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How many languages is a Software Engineer expected to know?

I know this will vary from company to company but, in general, how many languages should a good Software Engineer be comfortable with?

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Kenneth’s Answer

Hi Jake,

I think the most important thing is that you're able to learn languages relatively quickly. To that end several (3-5) languages will probably suffice. Of course, the more the better, but the most important thing is to show that you can pick up new tools and languages well.

Best of luck,
Kenneth
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matthew’s Answer

You only need the one an employer happens to be looking for as a baseline, but as other people have already mentioned, the more you know, the easier it is to learn the next one. I've programmed professionally in many languages, and each time I start on a project requiring a new one, it becomes easier to get up to speed. I had been working in Python for years, but recently the projects I was working on started using Golang. It was easy to pick up, since most languages use the same concepts in slightly different packages. It's easy enough to look up the implementation of particular concept in the new language if you know what it's called in a few others.


I don't think it makes sense to just read a book to "learn" additional languages. It will happen naturally as you work on different projects that require different languages.

matthew recommends the following next steps:

Get hands on experience. That can be at a job, internship, though an open-source project, or even a personal project. If it's a personal project, build something tangible that you are interested in and can show off to a potential employer!
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Maria’s Answer

This is a moving target. The best answer I can think of is the most current language. Like operating systems and hardware, programming languages quickly become stale and outdated. Find the most popular, the most portable language and really concentrate on that. Try to be really good at the most widely used language rather than focusing being mediocre at many.
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Jeff’s Answer

Hi Jake,

You have already gotten good advice. The only thing I can add is that with every language you learn, the next one is even easier to learn. In my undergrad work, I programmed in 22 different languages (one heck of a lot more than anyone needs to know!) I was hired by IBM as a PL/1 and PL/s programmer. I did not know either language but they knew that since I had a wide array of languages under my belt, I could pick up new languages quickly.

I would concentrate on c++ and/or JAVA and take any opportunity to pick up additional languages when you can.

Best of luck!

Jeff
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