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To this, I personally would add as an "or" clause, "Does the language have something fundamental to teach me about programming that I don't already know, and wh
by Gene_Parmesan 6y ago
To this, I personally would add as an "or" clause, "Does the language have something fundamental to teach me about programming that I don't already know, and which could be useful when brought to other domains?" This was the reason I learned FP, and also the reason I learned Prolog. I wanted to extend my understanding of programming beyond the C/procedural context. To that end, I found both exercises immensely beneficial even though I've never used a FP lang or Prolog to build an actual project.
- lliamander 6y agoThat's a fair point. I think that is worth highlighting. But I wouldn't make it an "or" clause. For context, I've been able to satisfy all the criteria when learning both Prolog and Erlang. They were both profoundly education experiences, but I think part of the impact of that experience came from using them to solve problems I had, and to which those languages were well suited. There are many languages that will teach me important concepts, but time to devote to learning them is limited. I need a filtering/prioritization process. The trick is to just be aware that these other languages exist, what domains they are good for, and be ready to learn them when I have the right problem.