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Survey Results

What's stopping you learning a new programming language?

Survey period: 11 Jun 2012 to 18 Jun 2012

Learning a new language is a great way to become a better programmer, but a lot of us make excuses. What's yours? Or are you already a polyglot programmer?

OptionVotes% 
Nothing - I already know more than 3 programming languages.39138.18
Not enough time (either at work or in my spare time)35034.18
Not enough incentive.10310.06
I simply haven't seen another language I want to learn959.28
Simply no desire to learn another language.514.98
Other343.32

View optional text answers (50 answers)


 
GeneralAn experienced developer knows any progamming language they want to know. Pin
Simon Bridge17-Jun-12 16:50
Simon Bridge17-Jun-12 16:50 
Programming goes beyond language and syntax.

Anyone who can program say, C#, VB and SQL should know enough to pick up almost any other language out there in a couple of hours.

Anyone who has written C# should be able to pick up JAVA almost immediately, and vice-versa - in fact most C based languages should fall in very quickly.

Anyone who knows VB, also automatically knows most flavours of BASIC, and the VB derivations (VB6.0, VBA, VB Script, VB.NET etc)

I prefer not to define programming knowledge by the number of programming languages known, but rather the various types and specialties of languages, such as RAD, managed, object-oriented, scripting, query (eg PL/SQL, SQL), markup, procedural, mathematical/functional (eg F#), graphical (eg HLSL, OpenGL, LOGO) etc.

Obviously to consider yourself a master at a particular language you need experience with it's specific peculiarities (eg, users of C# will probably trip up on pointers, macros and headers if they move to C++) but the broader part of any programming knowledge and experience transcends language and syntax.

Also, I agree that while you might put XML and HTML down on your CV, they are markup languages, not programming languages (any logic implemented by a HTML page is written in VBS or Java Script)

You could probably draw a long bow and consider XSL a type of programming language as it has conditional statements, iterators and flow control, but you couldn't build a mail client with it or use it to organize your cd collection.
QuestionSome people seem confused on the definition of a programming language Pin
enhzflep17-Jun-12 11:40
enhzflep17-Jun-12 11:40 
GeneralI already know three, but I chose "haven't seen another language" Pin
xawari15-Jun-12 1:43
xawari15-Jun-12 1:43 
GeneralNot enough time IS an excuse!! Pin
AlexCode13-Jun-12 21:41
professionalAlexCode13-Jun-12 21:41 
Generalonly 3?! Pin
embix13-Jun-12 21:06
embix13-Jun-12 21:06 
GeneralWhy Don't You Run Faster? Pin
AspDotNetDev13-Jun-12 13:00
protectorAspDotNetDev13-Jun-12 13:00 
GeneralRe: Why Don't You Run Faster? Pin
Photon_13-Jun-12 19:52
Photon_13-Jun-12 19:52 
GeneralRe: Why Don't You Run Faster? Pin
AspDotNetDev13-Jun-12 20:11
protectorAspDotNetDev13-Jun-12 20:11 
GeneralRe: Why Don't You Run Faster? Pin
Photon_15-Jun-12 22:29
Photon_15-Jun-12 22:29 
GeneralWhy another Pin
Minion no. 513-Jun-12 3:21
Minion no. 513-Jun-12 3:21 
GeneralDon't find time to engage with the language itself Pin
VallarasuS12-Jun-12 21:12
VallarasuS12-Jun-12 21:12 
GeneralI know 9 languages. Pin
Vivi Chellappa12-Jun-12 16:47
professionalVivi Chellappa12-Jun-12 16:47 
GeneralRe: I know 9 languages. Pin
Prasad_Kulkarni12-Jun-12 19:54
Prasad_Kulkarni12-Jun-12 19:54 
GeneralRe: I know 9 languages. Pin
Mohibur Rashid14-Jun-12 15:47
professionalMohibur Rashid14-Jun-12 15:47 
GeneralIsn't 7 languages enough Pin
Frank R. Haugen12-Jun-12 10:18
professionalFrank R. Haugen12-Jun-12 10:18 
GeneralRe: Isn't 7 languages enough Pin
Mohibur Rashid12-Jun-12 15:42
professionalMohibur Rashid12-Jun-12 15:42 
GeneralRe: Isn't 7 languages enough Pin
Henning Dieterichs13-Jun-12 4:11
Henning Dieterichs13-Jun-12 4:11 
GeneralRe: Isn't 7 languages enough Pin
Mohibur Rashid14-Jun-12 15:46
professionalMohibur Rashid14-Jun-12 15:46 
GeneralInvest in the language that will bring the biggest inventment Pin
R. Erasmus11-Jun-12 21:14
R. Erasmus11-Jun-12 21:14 
GeneralI want to learn but Pin
Mico Perez11-Jun-12 16:42
Mico Perez11-Jun-12 16:42 
GeneralI don't want to learn Java! Pin
PIEBALDconsult11-Jun-12 16:14
mvePIEBALDconsult11-Jun-12 16:14 
GeneralRe: I don't want to learn Java! Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic12-Jun-12 4:30
Nemanja Trifunovic12-Jun-12 4:30 
GeneralMessage Removed Pin
14-Jun-12 6:07
professionalN_tro_P14-Jun-12 6:07 
GeneralRe: I don't want to learn Java! Pin
xawari15-Jun-12 1:45
xawari15-Jun-12 1:45 
GeneralIf it pays, I will. It's all economics. Pin
devvvy11-Jun-12 15:01
devvvy11-Jun-12 15:01 

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