Remembering programming languages

[redrabbit29]

In the next 2-3 years I'm looking to get back into IT. In that time I will complete a BSc in Business and Information Systems.

I used to be a web developer (PHP/MySQL). About 10 years ago whilst in college I recall doing programming in Pascal, Delphi and a while before that Visual Basic.

I've not used any of those languages for 10 years at least so can't remember them at all.

Do you guys find that once you know some programming that you can pick up other languages fairly quickly. E.g. all languages have variables, loops, functions, etc...

I only ask as I list these on my CV as I have experience in the languages. Obviously I wouldn't claim to be actively coding in it, and wouldn't ever apply for a job that had a primary need for them.

Just wondering as it's hard to keep on top of PHP, Scripting, Ruby, Python, C, and all the other languages. I guess you can only really keep up-to-date and fresh in some of them?

 

[redrabbit29]

Impressive knowledge here. Wish I knew that much.

For years I've hacked code but don't seem to be able to confidently say "I can use C, Java, etc....

.NET is something I've never looked at and know nothing about
Same for c# but I see loads of jobs asking for it

 

[redrabbit29]

Its something I have a problem with because I don't really specialise so I have a bit of a problem saying confidently I can program in language X because if say in an interview they asked a question specific to language X theres a chance I wouldn't be able to answer it - but I could pick the language up rapidly if I needed to :S

i.e. I generally avoid java like the plague but if push came to shove I could be up and cracking out code like a pro within a week tops (preferably with google to hand).

I still wonder what I'd put on my CV. Obviously if the job was "C Developer" I wouldn't ever go for it. Equally, I've never once used Java ... well I may have in college but can't remember.

So if it was "IT Manager" job, I wouldn't be against maybe saying "I have experience in.... C, Python..." etc... as I don't think it really matters how deep the knowledge is for that kind of job. Plus they wouldn't expect whole knowledge I guess.

I wouldn't mind learning C or C# or Java but I just don't have any need to which makes it really hard. Plus the time it takes to learn I don't think I can sacrifice. When I was younger and lived on my computer I would probably have picked them all up for fun!