From time to time I need to get some things done that require some form programing because they can't be done with an off the shelf program. When counting the number of scripting and programing languages I have used for various purposes over the last 12 months I was surprised that it were et least 8. Quite an incredible number and it was definitely only possible because by using Internet search engines it's possible to quickly find code samples and background information on programing language syntax and APIs on the net. Books might have helped with the syntax but it would have taken much longer. Also, books would have been of little use to quickly find solutions to the specific problems I had.
And here's the list of programing languages I have used in the past year and for what kind of projects:
- Python for my Typepad image exporter
- Visual Basic for my WoaS to MoinMoin Wiki converter
- Open Office Basic to improve a 7 bit to ASCII converter
- Some bash programing for cron scripts, piping information to text files for later analysis, etc.
- Zotero scripting to get footnotes into a special format
- Java on Android for my network monitoring app and for giving an introduction to Android programming in my latest book
- Assembly language for the deep dive in malicious code analysis
- C, again for my deep dive in malicious code analysis
Obviously I haven't become an expert in any of those languages because I only used each language for a specific purpose and for a short time. But while their syntax and APIs are quite different, the basic procedural or object oriented approaches are pretty much the same. So I am glad that during my time at university I learnt the basic principles of programming that I can now apply quickly to new programming languages.