I keep asking myself why do I want to learn a new programming language when I am already comfortable and productive with Java? I think the honest answer is that I am bored! I have been programming (or trying to) since I was a kid. Over the years I’ve used various forms of BASIC, Pascal, Delphi, ProTEL (proprietary real-time embedded language), C and Java. I’ve also dabbled with assembler, LISP, Cobol, Perl and JavaScript at some point or another!
Between the ages of 16 and 26, I learned how to program properly, starting with Pascal and ending with Java. On average I learned a new language every other year during that time. In the last 5 years I have programmed only in Java and a little bit of C. I have taken a cursory look at Ruby and Groovy in that time, but I haven’t dedicated any time to them or used them in anger, so I figure I owe myself at least two new languages this year!
The next question that I have to answer is what to learn, which I’ll pick up in part 2!
