Programming, sometimes known as software development or software engineering, is a very rewarding career for the right person. Remember that there is a reason that these are called programming languages: it is a little like learning a new language! Having said that, I do believe anyone can understand programming at least a little and I highly recommend technicians consider taking an introductory programming language class or two. If you like sitting in a room, staring at the computer screen for many hours every day just to solve a puzzle, then this is the right career for you! Also, with the rise of the “app” on smartphones and tablets, more people are able to take simple ideas and turn them into profitable ventures. Here are some of my top recommendations for programming languages and why:

When performing intense calculations, an obvious language choice is C or C++. However, PL/SQL is a natural choice for logic that interacts heavily with database data. If all you need to do is add or multiply a few large numbers, there's no reason you can't leverage the appropriate algorithms to perform the arithmetic in PL/SQL and still get good performance.