How many hours does it take to learn a programming language?

I know this question has been asked before but I am attempting to take this into a different direction.

I would like to figure out how many hours of study it would take to become proficient in a computer language. Foreign languages have scales on how long it takes to learn another language. Most of these charts rate languages 1 - 4 and specify a certain number of hours it takes to become fluent in that particular language. Do you believe this rating system can be placed on programming languages.

SQL (Not a language I know)
C
Scripting Powershell Jscript
Java
VB

These for starters.

Some of the foreign language websites actually list the number of assumed hours required. Wiki provides one from the English language. Wikibooks:Language Learning Difficulty for English Speakers - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

I'm just curious what others think.

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Comments

YFZblu

It definitely depends, so to answer your question I would say no. When learning another speaking language as adults, we all have the benefit of already knowing a language and therefore already have a feel for the basic structure of communication with other people.

I would argue that a Student already very proficient with an Object-oriented (OO) language could learn the syntax for another OO language quite quickly - Perhaps a matter of days or a few weeks. Now if that same person was learning a language that was not OO, the time frame could be longer.

Also, if the Student is new to programming it could takes months before the Student becomes proficient with a single language while he or she learns the structures of programming. I am currently going through this struggle now while I learn Python as a total beginner to programming.

.02

DevilWAH

I you have a grasp of programming it might take a week or to to learn that basics, then a few years to become proficient.

Do you want to learn a language so you can write a hello world program, or write the next market leading application?

NetworkVeteran

N2IT wrote: »

I would like to figure out how many hours of study it would take to become proficient in a computer language.

2 : Enough to write a simple program with a reference book in front of you
6 : Enough to write some simple programs without a reference book in front of you
24 : Enough to learn the basic syntax of a language
120 : Enough to learn the vast majority of the syntax of a language

: SQL (Not a language I know)

I'm not sure I would consider SQL a programming language in the usual sense.

: C
: Scripting Powershell Jscript
: Java
: VB

All of the above match the hours I mentioned fairly closely.

Note, the above assumes you know how to program, a completely different topic.

I also forsee being some misunderstanding me in the VB vs C case, so I will pre-emptive clarify.

The question was how quickly you would learn the language. What many buy from Microsoft and call "Visual Basic" is a combination of a programming language and an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Make no mistake, there is a language in there, which one must learn to be proficient at application development with VB, and it is that to which I am referring.

Additionally, many language have extensions, and learning those may require additional time. For example, most C# developers will want to learn .NET, game programmers may want to learn PhysX and OpenGL, etc.

N2IT

Thanks for your 411 NV.