In the last decade as a software engineer I've consistently read that one of the best ways to improve is to learn a new language.  Personally, I've found fault with that assertion and have wondered at length why it's so generally agreed upon.  In certain cases, like learning functional programming the reward is clear.  However, these strike me as special cases that don't generalize well. Now, I've not shied from the task.  On the contrary, I've worked to pick up multiple languages.  Regardless of whether or not it makes me better, to a certain extent we're all obligated to keep up to stay relevant.  To date, I've viewed this not so much as a matter of improving but one of economic necessity. Today however, it struck me that there's in fact an order to computer programming language discovery.  One that's largely chronological.  If you proceed from old to new, the exercise of mastering a new language is essentially one of memorizing a ...