On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 7:24 AM, ALAN GAULD <alan.ga...@btinternet.com> wrote: > > >> belt, then go ahead and learn anything else you like. But even then, if you >> have >> to learn two new ones at the same time, I'd recommend they be very unlike. >> So you could learn Lisp or Forth at the same time as you were learning Ruby, >> but >> I'd not try to learn Perl and Python at the same time. > > Actually that's a point. I favour learning two languages that are semantically > similar buut syntactically different. Thats why I chose JavaScript and > VBScript > as my tutorial languages, because the syntax of each is so different you are > less likely to get confused, but the underlying programming model is very > similar in each case. > > So with Bob's illustration of the Harley in mind I'll withdraw the suggestion > to > learn Python and Ruby - because the syntax is very similar - but keep the > Python/Lisp/Object Pascal ccombinations. > > Having said that I stll recommend that most folks learn one at a time. Unless > you are the kind of person that actively prefers comparative study it will > be better to keep to one language. > > Alan G > > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - tu...@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor >
Being an independent learner/hobbyist scholar myself, I have to wonder what the motivation is for wanting to learn two languages. Is it just for satisfaction to bring the dead, curious cat back, or maybe to impress friends,, or to accomplish some task, or to understand the technology you use better...or... In other words, what's the reason behind your goal? Mine, for instance, is that once I started to learn the languages, I also had a curiosity towards the inner workings, so it seemed that the obvious path is to move towards the lower level languages from a programming stand point, but it also makes since to learn from the power plant through the outlet. I enjoy communicating with the electrons, so I want to go at it from both ends, so if better understanding technology is your motivation, then I say take the most well rounded, comprehensive approach to what you want to know more about. So, I think, the question isn't should I learn two languages, but what is the ultimate goal of my understanding, and what is the more well rounded means to meet this end desire. _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
