I, like many here, would strongly recommend learning C. I don't know if I'd call it "profitable" to do so at the moment, assuming you mean profitable in the money sense.
C is a good language to learn, and a lot of interesting, well-paying jobs use C, and a lot of interesting open-source projects use C -- but if you just want to make steady cash, you can do so much easier with Java or PHP.
That said, if you go about your programming self-education correctly, you won't have a problem using Java or PHP (well, you won't have a problem in the sense that it won't be difficult for you to design programs in those languages).
It's good to have a handle on how the architecture of your machine works. C gets you much closer to that, and you will learn about a lot of things that are hidden from you in HLLs like Python, but that are still relevant to non-trivial programs.
So yeah. Learn C if you're passionate about comp-sci, or software engineering. If you're learning programming only for a career, it may not be as beneficial for you. Learning C before college is definitely a good thing.
Also, if you learn C, the last chapter of SICP is much easier to do, and you should go through SICP at some point ;)
Don't touch C++ until you need to touch C++. You'll know when that time is, if ever.
Being good at C can be very profitable in a money sense of the word too. Bloomberg is one example that hires a lot of C hackers and pays them obscure amounts of money (very very long hours though)
I wouldn't call their salaries obscene when you consider the cost of living around NYC. But they are great if you are single and don't mind living in a tiny apartment.
True, but it generally takes quite a bit of time to get to the point where you're "money profitable" with C compared to higher-level languages that are in popular use.
There's a still a lot of C questions in interviews, plus usually bonus points for knowing it - it can definitely be literally profitable even if you never use it for anything substantial.
C is a good language to learn, and a lot of interesting, well-paying jobs use C, and a lot of interesting open-source projects use C -- but if you just want to make steady cash, you can do so much easier with Java or PHP.
That said, if you go about your programming self-education correctly, you won't have a problem using Java or PHP (well, you won't have a problem in the sense that it won't be difficult for you to design programs in those languages).
It's good to have a handle on how the architecture of your machine works. C gets you much closer to that, and you will learn about a lot of things that are hidden from you in HLLs like Python, but that are still relevant to non-trivial programs.
So yeah. Learn C if you're passionate about comp-sci, or software engineering. If you're learning programming only for a career, it may not be as beneficial for you. Learning C before college is definitely a good thing.
Also, if you learn C, the last chapter of SICP is much easier to do, and you should go through SICP at some point ;)
Don't touch C++ until you need to touch C++. You'll know when that time is, if ever.