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Why do you say that? Which part is hip? If my #5 were my list I could understand the comment, but my list is much more reasonable than the post. I use c, pyt

by brent 18y ago

Why do you say that? Which part is hip? If my #5 were my list I could understand the comment, but my list is much more reasonable than the post. I use c, python, and matlab on a near daily basis for work so they are all quite practical. I think Scheme/Lisp are important to learn even if you'll never explicitly use them. The pl in 5 are useful depending on your domain, but I certainly wouldn't list these items as all being important to learn.

evgen 18y ago
I would venture to say that Matlab/R are completely superfluous for most programmers. Few of us do hardcore number crunching, and for those few times it is necessary add-ons like NumPy take care of the problem. Someone considering your list would be better off dropping the Matlab/R choice and replacing it with Javascript.
tlrobinson 18y ago
I didn't think either list was "hip", I just meant that your list wasn't very different than his, except seemingly arbitrary substitutions based on what you happen to use. He explicitly states: Note that I’m not necessarily advocating using any of these languages for a real project, but I believe that learning them will make you a better programmer in whatever language you do use. I do think the original list was better, since Erlang, Haskell, and Prolog shouldn't be lumped together in the "different" category, Javascript could be considered part of the Python/Ruby/Perl class, and I question the usefulness of learning MATLAB unless you actually need it.
- brent 18y ago
  It isn't arbitrary at all. I think people should know a compiled language (procedural), a scripting language, a numerical computing language (w/ vectorized notation), and a functional language. I think its completely excessive for the average programmer to know Haskell AND Erlang AND Prolog AND Smalltalk. Do you think people should know all of those? I see advantages to learning each, but I think my list would take the average person a bit further.

by brent 18y ago

evgen 18y ago

I would venture to say that Matlab/R are completely superfluous for most programmers. Few of us do hardcore number crunching, and for those few times it is necessary add-ons like NumPy take care of the problem. Someone considering your list would be better off dropping the Matlab/R choice and replacing it with Javascript.

tlrobinson 18y ago

I didn't think either list was "hip", I just meant that your list wasn't very different than his, except seemingly arbitrary substitutions based on what you happen to use. He explicitly states: Note that I’m not necessarily advocating using any of these languages for a real project, but I believe that learning them will make you a better programmer in whatever language you do use. I do think the original list was better, since Erlang, Haskell, and Prolog shouldn't be lumped together in the "different" category, Javascript could be considered part of the Python/Ruby/Perl class, and I question the usefulness of learning MATLAB unless you actually need it.

brent 18y ago
It isn't arbitrary at all. I think people should know a compiled language (procedural), a scripting language, a numerical computing language (w/ vectorized notation), and a functional language. I think its completely excessive for the average programmer to know Haskell AND Erlang AND Prolog AND Smalltalk. Do you think people should know all of those? I see advantages to learning each, but I think my list would take the average person a bit further.