Introduction

Every year I learn a new language and which ever I feel conformable with I use that as my primary programming language. Unfortunately for last 2 years I have not been able to learn a new language. For my generalist mind this gives me a feel of where and all such languages can best work and also help to appreciate the current language that I use (currently Python). If the new language is really good and compelling and I see a good community and its application in varied applications, then I move to that language (I moved from Ruby to Python).

Which Languages to learn

Looking at this link. That seem to give a fair bit of indication what to learn next year. While some may say I am a victim of Hype cycle, but I would rather call it hedging and also someone with a inquisitive self who likes to know what other languages have to offer and why they are popular. Hence I have chosen to learn the following languages in this series.

1. Scala
2. Julia
3. Swift
4. Kotlin
5. Rust
6. Elixr /Erlang
7. Haskell

I have not chosen these languages because all these are trending, but rather because some of them have solved specific problem and in the area I work (Data Analytics) I find some of these languages being used. Hence I wanted to know how good these languages are.

Why Seven Weeks

To be honest I just want to learn these languages or just want to get my feet dirty, rather being an expert. Learning and understanding the tooling gives a lot of help when I am having a conversation with my counterparts or learning when some expert speaks about these languages. Also after this I want to explore some of the open source projects that have used these languages and get a feel of how capable these languages are and if I like I may choose few to master.

The Format

I will learn the basics of each language for a week where during weekdays I will have less time and on weekends I will be spending major time learning and possibly creating some tool or program to put into use what I learnt. And then write about it because I forget what I learn and also because I like to share.

Finally

Not much really, this is one of my more aggressive plans , where I over promise. I hope I deliver this time as lot of things depend on it. But even if I fail, I am sure I will learn a lot of things and I will have lot of good things to share.

Originally published in here