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I'm just starting my career as a dev, but my first language in school was C++. At work I use C# - but I hope to keep learning more languages. The main thing I

by kzisme 10y ago

I'm just starting my career as a dev, but my first language in school was C++. At work I use C# - but I hope to keep learning more languages. The main thing I was worried about initially was being stuck with one language my whole career. Anyone else ever feel that way?

cagataygurturk 10y ago
If you spend extra time after work building personal projects, contributing to open source community etc. you'll not stuck in nothing. Don't let your workplace limit and dictate the technology that you know and use, feel free to develop yourself. Then it'll be very easy to jump between different workplaces until you find the best for you.
- kzisme 10y ago
  How did you get into/find side-project ideas? Ideally I'd like to work on something others could make use of, but I've been having a hard time thinking of something interesting to work on.
  - otakucode 10y ago
    Make something you would make use of. That's all.
shados 10y ago
With the way the market is, unless you stay at one job forever, its actually hard to stay with the same language... the world changes, opportunities change, your interests change...you'd have to try very hard to stick to one language. Now, on that topic, what's much harder than learning multiple languages, is learning multiple language paradigms. If you have a C++ background, learning C#, Java, Swift, JavaScript, whatever is pretty easy. Learning Haskell, ML, Elm, F#, Clojure, etc...now that will make your mind bend and spin for a bit. Those aren't nearly as common in a work environment, but you can gain a lot from learning at least one. This is kind of similar to how if you're an english speaker, learning another european language isn't nearly as interesting as learning a CJK.
- kzisme 10y ago
  I'm just trying to learn all the in's and out's of my work language then I'll start branching out more. Being stagnant as a developer is something I never want to happen.
partisan 10y ago
Same story: C++ at school and VB then eventually C# at work. About 7 years into my career, I started feeling as though I had stagnated. Over the past 4 years, I took the time to learn Ruby (RoR), Scala, some Clojure, Nim, and now, some F#. Each of them has, in some way, made me a better C# programmer. I can't go out and interview for a position programming any of these languages, but they aren't blindspots for me either anymore. I would suggest picking a language you have an interest in and a project you have an interest in and having a go at it. Then repeat the process with a new language and a new project. At the end, you will have some working software and an expanded perspective.
- kzisme 10y ago
  Have you ever felt the need to try to change positions to try to learn more about the non-work use languages that you know?
  - partisan 10y ago
    I was heavily motivated to transition from VB.NET to C# to the point where I had an offer at a C# shop. Ultimately, I convinced my department head to allow us to use C# and stayed. I don't think I would make a move exclusively for the technology anymore, but earlier in my career, I certainly did.

by kzisme 10y ago

cagataygurturk 10y ago

If you spend extra time after work building personal projects, contributing to open source community etc. you'll not stuck in nothing. Don't let your workplace limit and dictate the technology that you know and use, feel free to develop yourself. Then it'll be very easy to jump between different workplaces until you find the best for you.

kzisme 10y ago
How did you get into/find side-project ideas? Ideally I'd like to work on something others could make use of, but I've been having a hard time thinking of something interesting to work on.
- otakucode 10y ago
  Make something you would make use of. That's all.

shados 10y ago

With the way the market is, unless you stay at one job forever, its actually hard to stay with the same language... the world changes, opportunities change, your interests change...you'd have to try very hard to stick to one language. Now, on that topic, what's much harder than learning multiple languages, is learning multiple language paradigms. If you have a C++ background, learning C#, Java, Swift, JavaScript, whatever is pretty easy. Learning Haskell, ML, Elm, F#, Clojure, etc...now that will make your mind bend and spin for a bit. Those aren't nearly as common in a work environment, but you can gain a lot from learning at least one. This is kind of similar to how if you're an english speaker, learning another european language isn't nearly as interesting as learning a CJK.

kzisme 10y ago
I'm just trying to learn all the in's and out's of my work language then I'll start branching out more. Being stagnant as a developer is something I never want to happen.

partisan 10y ago

Same story: C++ at school and VB then eventually C# at work. About 7 years into my career, I started feeling as though I had stagnated. Over the past 4 years, I took the time to learn Ruby (RoR), Scala, some Clojure, Nim, and now, some F#. Each of them has, in some way, made me a better C# programmer. I can't go out and interview for a position programming any of these languages, but they aren't blindspots for me either anymore. I would suggest picking a language you have an interest in and a project you have an interest in and having a go at it. Then repeat the process with a new language and a new project. At the end, you will have some working software and an expanded perspective.

kzisme 10y ago
Have you ever felt the need to try to change positions to try to learn more about the non-work use languages that you know?
- partisan 10y ago
  I was heavily motivated to transition from VB.NET to C# to the point where I had an offer at a C# shop. Ultimately, I convinced my department head to allow us to use C# and stayed. I don't think I would make a move exclusively for the technology anymore, but earlier in my career, I certainly did.