Don't worry too much - just learn what you can (Score 1)

In the end, C++ is a valuable skill for a number of areas - 3D, games, driver development, etc. However, for most web development it's almost useless, and there are a LOT of web development roles around. Equally, a lot of the bespoke business development requirements (which also account for a significant proportion of real-world vacancies) are generally more focussed on database accessing and so on. You look at Slashdot and the like and you could think that you should learn Ruby and C++, but if you're mainly thinking about a career, the thing to really to is to look at the job market in your area and see what skills are actually in demand. Like you I've learned some C++, and have a reasonable understanding of memory allocation and so on, but am not as comfortable with pointers as I'd like. In practice, I've had to stay away from a couple of bits of code at companies I've worked with, but it's not been an issue. VB, ASP and .NET skills have been the main things I've needed, and, looking around, most of the well-paid jobs in my area are more interested in .NET (C#) than C++ now anyway. I more want to be more comfortable with C++ for my own sakes than because it's required for my career. Just as I want to know more about Python and Ruby (especially Ruby at the moment, since I like various aspects about Rails) for personal satisfaction rather than for career reasons. Of course, if you want to get into games development, then learn C++. Learn to use DirectX and so on. Focus on those skills. You may be able to get by with XNA and C#, but it's cutting off your options. If you just want to code for a living, and the salary on offer is more important than the particular focus of the development, then feel free to focus on Java or C#, as there are plenty of well-paid jobs which don't need any pointer referencing and dereferencing, ever. What I can say is that employers seem to prefer someone who is really good at the skills they regard as key, rather than having all of the nice-to-haves. I've been something of a generalist, picking up C++, VB, C#, Python, Ruby, Javascript, Java, PERL, PHP, Delphi, PROLOG, etc. Even working on existing code in an unfamiliar language on occasion (being a generalist does at least help you hit the ground running with an unfamiliar technology). The existing employer valued the skill, but when it came to interview time for the next career step, most of the skills were irrelevant to the employer. A solid focus on a solid, narrower skill set (e.g. .NET/C#) seems more valued. As noted by others, database skills are in demand for many development roles so rather than worrying about whether you've learned enough programming languages, making sure you're good with either SQL Server or Oracle is more useful for maximum job choice. Don't worry too much about missing some areas of knowledge - you can't learn all languages in full depth. And you'll still have a lot to learn (and the bar keeps moving, so there's always more being added to the 'stuff to learn' list). While you're looking at the step from studying to employment, give some thought about what you CAN bring to the table for an employer - at the end of the day, one of the developers I know that would have the hardest time getting a job is probably one of the best coders I know... their interview skills are useless, while one of the worst developers I've met had no problems getting a job... you need to sell what differentiates you to the employer, and once you have that first development job, then you can work out what you really need to improve on for that role. Worrying about what bits you might need to know is not necessarily productive, because different industries have very different development requirements.