[Sethcran]

Just curious about some others opinions here.

I'm currently a Computer Science student looking to go into programming professionally. To be honest, I don't know exactly what I want to do with it. Game design and programming has always been especially fun but I haven't decided. I've recently been taking classes on C++ and feel like I have a fair grasp of the language at this point, but this is really the only language that my college focuses on.

I'd like to learn other languages, and eventually I intend to know quite a few, but I have to start somewhere. What languages should I concentrate on now for the sake of getting a job when I get out of school? What is going to be versatile enough to use in the many different jobs I may get, and what would otherwise benefit me the most in trying to find a job?

Thank you much!

[Scleros]

Concentrate on C++. For second languages, having some familiarity with assembly language wouldn't hurt for gaming; for business processes, COBOL, Visual BASIC, or JAVA.

[Zurvan]

Knowing a specific language after college isn't nearly as important as understanding programming. Good software companies that recruit grads don't care so much what languages you know, as that you have a wide range of experience and theory to back you up. They'll teach you the syntax of whatever language you need to know if they want you.

C++ is a good base in OOP, and you probably have some straight up C in there as well. I'd recommend you look at a completely different programming paradigm. Learn a scripting language (Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP) or a functional language (F# (if you're in the .NET world), Haskell, Erlang, Lisp). Learning a new WAY of programming will do more to improve your skills than picking up Java or C#, for example, which are very similar to C++.