# How Many Programming Languages Are You Fluent In? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184 "2007-10-10T06:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/21 "2007-10-10T12:55:51Z")
Hmm, let’s see. MIPS Assembly Java Javascript C C++ C# Python Perl Visual Basic/.NET SML PHP bash/csh/etc SQL BASIC Mathematica MATLAB R Pascal zMUD scripting language And of course, LOLCODE! CAN HAS STDIO? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/22 "2007-10-10T13:46:07Z")
Let’s see… C/C++ VB/VBA perl NSIS make dos .bat files javascript vbscript Motorola 68K assembly x86 assembly SAS Scheme Coq (an automated theorem prover/verifier that exposes its own functional language) Prolog Matlab SQL I should know some Java by the end of this semester. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/23 "2007-10-10T14:06:56Z")
Depending how far you want to go with “fluent”. . . C/C++ Pascal Fortran I knew BASIC at one point. For stats/math languages. . . SAS R/S+ Matlab Mathematica I’m familiar with IBM’s OSL (optimization subroutine library) Others. . . Python bash (and similar stuff) LaTeX Programming has always been a “tool” for me, not an “end” in itself. I have enough languages there for any task I’ve ever come across. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/24 "2007-10-10T14:15:43Z")
Well, I don’t know any beyond BASIC (back in the day anyway). But count me as one who didn’t even know there _were_ this many programming languages. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/25 "2007-10-10T17:28:11Z")
A bit rusty in some of these, but, those that I remember C Perl awk Pascal Fortran PL1 BCPL - the predecessor of C, popular on Multics Basic PDP 11 assembler IBM 360 assembler PDP 1 assembler Cyber assembler - TAed for a class in this, and wrote an emulator for it. Marble - the language I designed and implemented for my dissertation. SAS shell, of course. StarOffice macros Spreadsheet programming languages. LISP - just a little a language whose name I don’t remember, which dealt with syntactically sugared lambda expressions, which we used in 6.231 - the programming linguistics class I took as a freshman LGP-21 machine language - and the assembler for this I wrote myself in high school Snobol Lockheed SUE microcode x86 assembler, of the 8080 vintage. A couple of other microprogramming machine languages, which Marble generated code for. I don’t consider make a programming language - I have some standards. 🙂 If you include that, you might as well include lex and yacc Tutor - the language used for writing lessons in the PLATO system. Some random language which we had to write a compiler for (from scratch - this is before compiler compilers) in my compiler class. and probably a bunch more I don’t want to remember. Ah, for the days when SIGPLAN notices had the definition of a new language or two in every issue. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/26 "2007-10-10T18:02:20Z")
C, C++, Java Javascript Perl, PHP SAS SAS is the odd one, because I write applications with it, and I’m not a statistician 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/27 "2007-10-10T19:01:20Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Pointy-hair. 😉 [/QUOTE] Nay, only engineering managers have pointy-hair. I will say that getting the degree was one of the best things I did, and since I work in a related technical field, then understanding technology makes a complete difference for sales and marketing in understanding what’s possible and what isn’t. It pisses off my support engineers when the Pointy-hair boss troubleshoots something they miss. Also helps in the job interview. Q. We’re looking for someone who is a little technical. TP. Is my EE enough?" Q. Check. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/28 "2007-10-10T19:17:01Z")
Women. Although every time I try to program one, I get a fatal error. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/29 "2007-10-10T19:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] C, C++, Java Javascript Perl, PHP SAS SAS is the odd one, because I write applications with it, and I’m not a statistician 😛 [/QUOTE] A lot of people do because it’s awesome for bringing in huge data files, and whipping on 'em. It even makes sense if you’re doing easy stuff. . .sorts, simple summaries, etc. The full power is only realized when you get into statistics, though. I mostly hate it. I hate the logic of the code. I hate trying to debug it. But, it’s a monster professionally. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/30 "2007-10-10T19:38:06Z")
