Absolutely! In fact, you should try to learn as many languages that have real differences between them as possible. There is something to be gained from a low

Absolutely! In fact, you should try to learn as many languages that have real differences between them as possible. There is something to be gained from a low level perspective on how a computer operates just as much as there is from higher levels, even if you will not use that in your everyday job. No point in learning three varieties of the same thing but you get real insight from learning languages that are very different. C/C++/Java Python/Perl/Ruby/PHP (puts on flame proof gear) Lisp/Clojure/Scheme Smalltalk/? APL/R/J/Mathematica IO/Forth/Factor Assembler (there a many different flavors of assembly) VHDL/Verilog (not true programming languages but very interesting all the same). Pick one or more entries from each of the above lines and you'll have a better perspective than if you left that line out. Of course there are many more options than the ones in the list above, but you get the general idea.