A person with the ability to program, probably will have that raw ability in various languages. There is a knowledge core that is very transferable. An experienced programmer can come up to speed very quickly as concepts get mapped into things they already know. A polyglot will have been through this several times, and won't be afraid of the process.
But there is a great deal of knowledge that we use every day that is environment dependent. A programmer with 20 years of experience in various languages will not be noticeably better by day 5 in a new language than someone who has been programming for 2 months only, but in that language. A simple change can leave a programmer feeling incompetent.
Programmers who respond to this badly are not going to handle such transitions well. Furthermore if they get stuck in defensive behavior, then the initial discomfort will turn into permanent failure.
A person with the ability to program, probably will have that raw ability in various languages. There is a knowledge core that is very transferable. An experienced programmer can come up to speed very quickly as concepts get mapped into things they already know. A polyglot will have been through this several times, and won't be afraid of the process.
But there is a great deal of knowledge that we use every day that is environment dependent. A programmer with 20 years of experience in various languages will not be noticeably better by day 5 in a new language than someone who has been programming for 2 months only, but in that language. A simple change can leave a programmer feeling incompetent.
Programmers who respond to this badly are not going to handle such transitions well. Furthermore if they get stuck in defensive behavior, then the initial discomfort will turn into permanent failure.