most programmers have a very predictable trajectory through increasingly more powerful languages: C++, then Java (garbage collection), then Python or Ruby (more

most programmers have a very predictable trajectory through increasingly more powerful languages: C++, then Java (garbage collection), then Python or Ruby (more abstraction and power), then Lisp I've seen virtually no one take this trajectory. Half of the Lisp programmers I know had Lisp as one of their first languages (MIT or Berkeley alum). Most C++ devs that went on to Java or C# did NOT go to Ruby or Python. Most C# devs would consider that a step backwards unless you were using a specific framework for a specific task, e.g., Rails. The only thing I do tend to agree with is that Ruby/Python devs seem to have Lisp envy. But very few others classes of developers do.