Diner Das

Posted on Apr 13, 2022

You can only use one programming language for the rest of your life. What do you choose?

#discuss #watercooler

Oldest comments (40)

Sherry Day • Apr 13 '22

I think C is the safe choice if I want to make sure I can still do lots of stuff.

I'd prefer only coding in Python, but I feel like I'd be more limited in the long run.

I think in it is about optionality vs enjoyment.

Paulkelvin • Apr 13 '22

JavaScript for me

AndyRosenberg • Apr 13 '22 • Edited

Ruby

Lots of interesting things happening as of the last couple years. Hotwire for Rails, Glimmer taking off for desktop development, more concurrency libraries, etc. I’m starting to look into Ruby’s ML options too, would love to see more resources devoted to those.

Ben Halpern • Apr 13 '22

I'd +1 for Ruby for general enjoyment, confidence that it will keep improving, etc. It would definitely limit a few things I'd ideally want to do, but I'd probably be happy.

Ashwin Hariharan • Apr 13 '22 • Edited

I guess whatever language helps me earn a living, and also something that casts a wide net to cover as many areas of software engineering as possible. At the moment, that would be JavaScript.

Almost every industry requires a website / web app, and at present JavaScript dominates this area, at-least when it comes to building user interfaces. But that's note all - with JavaScript, I can also build mobile and desktop applications, do server-side programming and build backends, and even do machine learning.

Martin Wheeler • Apr 13 '22

JavaScript

Jonas Manthey • Apr 13 '22

something esoteric, gotta stay entertained

malbolge maybe

Kasey Speakman • Apr 13 '22

It's a tough call between F# and Clojure.

Eduard • Apr 13 '22

Been learning clojure lately, completely new experience to me. It's been really refreshing and I love all of its concepts.

matthew-salerno • Apr 13 '22

Probably python or C++ for their proven legacy and versatility. I personally prefer C to C++ but C++ gives me more options.

Gianluca Tessarolo • Apr 13 '22

Absolutely Java

(I'm 60 yo, I've learned and used many languages in my life, QuickBasic, xBase (Clipper & QuickSilver), VisualBasic, Delphi (Object Pascal), Java, Ruby but Java still remains my favorite !)