Friday, March 2, 2012

Getting Some Quick Experience with a New Programming Language

One of the biggest problems I have when I mess around with a new programming language is deciding what to do with it after I've been through the examples and official tutorials. What do you do when you just want to get more comfortable with the language and you just can't think of anything, or don't have any ideas that this language would fit nicely?

My solution? Use it for odds and ends. If the implementation has one, fire up a REPL and keep it running in the background while you work on other things. Need to do some kind of simple calculation? Need to transform some data? Jump into the REPL and figure out how to do it with your new, shiny toy. It may take a little longer than if you used something you're more fluent in, but the reward is often worth it.