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Ask HN: What Statically Typed Language Will Add Most To My Resume?

5 points by jcoffey ↗ HN
I have a background in PHP/Ruby/Javascript but also have some experience with Java, Haskell, C and a few others.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to specialize in at least one statically typed language in order to increase my value to potential employers.

It seems like there's a move towards functional programming in the "enterprise" world with the likes of Scala, F# and C# coming to the fore.

My question is what statically typed language will add most to my resume over the next 5 - 10 years. I'm not talking about a basic understanding/knowledge - I can pick that up pretty quickly. I'm talking about investing a substantial amount of time in really gaining some expertise in one of them. Which one should it be?

6 comments

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samikc
As soon as you talk about jobs and statically typed language, my preference goes to Java. Though there is a great market in .NET and C# but you are limited to MS platform (unless mono picks up in a big way.).
jcoffey
I know there's a lot of Java jobs out there, but there's also a whole lot of Java programmers. Would it not be a smarter move to learn something like Scala over Java? I'm trying to gauge where the demand will be in a few years rather than pander to the current job market. I'm also trying to increase my value rather than my general applicability if that makes any sense?
samikc
It's near impossible job to predict any trend in technology with a time frame of 5 years or so. You may find a programming language that might pickup two years from now and that might rule the world in five years. So I take it easy with current situation in hand.

A good way to find trend in books about a programming language and github/google code like sites. So going for Scala now may to give you any advantage in the next 5 years or so.

achompas
I can imagine a world where companies have Java legacy code but build new software in Scala to (1) ensure interoperability b/w legacy and new code on the JVM, and (2) give developers a language with more options (functional-style code, REPL)

A lot of companies in SF & NY (Yammer, Twitter, 4sq, for example) use Scala. These cities are pretty cutting-edge in language choice, and I'd imagine these practices will expand geographically as devs migrate to new places.

I'm interning at Knewton, and we have this posted up on our jobs page:

http://jobs.knewton.com/apply/xYwHXb/Software-Engineer-Scala...

and Twitter has this listing:

https://twitter.com/jobs/positions?jvi=ospeWfwL,Job

Good luck!

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