Should you try all the popular programming languages and frameworks?
We all have started learning one programming language/framework and had an urge to try another one. I started learning to program in school, and the first language I got to learn was C in the first semester. After that, I was bombarded by different languages in the school syllabus, like PHP, JavaScript, Java, Assembly, Python, etc. I learned Java after one year of joining the school and fell in love with it. One of the reasons was it has a static type system, unlike JavaScript and PHP. I build a short portfolio using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. I did not enjoy the development process, because these things were very new to me. I had the concept of statically typed languages, like C and C++. So I was somewhat bothered with the dynamic type system. Shortly after starting Java, I tried learning android development, because back in the day, Java was the only language available for android development. And I thought that since I am already familiar with Java, android development should be fairly easy. Java background certainly did help, but there were other things which I had no idea about, like application life cycle, XML, services, adapters, and so on. I did some struggle with those things but I managed to learn android development to some extent.
When I finished the fifth semester, I had developed a couple of Inventory management systems in Java, one or two apps on android, and a portfolio site on PHP/JavaScript. At that time React-Native was called the next big thing, so I started learning React-Native as well, thinking I already have some knowledge of JavaScript. The experience was similar when I started android having some knowledge of Java. So after that, I learned Python and Django, NodeJs, ReactJs, SQL, Laravel, etc. But I never really went on to learn about language/framework deeply. But for the past couple of years I am working on Flutter, yet another thing I learned, and I have not tried other things as of now. The development experience is quite smoother than that of Android and React-Native.
That resulted in some negative impacts on my skills because I knew 6/7 programming languages and could potentially work on any of them. But along with that, I did not have a deep understanding of either of the languages. In short, I was like Jack of All Trade, Master of None. It bothered me for quite a while.
That being said, for those who are just starting to learn to program or have spent a few months/years on it, I want to suggest that, learning everything is not a good idea. It is a best practice to master one language and then try to learn others. I would like to suggest that do not make the same mistake I made. The best way to go would be to pick one programming language and then continue to work on it. After you have quite a bit of confidence, you can easily start to learn another language. Once you grasp the concepts, it is very easy to learn other programming languages.
It also worths noting that the software development world is very dynamic. For example, people rarely use Visual Basic, which used to be a big thing in the past. You must keep yourself dynamic enough that, if the language which you are working on is declined, then you can easily switch to the other language/platform. You should keep yourself up-to-date with what’s going on out there.
This is my experience, and I wanted to share it with you. You can argue with my points, and my experience might not be the best one. One thing I can claim is that trying to learn too many languages in a short period is a bad idea. You don’t have to try everything that comes in the market, and you should not. Thank you.