100 programming languages in 100 days
As usual, this is probably a terrible idea, but I've set a poorly conceived personal goal:
Solve the first 100 problems from Project Euler using a different programming language for each one.
Update: I've created a repository on GitHub to track my progress and a tag index page for related blog posts. And I just finished day 1.
Reasons this is a dumb idea
If you're thinking this is a pointless, trivial exercise, you might be right. Here are some reasons that this is likely not a good use of my time:
- Many Project Euler problems are more about math than programming, so I might just end up implementing known mathematical formulas rather than creating and refining algorithms
- Solving one small, isolated problem is definitely not sufficient for really learning a programming language
- I might end up spending more time setting up development environments than actually programming
I'm sure I could enumerate many more reasons to not do this.
Reasons this is not a dumb idea
Despite this being an obvious waste of time, I'm still "full steam ahead" because:
- There are lots of programming languages I'd like to sample, and this is a great excuse to finally try them
- Each problem is bite-sized, so I might actually be able to start and finish something in one of my frequent small pockets of free time
- It's such an awful idea, that I'll feel zero regret if I abandon the project
Caveats
I left this section for last, hoping that people wouldn't make it this far, because the headline is deliberately misleading. When I mentioned "100 days", I didn't mean 100 consecutive days. And I didn't even necessarily mean that each programming language would take 1 day. The "100 days" is really more about limiting the amount of collateral damage to my personal life that this project might cause.
On that note, wish me luck! And feel free to email me suggestions for programming languages (especially if you know of Project Euler problems to pair with them).