What to do after Python?

[Alex Martelli]

"Jim Eaton" <eatonalive%qwestinternet.net at pop3.qwestinternet.net> wrote in
message news:3A8F81BC.108488CA at pop3.qwestinternet.net...
> I am learning Python as a first language, and I have been wondering what
> is a good language to learn after Python?

There are several possibilities, but I would suggest SQL as the second
language.  It's incredibly useful AND when used well it urges you to
think in very different ways from a sequential imperative language
(such as Python, C, Java, ...) -- thus at the same time broadening
your horizons AND providing you with LOTS of real-world returns.

Similarly, for a THIRD language I would suggest some structured markup
language such as XML (with XPath, XSLT...) or HTML (4.0, with its DOM).

> I'm thinking of either going
> into C or Java but I'm not sure which one because I've heard many
> arguments either way.  Will going into Java first be any detriment to
> learning C later?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A lower-level language such as Java or C might be a good 4th language.
Java is far simpler (as a language: the _libraries_ are extremely rich,
but that's another issue) and thus a better 4th step than C (the latter,
or C++, might come later).

Python (in the flavor of Jython, when you go for Java) will help you
hugely in each of these further study endeavours, BTW.


Alex