Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpdslab!hpiacla!scottg
From: scottg@hpiacla.HP.COM (Scott Gulland)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Languages in the the REAL world -- Listing
Message-ID: <4950001@hpiacla.HP.COM>
Date: 17 Nov 88 15:46:13 GMT
References: <325@lafcol.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett Packard
Lines: 39

/ hpiacla:comp.lang.misc / stachour@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (Paul Stachour) /  7:26 pm  Nov 12, 1988 /


>   To the languages comment:
>>>> anyone can learn a language in a week or less.  
> 
>   NO-WAY!  How long did it take you to learn English? Or German?
> Or French?  Yes, you can learn enough to get along as a tourist
> in a week, but not enough to spend a lifetime in a culture.

As everyone knows, English, German, etc. is far more complex by at
LEAST a factor of 100 then a programming language.  So the statement
above taken in the context of programming languages is totally 
meaningless.

>   I can learn enough "CMS-2" (just to cite one quite-used, but
> obsure to most) in a week to enable me to read (and even write!)
> in it.  But it will take me (I have a Ph.D. in computer science,
> and 25 years of programming experience) more than a year to be
> good-and-fluent [See Boehm's book on software engineering estimation
> for some language-learning factors and effect on total project-costs
> You may be very amazed].  We do ourselves and our profession
> a disservice when we say that one can "learn a language"
> in a week.   ...Paul

Each of us have unique gifts which allow us to excel in some areas
while in others ... well we don't do quite so well.  It may be quite
true that you are unable to become fluent in a language in just two
weeks, this could very well be the norm.  I'm sure there are other
areas you excel in.  However, I have had to write large modules (5K+
lines of code) in four different languages over the last three years.
It took me at most 2 weeks to become fluent in each language and
usually only one week.  I do mean fluent here, not just competent in
the language.  There are many other people I know who also have
this ability.  

So although a week may be a little short, a competent software
engineer should be able to become good-and-fluent in ANY new language
in less than 6 weeks with most learned in 1-3 weeks.