It is interesting to note that perl, ruby and python all got their start at roughly the same time.
I think I started out with Fortran pre-1970, and got into BASIC and C with the advent of microcomputers. I still have BASIC on the devices and computer just because it's consistent, and calculators vary a lot.
Since I did a lot of sysadmin work, I used mostly shell and perl. I recall using perl3, because it did so much more than Unix command line utils. I got a lot done in a hurry.
As for name dropping, I did meet Larry Wall, father of perl, either "pathologically eclectic rubbish lister" (says Larry) or practical extraction and report language. Perl "instituted" the regular expression as a major programming factor, way more so than Unix utils.
Larry invented it when working at netlabs as a way to extract messages from network monitors. Much later, I used some network monitoring software that uses perl as an extension language. The company had bought netlabs, closing that circle.
I also met Leor Zolman, who wrote a C compiler for 8080 microcomputers.
Not much of a programmer per se, I found out the following:
When perl made the transition from 5 to 6, it changed names and stopped being a dumb-ass executable you put in your path, so I lost interest. Sorry, Larry.
Python makes indentation a real big deal.
If you want to get started, download Jupyter Notebooks. Called Carnets on ipad. Come with loads of great libraries inside.
Ruby is terribly interesting because objects are more equal, but I never had the need. Ruby on Rails framework is popular. Look up "DHH" for why.
I worked for Sun, so I still wear the famous Java Jacket and cap. Java is still a massive workhorse for companies, and an interpreted version, groovy, is really groovy. It's interpreted, like BASIC, but has access to the zillions of tested java libraries.
Just for fun, download Knoppix, if you want to try a bootable linux image that has loads of languages and utilities included. You don't have to install, but I mention it because as part of my cleanup/downsizing, I just fired up an ancient Compaq laptop that I installed Knoppix 8.6 on. It works great.
You can download the latest java from Oracle, which bought Sun after I left, for free. You can download languages with environments from activestate.com. Python, Perl, Ruby and Tcl.
Tcl was invented by John Ousterhout at Berkeley, and it's a blast.
Here's its history, from John Ousterhout himself.
https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/tclHistory.php
Have Fun!
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