[ale] where to start?

[Joe Knapka]

Jim Philips <jimmyc at speedfactory.net> writes:

> My wife, who grew up in Ukraine, is starting to think about work here after 
> getting our toddler going in life. She has a good technical education and 
> some computer programming experience back there, but not much of it 
> applicable here. She would like to work in a technical capacity here, but all 
> languages are new to her. I know it's a tough question, but if you were in 
> that situation, where would you start? I told her she might start out with 
> shell scripting and then move to a higher level language, like C or C++. She 
> has had some exposure to bash and PHP here at home. She doesn't have 
> grandiose ideas about making big money as a techie. She just wants to be 
> gainfully employed. I've thrown in my 2 cents with her, but I thought I would 
> throw it open to the group. By the way, English is not her first (natural) 
> language. So, I'm asking for her.

Much as it pains me to suggest it, I'd say if she just wants
programming work and isn't picky about what kind, she should learn
Java and XML.  There are Java +/- XML jobs all over the place, and if
she can get a Java Developer certification, she should be able to get
one of those jobs no problem. She can probably get one even without
the cert.

She should also learn a real high-level language such as Python or
Scheme, just to retain (or develop?) her enjoyment of the craft of
programming.

-- Joe

-- 
Resist the feed.
--
If you really want to get my attention, send mail to
jknapka .at. kneuro .dot. net.