Used professionally: C Pro-C SQL (is that really a langage?) PL-SQL (That definitely is a language) Various Unix shells (not expert, but I learn what’s needed to do the job) DCL Java (Just one nontrivial app that I wrote) COBOL FORTRAN BASI **S** report language (note final letter) – BASIS was a bibliographic citation DBMS, which I used at my first job out of graduate school, at a publishing company. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/31 "2007-10-10T19:40:52Z")
Given that I’m pursuing a Ph.D. in CS, my list looks sadly short compared to many others’ (especially when I’m being totally honest about what it means to be fluent; hence Perl’s exclusion from the list): Basic C/C++ Java Javascript Lisp ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/32 "2007-10-10T19:49:19Z")
Natural/ADABAS COBOL Basic Java SQL Fortran RPG-II Assembler (BAL, Kodel, Burroughs) DB2 DB4 Cripes, am I old. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/33 "2007-10-10T19:51:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Natural/ADABAS COBOL Basic Java SQL Fortran RPG-II Assembler (BAL, Kodel, Burroughs) DB2 DB4 Cripes, am I old. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] At least one other poster know RPG, I feel a little better. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/34 "2007-10-10T19:56:52Z")
In order of learning: BASIC Fortran Pascal C/C++ sed, awk, make, (t)csh, lex, yacc Haskell \<— I can make it do “Hello World” C# Objective-C PERL PHP Ruby Python ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/35 "2007-10-10T20:14:37Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] Women. Although every time I try to program one, I get a fatal error. [/QUOTE] You need to understand the syntax before getting into the interfaces… Si ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/36 "2007-10-10T20:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] A lot of people do because it’s awesome for bringing in huge data files, and whipping on 'em. It even makes sense if you’re doing easy stuff. . .sorts, simple summaries, etc. The full power is only realized when you get into statistics, though. I mostly hate it. I hate the logic of the code. I hate trying to debug it. But, it’s a monster professionally. [/QUOTE] Indeed it is, and some of the procedures they have for data manipulation are absurdly powerful. The power of PROC TRANSPOSE is immense, and I keep wishing SQL had something like it. 😃 EDIT: One thing I do have to mention is that I absolutely detest the SAS IDE they provide. The thing clearly hasn’t been modernized since the 80’s, and even the syntax highlighting craps out sometimes. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/37 "2007-10-10T20:40:53Z")
Pascal C/C++ REXX (on OS/2) VX-REXX (REXX with a VB-style interface) VB C# Java I’ve used LISP and Motorola 68000 assembly in some college classes but not professionally. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/38 "2007-10-10T20:41:11Z")
In college I learned Pascal and VAX assembler (both completely forgotten). By this time next year, however, I’ll be fluent in JavaScript as well as [del]Klingon[/del] PHP and SQL. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/39 "2007-10-10T20:45:29Z")
Here’s what comes to mind, in approximate order of having become familiar with them: QBASIC (not that I remember anything about the details of its syntax, but it was the first language I learnt and did significant things in) UnrealScript (this was seriously a major turning point in my programming life) C++ C Common Lisp Haskell (which is lovely. I should basically list it twice…) Scheme Java Standard ML This isn’t counting things like, say, Logo, which I suppose I once learnt in school and now remember nothing of, or Autolisp (what’s the point mentioning a million different flavors of Lisp? At any rate, I once had to do things with this, and had some familiarity with the details of how to do so. I no longer do, beyond the fact that it’s a Lisp), or the TI-89 language, or simple shell scripting, or all those PL books I’ve read without difficulty with examples in Miranda or O’Caml or…, or such things. Like **Derleth** said, knowing a language is nothing, knowing a paradigm is more important. I imagine, like most people here, though I don’t currently recall how the Mathematica language works, say, I could sit down with it and a manual and bang out the sort of things I want without any great difficulty, given my familiarity with other similar languages. But the above list contains those languages I’d say I’ve actually spent significant time using. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/40 "2007-10-10T20:52:06Z")
Oh, and I forgot to list x86 assembly, for that close-to-the-metal cred. Stick it in somewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184.md?page=3)