> how much total programmer time was wasted re-learning I don't see it that way. I think once you've used a few frameworks and languages, you 'learn' the conce

> how much total programmer time was wasted re-learning I don't see it that way. I think once you've used a few frameworks and languages, you 'learn' the concepts, the patterns and the ideas. I've programmed professionally in more than a dozen languages, and a lot of frameworks/libraries/tools. 'Learning' a new one doesn't worry me, because I don't have to learn it. Tools like SO, used as use-case based documentation let me very quickly turn the concept into the syntax I need, and make it fairly easy for me to use a new tool. If I use that tool a lot, I get familiar with it, and don't have to look up as much, but the minutiae of a tool isn't what makes you productive, I don't think.