How many programming languages do you use at one time?

Question

During a normal work-day, tackling a variety of tasks, there's the potential for several programming languages to be used.

There's application work, with C#, VB.NET, C++, Java, Fortran, then there's database work with involves SQL, and then there's maintenance work involving languages like Python, Perl, PHP, or even bash scripts and similar.

Which programming languages do you use, for which task, and why?

Since this is a poll-type question, please state your main line of work, be it developing web applications or desktop applications, systems maintenance, systems administration, etc.

Answer 1

Our shop focuses almost exclusively on VB.NET, but you could also say that I have to work with VB and JavaScript since I do a lot of ASP.NET development.

SQL if you want to count that as a programming language as well.

Answer 2

It really depends what you are doing.

For a web developer, it would be very common to work with a client-side and a server-side language every day, such as javascript and Java.

Edit: you would use HTML and possibly XML, but these are markup languages. I'm honestly not sure what CSS would be considered, but yes, you use that also.

Answer 3

The fewer programming languages I'm dealing with at any given moment in time, the fewer times I find myself making really dumb syntax mistakes.

Answer 4

On a given day I try to limit it to 2 or 3, but in a given week it may be 5 or 6.

Answer 5

For web development:

PHP-JS-SQL-{HTML}-{CSS}

Lets count this as... 3.5 languages?

Answer 6

Neverminding the other languages I deal with, the first number I thought of was 5, with the list having only one entry: "Javascript"... damn browsers. :)

I suppose "optimal" is measured by the fewest which allow you to create a solution which is reasonably maintainable down the line.

Answer 7

I am a web application developer, in the last week I've done the following:

• Created Stored Procedures using T-SQL for SQL Server
• Debugged Perl Script that created databases
• Written C# Web-service code
• Written JavaScript (Both with and without JQuery)
• Debugged CSS and HTML issues in IE6 and IE7

On my personal time, I've also used the ASP.NET MVC platform and C# to write a customized Content Management System.

Answer 8

On a good day, one. On a bad day it's 6-7. I find myself looking up simple syntax a lot more when I'm using many at one time.

Answer 9

Probably 1/2 a day mainly switching between Ruby / plpgsql (if that counts?) and BASH.

Though sometimes I may have to debug some JavaScript.

Answer 10

To make maintenance easier you want to keep the number of different programing languages to a minimum. For me the answer is that I use 2-3 in an average project. Currently I use three languages at work: 1. C++ for needed low level programing. 2. C# for application level programing. 3. VB.NET for some VB related functionality and code examples shipped with the application.

I've used C# and C++ in many projects and found that it covers most of the project's needs.

Answer 11

I work as a web developer so on any given day I will be writing/debugging HTML, CSS, Javascript and .Net apps. In my free time I enjoy c++ and c#. I have also been contracted to port a vb app to c# so its going to get interesting...

If I were learning a new language, I would definitely recommend C++ and C#, interesting, powerful and if you are good in c++ you can probably work in anything...

Answer 12

I work for a creative studio and do some freelance work. I am often switching between the following:

• Actionscript 2 (mainly on old legacy projects)
• Actionscript 3 (most of my day job projects)
• javascript (personal projects/user scripts)
• C# (getting a few projects now for WPF)
• Processing (quick sketches of ideas/personal projects)

Also some markup and other "languages":

• HTML/CSS
• XAML
• XML (didn't want to put this, but I use it a lot)
• regex (does this count?)

Answer 13

Mostly C#, followed by XSLT/XPath, T-SQL, Javascript, VB.NET when it's forced on me, Power Shell, VBA, and HTML and CSS if you're counting those. So that's about 6-9.

Answer 14

I use 3 languages every days and 6 or so every weeks.

BUT I really know only 2, maybe 3 of them. When I code using the others, I'm googling every 5 minutes !

(Hey, but it works ! :)

• Every day or so : VB.NET, C#, SQL/T-SQL.
• Every week : HTML, XML, C, JavaScript.
• Every other weeks : Make files, batch files.
• Really known languages : C, C#, VB.NET.

Cool question ^^

Answer 15

VB.NET and Javascript at work, with a healthy dose of CSS.

VB.NET, VB6, C++, Javascript, PHP, C#, 65816 ASM, and a bunch of smaller languages at home, for whatever little project I'm working on at the time.

Answer 16

I've been fortunate to be working with just one language for the past year: C++/CLI. And each day I'm surprised by how little of it I actually know.