Learn a programming language.

[mathboy4life]

How hard it is to learn Perl? Is it valuable for a good paying job? Should i forget about learning Perl and just learn Python or C?

[r3d4]

How hard it is to learn Perl?

On a scale on n to n its about 07.9 .. ... i dont `know` perl

But ( more help fuly *perhaps )
@ learnxinyminutes.com you can

Take a whirlwind tour of your next favorite language. Community-driven!

https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/perl/
&&
https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/c/
https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/python/

Is it valuable for a good paying job? Should i forget about learning Perl and just learn Python or C?

Good questions !
I will defer to experts who are presumably more $( in the know );

[stderr]

How hard it is to learn Perl? Is it valuable for a good paying job? Should i forget about learning Perl and just learn Python or C?

To whatever extent you are interested in all this, you should, I think, learn how to learn programming languages. So don't really worry that much about whether or not Perl or Python is the answer for a good paying job because the reality is that you just don't know. I'd say, pick one that makes sense to you now for a project or projects you need or want to do now. Of course "functional" languages, or those with support for that, have the latest buzz.

[mathboy4life]

I am reading Mastering Regular expressions. I am interested in finding errors in articles and books that are going to be published.

[W. H. Heydt]

You can cehck job listings for what languages are in demand now. The problem with developing expertise in programming languages, is that you need to develop expertise in one or more languages that will be in demand once you have that expertise. This is hard to do.

[mr.ammy]

can someone suggest me any gud programming language which has a great job scope in future....

[Heater]

mathboy4life

How hard it is to learn Perl? Is it valuable for a good paying job? Should i forget about learning Perl and just learn Python or C?

Perhaps I should not be so blunt but if your sole motivation for learning a programming language is some vague hope about a good paying job then just don't bother. Your heart is not in it.

If you have curiosity and passion for it you would already have your head stuck into a Perl, or whatever language, tutorial. Rather than posting here. Like say:
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/perl/
Or one of the many you will find here:
http://programming-motherfucker.com/become.html
Or all around the internet.

After some hundreds or thousands of hours of study and experiment, trial and error, frustration and sometimes delight, you will know if you are really into programming and if you even want that good paying job programming. Or perhaps your realize you hate it.

But, hey, don't let me discourage you. Get stuck in there and see how it goes. Programming, and algorithms, and all that computer science and maths stuff is fascinating.

On a personal note. I'd rather poke my eyes out with hot irons than have to look at any Perl code.

Learn C and C++, learn Python, learn Javascript. And a bunch of others. Being a programmer is not about knowing only one language. And you never know what comes down the pipe next.

[r3d4]

6174

[RaTTuS]

to the OP
perl is useful - will it get you a job , no - will it help in a job - yes possibly YMMV
if you are going for a programming job then
c, c++ , python , bash , perl , are all useful YMMV on how useful .

learn because it may be useful , not for the job

[Heater]

Maybe I'm weird but I have never spent huge amounts of time studying anything because it was "useful". Let alone good for that high paying job in the far off future.

No, I find my mind getting sucked into pursuing all kinds of things because I'm curious, it's fun, its interesting, fascinating. An obsession, a challenge. That, whatever it is, is what I want to to do now.

Or, have I just been lucky in that people of been willing to pay me to work on projects that have all the above attractions?

Or, am I an idiot because I did not invest my time into becoming a lawyer, dentist or something with good career prospects and loads'a'money.

Truth is, I could not do it, if it's boring I'm out of there. Not say that law or dentistry is boring but it does not ignite me.

As far as I can tell, enthusiasm, and personality gets you further than any specific knowledge. Details like a particular programming language can be picked up as and when needed.

[Burngate]

I've only ever known one person who earned lots of money, and he didn't that through what he studied.
I first met him as a broadcast TV engineer with Thames TV, seven years younger than me and my junior.
Twenty years on, I was still a broadcast TV engineer, now at BSkyB. He was my CEO.

[Jednorozec]

On a personal note. I'd rather poke my eyes out with hot irons than have to look at any Perl code.

That's rather extreme. You wouldn't be able to look at code in any language and would have to get a text to speech converter. Besides, Perl is a write only language.

[topguy]

can someone suggest me any gud programming language which has a great job scope in future....

Setting my feeling for different languages aside I would suggest to learn "Javascript" plus one of the more common "system" languages: C++, C#, Java, Python..

That should also give you a good basis for learning new languages later if that is needed.

But learning the language is still just a part of learning "programming" or becomming a good programmer.

[hippy]

can someone suggest me any gud programming language which has a great job scope in future....

C - That should keep you in some job, paying the rent and putting food on your table, for some time to come. While other languages rise and fall, C is still consistently in demand.

But it's not really about the language. C is very simple syntactically; it's more about the libraries and using those.

[RogerW]

There is quite a lot to be said for starting with C if you want to become a professional programmer. But it is not easy or quick. You also need to understand the underlying hardware and software environments. C is not for babes and innocents.
You need to understand how pointers relate to hardware addressing mechanisms. The implications of static, stack and heap memory allocation. The mechanism behind function calls. And much more.
You need to understand compilation and linking and be aware of how the compiler turns your code into machine instructions.
As hippy has said there is much to understand in the standard library let alone the many additional libraries that are available.
When you have mastered all this and can read and understand K&R you might be a C programmer. Then you can start on C++ which is as much again.

