Thread: What second language to study?

Sorry I know this is off topic for this board and if the moderators want to move it that is fine but I couldn't figure out where to put it...

I am taking a C-Programming course right now that my company is paying for. Our company has developers, I am more of an researcher end-user of the different programs/applications and I want to become more familiar with the coding/language behind some of them as they want my input on things like user interface/functionality etc etc. Hence taking a programming course.

My question is, we are moving to iOS operated devices for research data collection and I know I need to learn an object oriented language as well, would you recommend Java or C++? Is one a smoother transition or more useful than the other, not only for a stepping stone to iOS but for other uses? My plan is to take one of those, and then take a "iPad/iPod development" course which as you know focuses on Objective-C to round out the 3. I took C first because programming is totally new to me and I figured it would be a good place to start. If the company weren't paying for this I would probably try to jump to the iPad/iPod course next, but I may as well learn something else first

Thanks

What languages are your developers working in?

If you have to "interface" with them, it's probably a good idea to study what they use...

Why pick just one? In the span of one course, you wont become an expert on any subject, so you could take the "jack of all trades" approach. Take the C exercises you are doing for this course, and try writing them in C++, Java, PHP, Python, etc. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each. Then, if you find one you really get along well with, you can put more effort into that language, and use it as your primary OO tool, and eventually become an expert in it. I like having many tools in my belt, even if I'm not an expert with all of them.

One thing to note is that OOP is not just a different language, it's a whole different type of thinking and problem solving. Learning a variety of languages that use different paradigms is a great way to really expand your problem solving skills.