I've asked myself this question for quite some time. Is there a limit to the amount of technologies one can learn at a given time period? Should I just pick a subject and focus on that until I've mastered it? In my personal opinion, and from experience, there's no harm in learning many technologies or even programming languages at the same time.
I often find myself comparing Software Development to school/varsity work. When you were in school, you studied many subjects, but somehow - all these often complimented each other. Software Development is multi-layered/tiered discipline. Somehow, all these layers compliment each other and often exchange communication with each other. There are many ways to solve a problem. Likewise, there are many programming languages which perform the same task.
It all boils down to preference and ease of learning. Remember, you don't have to master the semantics of a language. Rather, craft you problem solving capabilities. According to me, you can learn many programming languages or even frameworks at the same time. This offers you the following advantages:
- A design pattern in one programming language could help you solve a problem you couldn't solve in another language.
- You'll be able to adapt more and work in larger teams where people write code using different standards and techniques.
- You will learn to read code, and abstract logic from that exercise. Reading code is must-have skill in the Software Development world.
- This will help you understand how to integrate software, and reuse existing software to solve even larger problems. Remember the you can use many languages to solve a complex task.
- It helps you adapt to industry standards, which always change according to circumstances.
This approach won't work well for everyone. However, there's no harm in trying it and seeing if this works for you. Remember you can never waste time investing in teaching yourself, and even though you may not grasp everything the first time, you will eventually get it right.