[Heater]

I'm really into the idea that anyone interested in programming should learn more than one language.

But, that does not mean getting into a whole bunch of languages that are conceptually the same.

What I mean is that FORTRAN, ALGOL, C, Pascal, Coral. PL/M etc are pretty much different syntaxes for the same "structured programming" idea. Choose 1, namely C.

Then we come to the object oriented languages: Eiffel, C++, Java, C#. Choose one, namely C++.

Then there are the list processing languages: Lisp, Scheme, whatever. Choose one, I have no idea, Scheme is cool.

Then there are the rule based languages: Prolog...I really have no idea.

Then there are the functional programming languages: Erlang, Haskel, Lisp... I have no idea.

Point is, the language is not the point. Having different ways to look at solving problems is the point. The ideas of any of these languages can be applied to pretty much any other.

Oh, and learn at least one assembly language so that you have an idea what is going on down there in the machine.

[stderr]

I'm really into the idea that anyone interested in programming should learn more than one language.

It's going to become immediately apparent that even if you can't easily write new code seriously in some random language, you might have to interact with it in some manner.

"structured programming" idea. Choose 1, namely C.

C has so many ways to get you into trouble unnecessarily that starting out with that is probably not a great idea. Of course you'll end up having to interact with it, so as those times make themselves apparent, it's good to learn.

Then we come to the object oriented languages: Eiffel, C++, Java, C#. Choose one, namely C++.

C++ has the reputation of being everything including the kitchen sink. As a superset of some version of C, it's got a lot of baggage. While there probably is a REPL for it, it's not really oriented towards that.

Then there are the list processing languages: Lisp, Scheme, whatever. Choose one, I have no idea, Scheme is cool.

Nevertheless, I think even MIT switched to bloody Python for its whatever it is course that used to be Scheme. I would argue right now for Clojure. It's available on the JVM and compiled to JavaScript. I think there's even something for the .NET.

Of course various libraries on these various virtual machines can be used by Clojure (or other languages using a similar set up) but there is the brick wall if you've used something available, say, on the JVM but not for JavaScript. I guess don't do that. Walmart Labs and others are using Clojure in production, so it is getting used.

Then there are the functional programming languages: Erlang, Haskel, Lisp...

If you look at the various languages, it seems that there is a possible language universe and the languages basically pick bits from that universe. There's very little truly new under the sun. They often will include this or that done in a different manner, perhaps only slightly different manner, and the real core things that separate languages are not capabilities but how each capability is implemented.

Another language, which is modern and includes a lot of different options, procedural, object orientated and functional is Scala. It is available on the JVM and in JavaScript. Effort has been made to release libraries that work under both VMs. Of course the huge amount of Java code out there that only works on the JVM would have to be avoided to get this portability. One nice thing for the Python haters is that Scala is minimally verbose in syntax but doesn't go off into using the indentation white space to define scope. I hate Python for that.

[Heater]

stderr,

You raise interesting points.

I was talking about languages from a kind of abstract, academic point of view. Like, what is the main idea, the paradigm, they are focussing on. These are all interesting and useful things to be aware of.

In the real world of course, the actual language is almost irrelevant. What matters more is:

1) Does this thing even work on my target machine?

2) Is the performance good enough?

3) Do I have the memory to fit all this in?

4) Is there a lot of libraries out there already I can use so that I don't have to recreate all the wheels myself all the time?

5) Are there a lot of users so that I can get support easily when I have problems?

6) Are the providers of the compilers/interpreters going to be around for a long time? So that my creation does not get stranded.

7) Can I find smart young developers to work with this language?


At the end of the day, choice of programming language is more a social thing than a technical thing. Fashion has a lot to do here.

[dhada]

Dear these days most basic language or we can say common language is c or c++..if You know these language you can go in any platform. Perl is second language which is important if you want to do do it deeply with proper basics.

[Heater]

Thing is Javascript is the thing. Wonderful language, especially now with the ES6 standard:

* Well standardized. Check.
* Many good implementations from many vendors. Check.
* Runs on may platforms, all browsers, node.js, inside Qt, Chrome books, Espruino, Tesslel etc, Check.
* Most widely used. Pretty much everyone on the planet with a browser uses it every day. Check.
* Easy deployment, no compiling, lining, architecture/OS worries etc. Check.
* Simple for beginners to programming to start with. Check.
* Sophisticated enough to keep experts happy. Check.
* Performant. Despite being interpreted current day JS engines with their JITs almost match native compiled speeds. Check.
* Usable as an "assembly" language/Virtual machine so as to enable other languages to be compiled to JS and run wherever JS runs. See, Emscripten and some of the languages mentioned above. Check.

Of course JS engines tend to be built in C++, so you need to know C++. Which also comes in handy for all those Arduino and other micro-controller projects.

You will need a kernel and OS to run the JS on, so you will need to know C.

Oh, and it's good for the soul for all programmers to learn assembler for at least one machine.

That about wraps it up. Only four languages required. We can delete all the others