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Comment by larrik | Hacker News Reader

I'm surprised no one mentioned actually learning C or C++ for the experience in compiling/linking/makefiles/etc, as well as in vigorous memory management. THAT is a skill he seems to be lacking, and it's a skill that mastering can really help in the future. (Actually, I hope I'm wrong about that one :)

You program a bit differently when you have to wait minutes for it to compile in between tests.

He said he's familiar with the syntax, but that's only one piece (and often not the biggest piece).

[Edit: ouch, apparently I posted this with the last sentence unfinished! Also, I don't think the posted answer suggesting C or C++ is really talking about the same thing as I am.]

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I have to agree with you. Having started life using PHP, Python, Ruby, etc... I had no idea what memory management even was. I think learning the hard fundamental languages like C and Assembly (HLA) are super important - C is easily the most influential language of our time (I'll get slapped for this, but do know that I actually don't like C, I would rather use D, but C is so widely used and pretty much every important program has - at least - /some/ C in it).

I also agree, knowing syntax is very different from working in the language at a production level for five years. Syntax, idiom, paradigm, and culture are all hugely important - some of those things are remarkably subtle for certain languages and only get picked up after being slapped by the more experienced programmers of that language!

It seems that OP don't realize fully that there is much more to language than syntax. Java's syntax is similar to C but the languages are used for entirely different purposes. I think that it could be actually more useful to choose some project and learn language with it - like write a webapp with php, then other webapp with django, then play with some AI in haskell, then your own simple shell in C etc. (maybe not best projects, but I think it makes much more sense that only familiarising with syntax).

This is exactly what I am doing now. I'm a system administrator with a firm grounding in scripting languages like perl and ruby with some experience in java. After dabbling with C I felt like it would be the best option for understanding memory management and gaining a solid foundation in programming. I started with the recommendation here http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/62502/small-c... of writing your favourite data structures.

Someone did: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3958630/what-are-importan...

Yes yes yes. The compile part of the argument is a bit subjective (sure wish c++ compilers were faster) but learning memory management. Especially with classes in c++ which tends to bitch-slap your mind so hard the first time around that you'll never forget the implications of an improper memory strategy.

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