Are there reasons to learn how to program in which programming languages to find a job?

[jaduff46]

Point taken. New analogy.

"It's a bit like wanting to be a carpenter, and asking, should I learn sawing, or sanding?"

Most developers will go through many programming languages in their lifetime. ALL formal Computer Science/Computer Engineering, etc. programs will expose students to MANY computer languages, so that students will get exposure to different styles of programming languages, and learn how to select the appropriate one for a particular task. MOST developers today do NOT work in a single programming language.

In rough order, the languages I've used:

- 1620 machine language (punched on cards in decimal digits)
- Fortran II
- Mix (made-up assembler language)
- PL/1
- Cobol, Algol, APL, Snobol, Lisp ("survey of programming languages" course)
- IBM/360 assembler
- Spitbol
- 8008, 4040, 8080, Z80, 6800, 6502, TMS-1000,808x assembler
- PL/m (Motorola PL/1-like language for 68xx)
- Trac
- Forth
- c
- Fortran IV
- c++
- sh/csh/ksh, etc.
- Pascal
- Java
- javascript
- CSS and HTML, which I consider declarative languages
- SQL, in various incarnations
- Perl
- Tcl
- Ruby
- objective-C
- MATLAB

I've authored one programming language and written a compiler for it. It's obscure. VSA, or "Variation Simulation Language'. It's not the same as the VSA used for chip design. It's used to describe and manipulate 3D geometries in the simulation of manufacturing variances in (usually) mechanical assemblies. It's usually hidden behind lots of layers of GUI.

I'm sure others here have similarly-long lists of programming languages they have learned and used. It is the LEAST aspect of the job of developing software!

The MIX, IBM Assembler and PL/1 were my first languages as an undergrad at Duke in the early 70s. Structured Programming was the big thing back then (no GOTO statements anywhere). Was back there several weeks ago wandering around the computer science department and what changes have taken place, both in terms of curriculum and facilities!

I think a specific language might get you in the door for a first job interview, but what sorts of problems have you worked on or solved may get you to the next round. In my case it was developing a chess program in school and bank teller simulation developed over a summer job.

 

[Gutwrench]

OP - take the humble brags here with a grain of salt.

I’ve been in software development for only 15 years. The landscape changes quickly...by industry and geographically. Trying to make a recommendation based on today versus 15 years ago is not a risk I want to take on.

After about ten years what separates good from exceptional developers isn’t the right technical skill...you’re all about the same...but rather how fast they can pick up a business and how much pride you have in the work. That might not make much sense to you now but in a few years it will. Find what it takes to break in and then always always always own your work.

 

[casperes1996]

IBM Assembler

Haven't heard of that one. Is it actually assembly, and if so, does the IBM part mean it's PowerPC assembly? Hold on wait, I have Google.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I mean no disrespect by this, but I also think that working on your English skills would be beneficial if you seek a tech career. Programming languages aren't the only valuable language skills

Well said, and I couldn't agree more.

The ability to write clear prose in grammatically correct English is a valuable language skill, and one that would be of considerable benefit to the OP.

 

[whooleytoo]

It's hard to say... because sometimes the very highest paying programming jobs are so high-paying, because some company(s) have huge legacy systems that are hard to replace, and there are very few developers around who know the required language/framework/environment.

Also, the programming languages and frameworks do rise and fall in popularity, and new options appear. So the most important skill is being able to learn a new programming language, NOT "knowing a language".

Most development now seems to be in languages based on a C-like syntax (C#, Java, Javascript, Typescript, Swift etc..) with various degrees of "object orientation" added on. Once upon a time, the popular advice was to learn C itself since you learn all the underlying bits (pointers, memory allocation and mangement etc.) which is good to know before you move on to a "higher level" language which does that for you. Now, C programming is much more rare; higher-level languages are (I'd assume) used in the vast majority of development, so pick one of the above.

Look up programming jobs adverts in the area(s) that you'd like to live, and compare the salaries offered. If you look at enough, you'll get a good idea of which languages/environments/areas are paying well.

 

[jaduff46]

Haven't heard of that one. Is it actually assembly, and if so, does the IBM part mean it's PowerPC assembly? Hold on wait, I have Google.

Nope. OS 360/370 BAL. The lowest level lanquage (and fastest) for the IBM 360/370 computer line. Pre-dated the PowerPC by 20 years. Think high-performance mainframe system (i.e. airline reservations).

First course in CS at Duke. First half was BAL to get used to working in physical memory, second half was PL/1 as a high level structured language. MIX came in the Fundamental Algorithms with Knuth as the text.

Thanks for the memories!

 

[Gutwrench]

Nope. OS 360/370 BAL. The lowest level lanquage (and fastest) for the IBM 360/370 computer line. Pre-dated the PowerPC by 20 years. Think high-performance mainframe system (i.e. airline reservations).

First course in CS at Duke. First half was BAL to get used to working in physical memory, second half was PL/1 as a high level structured language. MIX came in the Fundamental Algorithms with Knuth as the text.

Thanks for the memories!

I owe a lot to Rochester, MN too.