How can I maintain proficiency in multiple languages?

Question

How can I maintain proficiency (if not expertise) in multiple languages?

In any large organization it seems necessary to know more than one language. For example, this week I've looked at if not written code in the following languages.

• VBA
• C
• C#
• Java

_{Thankfully they're all imperative languages, or I would have lost my mind.}

I struggled for a day or so with the C as it's been a while (read: years) since I've used it seriously.

What tips, habits, and training is there for keeping up your knowledge in so many languages?

Answer 1

Well, use them regulary. For example, I'm not doing much in C now, but whenever I need a little one-off program that reformats text files or whatever, I do it in C just to keep in touch with that language, even if the same program in Java would be more beautiful/shorter/easier to understand.

Answer 2

I like to play strategy games. Seriously. My experience has been that it's less about retaining proficiency or expertise in particular skills and more about maintaining the focus and mentality it takes to learn (or relearn) things quickly. One week I'll be developing in C#, able to experiment with WPF and new techniques in unit testing, whereas the next I may be waist-deep in a hack job on a legacy VB6 code base. Or I might be asked to learn Python while on a flight overseas to help optimize a system I've never even seen before. A month later, I can be deeply entrenched in a ladder logic program, where you still have to think about how you want to arrange your bits in the few thousand words of memory you're given, taking care not to exceed the 10,000 instruction limit.

There's no way that I could find time to keep up on all of the different systems I might need to maintain, so if you're in this kind of highly mutable environment (as it sounds you are), the best advice I can give is to use your personal time to unwind so that you can approach your professional challenges with the full energy and focus required to navigate the maelstrom. It also helps a lot if you enjoy the variety and the challenge. If you'd much rather dig deep into a particular domain, try expressing your concerns to your boss; a good manager will want to get the best results they can from their team and allocating the right kind of work to people is a big part of that.

Answer 3

In our large organisation we have C#+T-SQL or Java+PL/SQL or Java/C++ according to the team.

I'm quite surprised you have to use so many in one place professionally. Some of the c# guys I know tinker with, say, IronPython in their own time for interests sake, but this is hobbyism.

Sorry to say, but "Jack of all trades, master of none" would be my sentiment,

I can imagine in a small shop you're exposed to much more, but a large shop would have dedicated teams.