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Top-level
 @keithamus I think your web development related advice is spot on. Learning transferable knowledge is always preferred to learning tools. However, knowing one or more languages in depth is also very useful. And here we need to be honest, boring languages like Java and C++ reign supreme and are vastly more widely used than the hip and new languages you mentioned. I also don't think complicated setup is an bad for learning, it's what you have to deal with in most real projects as well. 4 comments
 @bart as for complicated setup, yeah it's great landing a gig doing C++ where everything is established and you just need to "find the person or the doc". But if you're staring at a text editor not knowing where the next step is, those langs can be very intimidating. Modern langs have a much more pleasant on boarding experience. @keithamus I see one job listing for 'Zig' in the Netherlands on LinkedIn. And it's from a company called 'Zig' 😀. (24.729 for C++, 28.697 for Java). Finding out what documentation and learning resources are up to date, struggling with build tooling, dealing with legacy code and constructs, these are all essential skills as a software developer. Being a bit intimidated is while learning is not a bad thing. It preps you for the frightening complexity of any pretty much any real project... @keithamus That said, I get your point as well. Learning Rust or Zig is probably a lot more fun and you will learn some programming concepts more easily if you don't have to focus on overcomplicated or non-standardized build tooling. |
Gregory's Server
@bart I agree with you overall, but I also think the "boring" languages like Java & C++ also have a high barrier and because of that they're difficult to dive into. I pointed at Rust and Zig because they're new systems languages that lack some of the footguns and don't have a back catalogue of outdated literature.
Obviously lots of places still use them, but as I see it, there is general divestment and the jobs available are for those that specialise. Newer langs, OTOH, have a wider door open.