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I'd suggest sticking with ruby before switching to something else, first because you need to have some basic programming experience before learning a new language, and second because it's much easier to get things done in ruby than in lisp, for a beginner (because there are tons of ready to use libraries - in lisp, not so much).

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Agreed. Don't try to become bilingual when you aren't even fluent in your first language. I don't buy the argument that your first language permanently changes how you view programming. I started in QBASIC and now my programming style is generally to program almost functional programs in object-oriented languages. QBASIC had neither functional programming capabilities nor objects.

I'm with you on becoming fluent in one before going to another, I've lost lots of time because of this. But for how you're viewing programming, it all depends on the person. Like natural languages, some people just can't become bilingual. We all have our limits, I don't think I could be fluent in say 10 languages and it's probably much less than that.

I agree, and am a polyglot myself, but I think there is a tradeoff. The more time you spend learning new languages, the less time you have to master one of the languages you already know. Take a complex language like Common Lisp. You can learn the basics of Common Lisp in maybe a week or two, but to master the language, to really understand all the details, to know the idioms, etc, takes years. Lisp is a language you can spend the rest of your life learning.

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