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Survey Results

You are asked to work on a project in a language you don't know. What do you do?   [Edit]

Survey period: 15 Aug 2011 to 22 Aug 2011

Let's assume you're given time to learn the new language before you start, if required.

OptionVotes% 
I dive in and learn the language as I go77268.99
I learn the new language and then dive in24722.07
I do it but try and get out of the project211.88
I actively try and get out of the project before it starts322.86
I quit171.52
Other302.68

View optional text answers (36 answers)


 
Generaleh? Pin
Oludayo Alli22-Aug-11 3:18
Oludayo Alli22-Aug-11 3:18 
GeneralHmmmm? Pin
Dr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 5:06
professionalDr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 5:06 
GeneralRe: Hmmmm? Pin
Chris Maunder19-Aug-11 14:42
cofounderChris Maunder19-Aug-11 14:42 
GeneralRe: Hmmmm? Pin
Dr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 14:59
professionalDr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 14:59 
GeneralRe: Hmmmm? Pin
Chris Maunder19-Aug-11 15:01
cofounderChris Maunder19-Aug-11 15:01 
GeneralRe: Hmmmm? Pin
Dr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 15:24
professionalDr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 15:24 
Generalyou can't swim until you jump in water. Pin
koolprasad200318-Aug-11 21:49
professionalkoolprasad200318-Aug-11 21:49 
GeneralRe: you can't swim until you jump in water. Pin
Ravi Sant18-Aug-11 22:20
Ravi Sant18-Aug-11 22:20 
GeneralLived This, Living This. Pin
W Balboos, GHB18-Aug-11 2:36
W Balboos, GHB18-Aug-11 2:36 
GeneralLooking at it first helps Pin
Nithin Sundar17-Aug-11 17:31
Nithin Sundar17-Aug-11 17:31 
GeneralDefinitely start learning before you dive in Pin
Nick Harrison17-Aug-11 2:53
Nick Harrison17-Aug-11 2:53 
GeneralRe: Definitely start learning before you dive in Pin
Doug Domeny17-Aug-11 15:56
professionalDoug Domeny17-Aug-11 15:56 
GeneralRe: Definitely start learning before you dive in Pin
daleofcourse18-Aug-11 0:12
daleofcourse18-Aug-11 0:12 
GeneralIt depends on the language Pin
Not Active17-Aug-11 2:02
mentorNot Active17-Aug-11 2:02 
QuestionSuppose Pin
JavedFeroze17-Aug-11 0:54
JavedFeroze17-Aug-11 0:54 
AnswerRe: Suppose Pin
chriselst17-Aug-11 1:08
chriselst17-Aug-11 1:08 
AnswerRe: Suppose Pin
Gregory Henry17-Aug-11 22:36
Gregory Henry17-Aug-11 22:36 
GeneralNo General Answer Possible ... Pin
Dejan Petrovic16-Aug-11 20:36
Dejan Petrovic16-Aug-11 20:36 
GeneralRe: No General Answer Possible ... Pin
j.saer19-Aug-11 1:15
j.saer19-Aug-11 1:15 
GeneralRe: No General Answer Possible ... Pin
Chris Maunder19-Aug-11 14:47
cofounderChris Maunder19-Aug-11 14:47 
GeneralRe: No General Answer Possible ... Pin
Dejan Petrovic19-Aug-11 22:05
Dejan Petrovic19-Aug-11 22:05 
GeneralNot when, but how often Pin
cpkilekofp16-Aug-11 10:10
cpkilekofp16-Aug-11 10:10 
In 1997, I was walking around the pond in back of our office in Marlton, NJ while my boss puffed away on his Marlboro beside me as we discussed the state of affairs on one of my projects. I asked him, incidentally, how many programming languages (including OS script languages and assembly languages) he'd used professionally. He'd lost count; by that time, I myself was up to about eight or ten and was busy learning a new one called PL/Trim (a "4GL" used at that time (and maybe still) by Boeing and three other customers, of whom we might have been the smallest). All their software was in PL/Trim except for some library routines written in C.

In 2001, I got a job to develop an interactive voice-response (IVR) application very similar to the one I'd built in 1998 in Visual Basic - only this time, I had to build it in Java, a language with which I was barely familiar, and I had to find a test platform to run it on. I did both, and had a working prototype ready in three months.

Back at the beginning of my programming career, my first permanent programming job required a C programmer, which I had become without benefit of formal training - my debugging technique in C was sufficiently sophisticated that my new boss decided I was worth the risk. So even then, I was working with languages that I was learning as I worked.

It still stuns me sometimes how many programmers out there have never, ever programmed outside of one or two languages, usually their primary development language and the script language used by their primary operating system.
GeneralRe: Not when, but how often Pin
Dr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 5:18
professionalDr.Walt Fair, PE19-Aug-11 5:18 
Generallearning different language Pin
Blubbo16-Aug-11 2:00
Blubbo16-Aug-11 2:00 
GeneralMix Pin
APAM15-Aug-11 23:12
APAM15-Aug-11 23:12 

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