Quote: (04-05-2015 05:44 PM)Fast Eddie Wrote:
Quote: (04-01-2015 04:52 PM)Travesty444 Wrote:
Let's make a distinction for people of thinking of getting into programming:
From Not Difficult (average intelligence can learn with ease):
HTML / CSS
Basic javascript, jQuery
Basic SQL
Average Difficulty (average intelligence can learn with a fair amount of work):
High level languages - Python, C#, Java, PHP, Perl, Swift, Ruby
complex Javascript
complex SQL
Getting Difficult (average intelligence will struggle):
C++
Objective-C
very complex Javascript
very complex SQL
OK this is Difficult - (average intelligence probably will not be able to master even with tons of work - i.e. apply it to complex applications)
C language
Lisp
Clojure
Assembly language
You will see a direct correlation between these languages for jobs and barrier to entry as far as intelligence + skill is concerned.
Interesting. I'm still a bit of a neophyte when it comes to coding, but I'd have thought that the intelligence required to perform a programming task is far more related to the nature of the task than to the language that is used.
I'm sure that writing a compiler or contributing to a kernel in Python is a LOT harder than writing a web crawler in C. If someone is smart enough to write an OS in Python, he is certainly smart enough to do anything in C that is easier than writing an OS. Or am I way off base here?
A lot of times the nature of the task determines the language. Writing an OS or kernel in Python would be insanity as Python requires a runtime on top of the hardware adding layers of frustration. C is the language for OS development on modern hardware because it's form allows it to readily translate directly to the machine's native instructions. Grouping languages by roles you can get something like:
Presentation: HTML, CSS, LaTeX, sometimes javascript, PHP
Tying together existing tools for a cause: Perl, Python, sometimes javascript
Application Development: C, Common Lisp, Haskell, C++ done well (very hard)
Niche applications: C++, Objective C, Javascript, SQL
Mountains of frustration that increase your fungibility and chances of competing with Indian slave labor: Anything.Net, Java, Javascript, C++ sought naively
Niche uses that make bank: COBOL, Ada, C done spectacularly, Common Lisp done well (SBCL is the compiler of choice here), Verilog, Assembly languages
This clustering is a sort of starting point. Generally anything tied to mass market desktop or mobile platforms is going to put you at risk of being struck by a lower bidder. C++ and Java especially suffer from management that isn't tech oriented getting tempted by cheap foreign options, and if you try to go location independent with a skill set the buyers determine to be fungible...
There is serious money to be made though on older systems using older languages that simply can not be replaced. The catch is that these are smaller populations and it can take some time to build a reputation for being to work in those languages.
I recommend that anyone interested in technology work become familiar with some flavor of unix and its bundled tools. The software's free and old refurbished Thinkpads are cheap (most thinkpads also have new batteries in production). If you start your journey into deeper understanding of computing on a linux or BSD system with python and the system's included tools and then move on to C or Common Lisp you could in a year or two find yourself miles a head of university graduates in the discipline.