Career advancement...

Hey all,

With regard to the subject, is it difficult to move into other programming languages throughout one's career?
I ask this because I'm afraid that after programming exclusively in one language for several years (eg. Java), would potential employers look at that and say you were unsuitable if you applied for a position in, say, C#?

I'm only working in Java development for a year at this stage, so it doesn't really affect me yet, but in two or three years time, should I wish to move away from Java and into other platforms, would the opportunity be there to easily do so?

I've touched on C# and found it quite easy to get into, although, to be fully proficient, I'd have to spend quite an amount of time getting to know the little nuances of the language, something which I can't do at the moment.

Would the experience of OO programming and design methodologies be enough to allow me to shift platform?

Hope the question isn't all over the place, any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Zaph0d

A year isn't that much. Have you learnt everything about Java/J2EE you could possibly know?

An employer looks at your skills in more than the one dimension you have mentioned, programming language skill. While you gain a year's Java experience you are also gaining a year's experience working in a certain industry, a year working according to a certain methodology, a year working with certain data models, experience with back or front end or middleware systems, a year in a certain business process.

If you are a contractor, the client will want the specific technical skills listed. An employer will give more leeway on specific skills when hiring a permanent employee.

If you know your J2EE, you could self teach the .net stuff, do the certifications and then get a job or a contract requiring both skills. Few people have cross platform skills like this. Having experience in one and just self-taught plus certs in the other would be enough to get a job requiring both skills.