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This is what I've learned over the years (since 9/BASIC in 1989.)

1. Number of active users of language matter more than the language itself.

1.a Fads come and go.

2. Math matters.

3. Elaborate design/architecture before programming is a waste of time. Emphasis on elaborate, not architecture.

On #3: Agreed. In my experience, every time someone comes up with some grand design before writing any code, it's built on one or more assumptions about the problem. Then work begins, and one or more of the assumptions inevitably turn out to be incorrect and the whole design gets deflated.

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