What is considered "knowing" a programming language?

Question

To say that one "knows" a programming language, are there any pre-requisites? Do you need to know everything about the language, or would in-depth-ly completing a SoloLearn course on the language count? Like to list it on a resumé?

Answer 1

I would say when you feel confident that if you put it on your resume and your potential employer asks you to use it, you would be able to do whatever they ask.

Answer 2

sololearn is more specifically fundamentals, so i would say once you are confident that you know by accessing more sites that teach you advanced versions of that course (lets say javascript for example, i'd go and sharpen my knowledge by going on wesbos) and it would be better to know a bit more than just the basics. i would try to learn as much as i could so if i put it on my resumé and whoever reads it asks about it, i can show them to my heart's content and totally feel good about it

Answer 3

Yes there are prerequisites. Before going to programming languages let us take a bird's eye view of spoken languages.

When you the op say you know English for example, what you mean is you know most of the words that are spoken at homes and on the streets on a daily basis. Not just words, you would also be knowing how various expressions, and millions of grammatical constructs that make English English.

For programming languages, similar reasoning applies. It is simple though. For example, can you instruct a machine using say, Python, how to travel from London to New York and then from there to Tokyo and finally down to Sydney, while also instructing it how to behave when things don't go smooth? And, your Python instructions must be clear as a day to fellow humans and when they follow it, just as the machine does, must have exactly the same outcome that your machine will have.

This, op, is a good yard stick to say that you know a programming language. Sounds daunting, but it is just an ant hill when seen against languages such as English which can drive any newcomer who is not a baby mad to no ends.

Answer 4

It's more just a confident thing. if somebody tells you they know a language, you can often times ask them for past work and that will tell you much more. I've had some really confident people brag to me only to have near to nothing to really show.

Answer 5

When you can solve sorts of challenges using it, knowing almost or all its commands etc