Java and Python

[Brett g Porter]

<kosh at aesaeion.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1016636073.1372.python-list at python.org...
> On Wed, 20 Mar 2002, Peter Hansen wrote:
>
>
> The problem I have with someone learning lots of languages is that most of
> what I have seen is that they never go beyond a surface level
> understanding of the language. So you end up seeing people that can
> essentially write C in any language or java etc. However in order to be
> really productive you need to know a language and know it very well. I
> would rather see someone that can demonstrate higher level mastery  with
> one language then a surface level with many. You can't get to more
> advanced features until you understand all of the basic features. However
> once you learn those features you are in a better position to apply them
> in another language.
The way that a former boss described one of my co-workers was that his code
looked like he sneezed, and C++ tokens came out on the screen.

The thing that you have to get used to is that you aren't going to get hired
for jobs that require knowledge and experience outside of programming that
you lack. If you don't have a solid math background, you are not going to
get hired to do heavy DSP programming, or develop 3d graphics engines. I
don't have a database background, so I know that I'm not going to get jobs
that require that (that one is intentional).

Figure out what kind of work you want to do and put yourself in a position
to be able to do it. Don't worry about how long it will take -- you'll be 4
years older in 4 years whether you spend that time learning things or not.
Developing a skill set because someone told you that it was a path to a
'good job' is setting you up to be like people I knew in college who studied
business (or law or medicine, or...) because some counselor had told them it
was the path to the good life, not because they were interested in the
field. They hated 4 years of college (except for the girls and drinking) and
I can't imagine what kind of hollow, miserable, time-to-make-the-donuts kind
of life they have now.