studio uses C#. And it's kinda neat you can use it for the xbox 360, even though I don't have one
3) Java b/c it seems the most cross-platform friendly to me
And you didn't ask, but I'll give you 1 more
4) C and/or C++ (learned C 1 year in college, got a B in first course and an A in the next, but wasn't satisfied with the slow progress of only being to make "useless" text-only apps even after 1 year, and never programmed again until I decided to learnVB on my own many years later. But it's a versatile language, I'll give it that, which I may give another shot if I become very proficient in at least VB).

 

[degibson]

Discarding the languages I already know fairly well, I'd like to learn:
1) Ruby -- everyone is yammering about Ruby, and I occasionally like to follow a crowd
2) COBOL -- for future employability. This language will be around forever, and salaries for COBOL programmers are only going up.
3) C# -- the catch here is that there's not a chance in hades of me actually not coding C++ on Windows... I like fatal errors that much

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: Woosta

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I'm already very proficient in these:
php
java
python

and I'm fast becoming proficient in ruby as a project i'm working on requires it.

I am also very proficient in javascript, bash, and pl/sql (I don't consider these programing languages).

If I had to select something I would want to spend time working in to learn/limprove on it would be:

Objective-C
C++
C# (mono)

You don't consider ECMAScript to be a fully fledged programming language?

As for me

1. Lisp
2. Haskell
3. Python

Working on #3 now ;p

I evaluate languages not on what it might be able to do, but it's common use. For example I have some very complicated scripts in bash that most people would call programs. But to me they are scripts. I don't have a real hard and fast line on what is a program and what is a script, but most of the javascript I write and have seen others write I would call a script.

Not that you can do awesome things with scripting. I used to consider php scripting for a long time. Actually, I guess I still do for the most part.