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: <4950002@hpiacla.HP.COM>
Date: 22 Nov 88 04:40:34 GMT
References: <325@lafcol.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett Packard
Lines: 21

/ hpiacla:comp.lang.misc / kwalker@arizona.edu (Kenneth Walker) /  4:30 pm  Nov 18, 1988 /
>> 
>> 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.
>
> Not ANY new language. A person can be a competent software engineer and
> only know languages like Fortran, Pascal, and C. A person who has programmed
> only in such languages for several years may find it very difficult to
> master languages like PROLOG and Icon, that have fundamentally different
> underlying paradyms. While it is true that such a person can quickly learn
> to use Icon because it allows them to almost ignore the underlying
> goal-directed evaluation, that is not being "good-and-fluent" in the
> language. PROLOG, however, **requires** thinking about problems in a very
> different manner.

With languages which have substantially different underlying paradyms such
as PROLOG, I would expect a competent engineer to take torwards the longer
side of the estimate to learn the language (eg 6 weeks).  Remember the 
professional programmer has 40hrs/week to concentrate on comming up to 
speed on a new lanuguage.