Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 4:44 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> The typical developer knows three, maybe four languages
> moderately well, if you include SQL and regexes as languages, and might
> have a nodding acquaintance with one or two more.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "moderately well", nor
"languages", but I'm of the opinion that a good developer should be
able to learn a new language very efficiently. Do you count Python 2
and 3 as the same language? What about all the versions of the C
standard?

In any case, though, I agree that there's a lot of people
professionally writing code who would know about the 3-4 that you say.
I'm just not sure that they're any good at coding, even in those few
languages. All the best people I've ever known have had experience
with quite a lot of languages.

ChrisA