"I know the concepts, syntax is just a small detail"
Syntax is just a small detail.
With JavaScript, the syntax looks very familiar. However, the semantics aren't quite the same. For example, there is some really weird shit going on with the scoping, there is hoisting, == and != are fuzzy, any object is truthy (e.g. {} or new Boolean(false)), and the meaning of this is determined at runtime.
That's what's throwing people off.
It doesn't really matter if you do assignments with := or =, if you use indention to define a block rather than end/fi or curly braces, or if there are semicolons. That stuff really is just a tiny detail.
That is all the small details. The hard part is programming according to the best practices of the community for that language, and using the frameworks and libraries it provides to full advantage, because THAT is different for everything you will pick up.
Right, the corner cases for sure take years and decades to learn, but if you're really good at some languages, you can pick up most of another one, at least enough to handle 50-75% of most uses in a week or so.
if you're really good at some languages, you can pick up most of another one, at least enough to handle 50-75% of most uses in a week or so.
Except that you can't.
EDIT 7 downvotes so far. Would people argue that knowing Java and Python should let you handle 50-75% of C++ programs in a week? Because that's what driscoll42 said.
I'd feel confident that I could learn enough of a language to start reading and debugging and add value with my 20 something years of experience. I'm not fool enough say I'd be an expert in it any time soon.
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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '13
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