Today I had the "pleasure" to debug (actually, help debug) some 7-years-old VB code, part of an ASP website. At first I thought "the last time it touched VB was 11 years ago", but even so, I decided to give it a try. To my own surprise, I discovered I still know some of the language, and the parts I didn't know, I guessed by knowing the syntax and techniques of other (modern) programming languages.
After doing so, I was quite pleased of my "newly" acquired knowledge of VB, so I guess I might mention in a job interview that I still know a language I think I never really knew. This is only because I know other languages, and what's the difference?
Sure, once you're writing in a high level language the important part is knowing the basic programming concepts (loops, recursion, inheritance, regexp etc.).
ReplyDeleteThis allows for just-in-time learning of the syntax of some new language and of abilities it gives you to use these concepts.
Oh, and - wecome to my google reader! :)