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[MorleyDev]

Honestly, the domain of all languages has shrunk and changes quite dramatically.

C/C++ has largely been reduced to where it works best: High-performance programming (for example, intense number crunching and game engine programming) and low-level programming.
Java/Scala/C# have took the spot for high-load servers (services such as Twitter, and other high-load web APIs) and business application programming.
Ruby/Python/Scala/F# are good for a good majority of mathematical number crunching exercises.
Node.js, Ruby and PHP are taking the medium-low load servers (Blogs and other services with less intensive demands).

Whilst previously all programmers had was rocks to hit things with, tools are getting more refined and focused, as a result more diverse. This is a good thing.

For example, Twitter used Ruby for everything originally. However, Ruby's performance for the back-end processing wasn't up to snuff. It's why early twitter was notoriously unreliable as a service, it just blew up so quickly the system couldn't process messages fast enough. They rewrote most of their backend in Scala for that performance, whilst leaving their front-end using Ruby in Rails. Picking the best tool for the job, instead of just using one language. [Source]

[Shakerag]

Well sorry for being a girl>:I
I still hate Java because it feels so clunky compared to other more elegant languages. It's not some ideology thing where c++ is a real language and Jaba is for noobs, but more of a "I hate this language's design" thing.

That's because Java is a clunky piece of shit.  At least when I looked at it last. 

You can't get more elegant than assembly, though. 

[Fniff]

I see this thread is mostly programmers. I'll put in my own piece as a person who is quite boneheaded when it comes to programming.

I find there's a rather massive gap between me and people who can actually program. The earlier comparison with novel writing isn't exactly apt. If  writing (Which I like doing) worked like programming does for me, I would be fine with describing scenery and characters but whenever I attempt something that is not outlined in the Big Ol' Book Of Writing Conventions the textfile immediately throws up an arcane error that cannot be sourced to anything I have actually done, only solving itself when I delete all the writing except the bare basics. And even when things do work, they are incredibly hackish and don't entirely make sense.

There seems to be a point between "enthusiastically learning how to code and feeling smart about myself" and "giving up on that language altogether". At that point, something ridiculous happens and I cannot figure out how to solve it. I got the furthest in a training course on Python in Codeacademy, but then I hit a lesson where I had to store a string in a variable, which I am pretty sure they did not show me how to do. The problem is that I do not have a very logical mind (I tend to focus on a particular aspect of an event and ignore the rest) and when handed a box I tend to stay in it, both of which are qualities that are what make a programmer.

I really want to be a programmer, but trying to learn it feels like an exercise in frustration. I'd advise everyone try it, but after trying to learn several languages (At least two of which were explicitly designed to be used by anyone at all) and failing, I worry I'm not cut out for it. Anyone else have this sort of experience?

[Anvilfolk]

Some people have more logically inclined minds than others. My mind works well for programming, but badly for mathematics... that said, minds adapt and improve, so I'm not nearly as bad as I was at math a few years ago.

I would say that learning programming rewards proactiveness and experimentation. You should try your own scripts and programs. If you're unsure how to do a thing they ask you to do, just try what seems like it might work. Try variants, learn from the errors, and keep going. If you don't understand a specific feature of the language, try to develop test cases that isolate the specifics of what you are unsure about. Experiment!

Also, maybe having a little side project would help. A friend of mine was recently trying to learn Java, and he was slogging through it slowly, without much motivation. At some point, I suggested he try making a roguelike. He warmed to the idea and really went at it with a passion. He did the most barebone thing you've ever seen, super hacked together, super awkward to use, but it worked, and gave him the motivation to keep going. Maybe this could help

[alway]

Google-fu is the most important skill for a programmer to learn, and that is precisely what those arcane error messages are training.

The internet was built by programmers, and there will rarely be any error for which you are the first to experience it. As such, figuring out problems is often about figuring out how to think like a search engine and posing a question. Searching must become your first instinct upon encountering a problem about which you can make no headway.

[flabort]

I feel I'm probably too late to chip in my two cents now.
I've had no formal training in programing, nor do I work in it; However, I feel that my experience is a non-zero value that may be good to know.
I started with quick basic (Qb) when I was around 7. I didn't do much complex stuff with it, but I started early. I also toyed with Turtle at the time (You know, the programmable art thing). I then basically did nothing for a few years, except learn about Piet and stacks (didn't make anything in it myself), looked up a C++ tutorial but didn't actually make anything, and eventually downloaded unity but haven't done a single thing in it yet.
However, recently, I started working with CRPL in Creeper World 3. Using my Qb background, and the little bit of C++ I looked up, I very quickly picked this up. I'm doing well, I think, and once you wrap your head around the fact that some commands will seem to be backwards, and some WILL be backwards if you or others use or don't use 'warp notation', it's very elegant and simple. I recomend giving it a try.

[LordBucket]

I started with quick basic (Qb)

Ahh, fond memories of pretty blue screens, no longer having to number every single line like in GW basic, and unavoidable 64k limits that eventually destroyed all my more ambitious projects.

Thank you for the memories.

[MorleyDev]

Ah QuickBASIC. Good times. My first programming language. My second was back in the early days of FreeBASIC. Fond memories of my times browsing the freebasic forums...

My third programming language was C++. A harsh leap, but one I wouldn't not recommend.