I completely agree with you Jenk. I know several other languages fairly well, but nothing compared to my PHP skill level. As far as if a company switched platforms, I wouldn't expect the company to keep most of their programmers whom are most comfortable in a particular language. From my experience, a switch in platform most certainly means a switch in staff (to some degree).
I know one thing for sure, I'd only hire people whom excel in one language and risk having to replace him when switching platforms rather than having someone who knows 5 languages decently well.
PHP future Scope
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Re: PHP future Scope
The OP want max salary in her/his area the maybe Java or C# would be better. But if you are just looking to be employed for the highest salary then there are other skills (think Oracle DBA) where you can make more money. So if you are looking to find a skillset that maximizes salary there are better choices than programmer.
I also think that this discussion depends on the type of work. Employees have to program in the language the company uses. On the other hand, consultants less often asked what language is used -- all that matters is how soon will it be done?, how many features?, how much! I can't think of the last client who asked for a specific language. And with clean URLs how would they know without knowing how to check the server signature.
So there isn't one answer ... it depends on your goals.
I also think that this discussion depends on the type of work. Employees have to program in the language the company uses. On the other hand, consultants less often asked what language is used -- all that matters is how soon will it be done?, how many features?, how much! I can't think of the last client who asked for a specific language. And with clean URLs how would they know without knowing how to check the server signature.
So there isn't one answer ... it depends on your goals.
(#10850)
Re: PHP future Scope
I never said to set out and learn 5-10 languages right away. The guy has been on PHP for 2.5 years already. My point is that learning another language does not mean you abandon your first one. And a person that knows multiple languages does not automatically 'hack' things together. We are perfectly capable of understanding the intricacies of multiple languages as it does not take a lifetime to learn a language like PHP. Knowing multiple languages (for me) has been a huge help and made me only have a stronger understanding of programming languages. Because of my background learning PHP the correct way was much easier. No one had to explain to OOP, MVC, or Patterns to me. All I really needed to learn was the syntax. Once I got that down it took about 3 months to where I was quite comfortable with PHP. Couple this with my existing knowledge of ajax/css/regex/sql/html and my sites were just as slick as any site created by a PHP Expert.Chris Corbyn wrote:And at the same time you become a jack-of-all-trades who can hack things together and make them work but does not fully understand the intricacies of those 10 languages. There are exceptions of course. I don't think setting out to learn 5-10 languages is a good idea... In fact, it's a terrible idea. You learn the tools you need for the job.alvinphp wrote:Learn 5-10 languages. After the 2nd one the rest become easy. Why must people so severely limit themselves.
I do agree learning 10 languages up front is a bad idea. Definitely learn one language first, but once you understand that language then move on and learn a second then third language. It will not only be easier, but further improve your understanding of the first language you learned (at least this is what happened for me).