How broad should your language specialty be?

Community
1

Hey guys!

I know I made a post yesterday and I apologize if this one makes things a bit excessive.

There was one other thing I was wondering about recently. I recently came across an article on a Programming subreddit that discouraged the practice of learning too many languages at once. It said that the issue with doing that is that people get too caught up in learning languages and, as a result of this, the languages they have already learned tend to decay from neglect.

To me, this makes a lot of sense. Since I want to focus on games, it makes sense to focus primarily on learning about and engaging in projects that use HTML Basics, Javascript, and C++.

What is the line though? How many languages is too many languages? In the workplace, you have to adapt to new trends yet how often do you need to learn a new language? Is it a regular occurrence or is it rare? To summarize these questions: how broad should your language specialty be?

2 Likes
2

It depends on mental ability.

I suggest learning one language, then the next. So HTML, then CSS, then JS, then C++ since you basically wanted those languages.

I hope this helps =)

3 Likes
3

Languages are a tool. Certain tools do certain tasks better than other tools. You need to select the right one for the job.
Currently you are learning the “trade” aka programming. By building your programming fundamentals you will be able to pick up most tools and use them with ease.

While you are learning it is beneficial to stick with one language and learn that syntax. Along the way you will be picking up concepts that apply to each other language as well.
You will find that you learn how to solve a problem - and can look up the specific syntax for that language if need be.

Good intro to coding - html/css/js
Good intro languages - Ruby, Python, Javascript

4 Likes
4

No matter your mental ability you can do anything you want, you can learn 100 languages. I know people who are very unintelligent according to society but speak 10 or more languages (which is def more difficult than programming languages). I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to get it down once you practice no matter. One of my mentors isn’t the smartest in some ways, But he has a law degree, Medical degree, and a Software Engineering degree, and have successfully built a company. Like I said he’s not some genius he just worked hard.

Not sure why you want to learn web development languages and then C++?

If you learn one language really well, Especially languages like C, C++, Python, you will see that there are many similarities.

As @fight_dragons says, Getting a taste for writing simple web code, is the entry-level courses with html/css/js.

Getting more into the syntax of programming languages involves languages like Python, and especially C.

The reason it said too many people get caught up in the syntax of code is that its a fraction of being a programmer/Software Engineer.

There is so much more to it than just learning a language.

Kind of like just because I speak Spanish doesn’t mean I’m a Spaniard or Mexican, There’s a lot more to it than that, it doesn’t even mean that I use the language correctly.

If I know 10 programming languages, it just means I’m a coder.
If I know 10 languages it just means I can speak 10 languages.

to learn programming/software engineering, you have to learn a lot of stuff. Of which I will list if you want but you probably already have an idea of what it takes.

3 Likes