If software development is your vocation as well as your job, and you want a career, then you better not be dependent on any particular language. My first job,

If software development is your vocation as well as your job, and you want a career, then you better not be dependent on any particular language. My first job, in high school, was programming a CDC 160-A in assembly language to render characters on a Calcomp plotter, fast. I've done FORTRAN (II, IV), some PL/I, APL, RATFOR, Bliss, C, PERL, PHP, Java yadda yadda yadda who cares? The point is: you want a career in a fast moving engineering field? Plan on reading at least one technical book a month for the rest of your life. Yes, for the rest of your life. 120 books a decade. (Tim O'Reilly's Safari Books Online service is a good way to do this without having to hire two moving vans when you move.)