Broadened Horizons

People at work (and elsewhere) sometimes ask me if I'm a C or a Java programmer. Sometimes they even assume that I don't know how to write C code, based on the product written in Java that I am currently spending most of my time on. This annoys me a great deal.

Before I was asked these questions I never even considered people to be programmers of one specific language. It would be like asking a carpenter if he (or she) is a hammer carpenter or a screwdriver carpenter. In order to be a good developer, or a good carpenter for that matter, you should really know how to use more than one tool. You don't want to be a one trick pony.

It's important to broaden your horizons and see what kind of different languages and paradigms are out there. Learning a new language can really put things into perspective and make you think about programming in a new way.

For example, learning REBOL was the best thing I ever did, because it taught me new concepts that I didn't even know existed. I have been able to use this knowledge in other languages where these concepts may not have been obvious to me otherwise.

I have tried somewhere around 20 different programming languages and I encourage you to do the same, if you haven't already. It will be worth it.

Comments: 0 Tags: C, Java, Programming, REBOL