# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/41 "2007-10-10T22:17:57Z")
I can put the following languages to my name with a good degree of fluency: C C++ C#/.NET Java PHP Python JavaScript Lua Scheme Smalltalk Miranda CLP(R) Verilog (Not _really_ a programming language, I guess) MIPS assembly 6502 assembly 65816 assembly That last item comes mainly from my hobby of SNES hacking. To be honest, though, I have never used a 65816 assembler - I typically write pseudo-assembly code, and then assemble it from memory (with occasional assistance from a reference). I’ve found that to be the most convenient way, since I’m usually writing subroutines of modest length and coding them directly into a ROM dump with a hex editor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![starryspice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@starryspice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starryspice)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/42 "2007-10-10T22:46:25Z")
IDL perl bash/csh S-LANG (similar to C++, I think) used to know FORTRAN [QUOTE=Angua] Perl, FORTRAN, IDL, bash and csh. [/QUOTE] Are you in the astronomy field, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/43 "2007-10-10T23:07:15Z")
Languages I’ve used professionally (i.e., I’ve charged people to work in them): IBM System 34 and System/36 Assembler RPG II, RPG III, RPG IV, RPGLE (beginner in LE) OCL on the IBM System 34 and System 36 CL on the IBM AS/400 GWBasic and QBasic on IBM compatible PCs Visual Basic 4, 6, and just a little .net Clarion for Dos 2 and 3 Clarion for Windows 2, 4, and 6 Turbo C ASP and scripting tools from various programs such as Word, ProComm, etc. There are a few others such as: COBOL Fortran Basic on the Tandy TRS-80 Basic on the Commodore Amiga C that I’ve played with anywhere from a tiny bit to fairly extensively but never used them professionally. ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/44 "2007-10-11T00:15:57Z")
My (small) list in order of expertise: R SAS Fortan Visual Basic ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/45 "2007-10-11T01:33:05Z")
If having been proficient “at one time” counts… In chrono order: BASIC Pascal C Ada Visual Basic C++ ksh / bash shellscripts SQL I can and have cobbled Perl scripts together fairly quickly but then forget a whole bunch of it. Similarly I’ve done some Java coding and can certainly read it, but the vast bulk of my actual coding is in C/C++ and SQL, in a large scale, corporate (financial services) context. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/46 "2007-10-11T11:44:39Z")
Pascal Basic C/C++ IBM 370 Assembler 8088 Assembler C# Java ---
**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 11, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/47 "2007-10-11T12:09:38Z")
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I am currently attempting to become proficient with Analog Devices BlackFin processor assembly. Pray for me. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/48 "2007-10-12T03:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] At least one other poster know RPG, I feel a little better. [/QUOTE] Make that three of us. I seem to recall that **tomndebb** also did programming in IBM shops, starting a little before I did in the early 1980s. It’s possible he also has RPG experience. And I’m fairly sure I’ve heard other dopers mention RPG, I just can’t think of any names right now. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/49 "2007-10-12T04:04:54Z")
Jeez, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I feel like a newbie compared to a lot of you. My list: Fortran VAX VMS Assembly x86 Assembly c C++ Java Javascript Basic Visual Basic BASH shell PHP Perl Starting on C# ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/50 "2007-10-12T04:20:17Z")
Basic Fortran Cobol Pascal C/C++ x86 Assembly z80 Assembly 6502/6510 Assembly 8085 Assembly 8051 Assembly 68HC11 Assembly PDP-11 Assembly VAX Assembly MIPS Assembly PIC Assembly ARM assembly 680x0 Assembly Dos batch files DCL Assembly for a processor that I designed out of TTL chips and wrote the assembler for (unfortunately I never built it, just ran a simulator of it) ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/51 "2007-10-12T05:10:17Z")
C Java MIPS assembly Visual Basic SQL I’m such a stud. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/52 "2007-10-12T06:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Cobol Fortran Basic Pascal Of course in my day there was a 24 hour turnround before you got your job back from the mainframe. And I used to be pretty good at deciphering hexadecimal dumps (ah, there’s the registers, now what caused the crash?) [/QUOTE] I remember assembler, too. What you are talking about is exactly what got me hooked on extra-strength Excedrin. I did not like it, but TWICE, I had a freaking dream where I was reading the freaking hex dumps. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/53 "2007-10-12T07:11:33Z")
Oh. Meant to answer the OP’s question and missed the edit window, sorry. ## Cobol SNOBOL DIBOL Fortran IBM 360/370 Assembler Motorolla 6800 assembler RPG III Basic PL/I PCS/ADS C Pro_C Pro_Fortran C++ SQL (many flavors) PL/SQL SQL\*Plus Ada perl (does Unix shell scripting count?) Stuff I don’t think you could count as a programming **language** , exactly, but: SQL_Forms (later, called Oracle Forms) SQL_Reports (later called Oracle Reports) HAL (Hyperion Application Link) Hyperion Pillar Hyperion Essbase (don’t go there) ---
**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 12, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/54 "2007-10-12T17:50:24Z")
I just looked through the responses to see which languages were **not** mentioned. I thought APL wouldn’t be, but it is mentioned twice. Surprisingly, Algol and (less surprisingly) Algol-68 aren’t mentioned. Hardly anyone used Algol in the States, though pretty much any computer scientist of my generation had to be familiar with it, but I’m suprised that no European dopers have used it. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/55 "2007-10-12T19:17:14Z")
Does Fortan count? Java? C? Pascal? Cobol? If so, then the answer would be zero. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/56 "2007-10-13T00:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] I just looked through the responses to see which languages were **not** mentioned. I thought APL wouldn’t be, but it is mentioned twice. Surprisingly, Algol and (less surprisingly) Algol-68 aren’t mentioned. Hardly anyone used Algol in the States, though pretty much any computer scientist of my generation had to be familiar with it, but I’m suprised that no European dopers have used it. [/QUOTE] I’ve worked at a Unisys site that used ALGOL. Mostly a COBOL shop, but a fair few core routines were written in ALGOL and the proprietary Unisys (Burroughs?) DMALGOL, DCALGOL, NEWP analogues. Actually, I think that that was the best mainframe environment I’ve ever worked in - ahhh CANDE, how I miss thee and MCP and DMSII and _things just working!_. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/57 "2007-10-13T21:39:49Z")
In order of learning: Pascal Modula 2 Cobol ☹ PL/I C C++ Smalltalk Oberon Oberon 2 Eiffel 🙂 Java Javascript - several others I played with but never persevered with. Am I really the only one here who knows Eiffel? Wonderful language, crap implementations and tool support. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/58 "2007-10-13T22:44:16Z")
From most to least fluent: Verilog HDL Matlab TestPoint Modula-2 (anyone else know Modula-2??) Pascal Fortran Basic ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/59 "2007-10-13T23:29:39Z")
At one time or another: BASIC APL Prolog Pascal (and Delphi, later) FORTRAN ML Transact-SQL Visual Basic (from VB4 through to [VB.NET](http://VB.NET)) Javascript C# ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184/60 "2007-10-14T03:10:21Z")
C C++ x86 Assembly (including MMX/SSE) PowerPC Assembly PHP Used to be pretty good with Visual Basic, but haven’t touched it in years. And if we’re including hardware description languages… VHDL Verilog [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-programming-languages-are-you-fluent-in/422184.md?page=4)