19/10/2024
Why are Python developers paid so much when it is easy to learn (max 6 months)?
Python took me about 6 hours to learn, give or take.
I wasnât a pro at it that quickly by any means, and that didnât include heavy use of 3rd party packages, but the syntax was fairly simple, and it wasnât the first time Iâve used a dynamically typed language, so there wasnât much confusion.
So why are they paid so much?
Language, for the most part, is just syntax. Of course I, and every other half-awake developer, could point out a ton of exceptions to this, but if you know what youâre trying to do, itâs easy enough to just go look up how to do it in whatever language.
And thatâs kind of the point Iâm driving to - itâs not that Python developers are paid disproportionately, itâs that software developers are paid well.
Fundamentals are language independent.
When we look at data structures, algorithms, parallelization/concurrency, object oriented paradigms, design patterns, operating systems, scheduling, authentication/security, REST best practices, databases, architecture, etc., youâll notice Python is not necessarily anywhere to be found.
Yet, to get a job as a python developer, youâll want to know all of that stuff. That stuff isnât particularly quick or easy to learn, and itâs at the heart of what is looked for in a software engineer.
Think of spoken language.
If you look at a trained linguist who is learning Spanish for their 7th language, you might think that learning Spanish was quick and easy. Itâs a very straight forward and sensible language with many similarities to several other languages, and the linguist could be fluent in no time.
Now take your average American adult with no language training, they donât even know exactly what theyâre looking for. How long does it take them to get to the same level of fluency? Much longer. All the grammar rules, gendered nouns, understand how colloquialisms work, etc. takes time.
Python doesnât pay more.
Whether itâs Python, C #, js flavors, Kotlin, whatever, an experienced developer can pick up a new language pretty quickly, especially in a professional setting, where they have a team member to bug with a best practice question here or there.
For this reason, the language of use doesnât have much impact on a developerâs salary in comparison to company, role, level of responsibility, etc.
Probably the most common question I get from people who havenât worked in the field is âwhat is the highest paying/best language to learn,â and the answer is always the same. It doesnât matter.
Different languages lend themselves better or worse for different tasks, but the underlying skills that are independent of language are what companies pay for.
Wes Winn,
B.S. in Computer Science, University of Washington
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