How to learn another programming language when you already know C++

[benbalach]

By know I mean that I feel confident enough to write programs in C++.

Since I'm working on a project in C++ and it's the only programming language I know. My question is do a learn a language in my free time when I'm not working or if I start working on a new project that requires a different language and learn in as I go along?

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

[z05DSL3A]

benbalach wrote:

My question is do a learn a language in my free time when I'm not working or if I start working on a new project that requires a different language and learn in as I go along?

I would say learn in your free time. Learning the language as you go in a project puts the project at risk of failure. You may make a decision based on what you know of C++ that is entirely inappropriate for the given language but you don't find out until late in the game when it is too hard to recover from.

[LB]

If you do choose to start learning another language, don't take C++ with you. I learned Java after C++ and for a while I was very unhappy because I kept trying to use Java as though it were C++. After I learned to treat them separately I was much happier and I learned Java pretty quickly.