programming toolbox

[Derek Martin]

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 08:17:27AM -0500, William Purcell wrote:
> I am still wondering if C++ would be worth learning and I think it could be
> answered by these three questions...
> 
> 1. Are programs written in C++ better (in any form of the word) than
> programs written in python or vise versa or equal?
> 2. Is compiled better than interpreted?
> 3. Is it necessary to know any more languages than python to be a
> respectable programmer, i.e. to be able to take care of most programming
> problems (text manipulation, gui programming, scientific computation, web
> stuff)?

I think the answer depends on what your goals are.  If you want to be
a well-rounded programmer, it's good to experience a number of
different languages, so you can see different approaches to different
problems.  Languages like Python tend to obscure to some degree how
things actually work inside the machine, whereas languages like C/C++
encourage that a bit more (though assembler much more so).

I think it's also a good idea to have more languages under your belt
if you want to be a professional programmer.  The more tools you have
in your toolbox, the more marketable you are...

If you only want to learn to program to solve your own problems, then
it doesn't really matter.  The only reason to learn additional
languages is if you find a case where what you've learned doesn't
solve your problem, or the solution is a lot harder than it should be. 


-- 
Derek D. Martin
http://www.pizzashack.org/
GPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D

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