Whether

PHP, Python, JavaScript, Perl, VB/VB.net, ASP/ASP.net, Delphi, D+ (yes it’s real look it up), C++,C, C#, Ruby, Java, Pascal, Assembly, Lisp (maybe not Lisp), etc

in order to become a proficient programmer and write decent code it does take TEN+ years. Anything less your not considered a professional/seasoned programmer but rather an enthusiast!

When you have ten solid years of programming no mater what the language is, it should only take a few weeks to learn syntax and write decent software without making stupid mistakes.

Syntax in most languages is pretty intuitive. However, groking templates is a lot more difficult than understanding variables or consts, for example, so most time you spend when you first encounter a new language construct, not a new syntax (for example switching from the Pascal or Basic For to the C/C++/Java for introduces you to a slightly different and more complex language construct, not to a new syntax for exactly the same construct, and this is the kind of difference that generates learning effort.

Also, it really takes a lot of effort to learn a complex library (like the std C lib or the std C++ lib, or STL, or just java.lang).

But neither learning generic programming constructs nor learning a lib have anything to do with actually learning a language, IMO.

It also can be at least nerving to switch from desktop programming to server-side scripting, due to the restrictions imposed by a not so interactive user interaction. But this also has nothing to do with actually learning a language. It doesn’t matter whether you script server-side in php or VBScript, once you got it right you can easily switch, and just spend some more time on learning the different libs, mastering the new language itself should be almost no effort.

Also, learning a language or even fully mastering the ins and outs of a language does not make one a programmer. A seasoned programmer should only take days to fully grok a new language, no matter how complex. But to become an expert programmer, you surely need ten years of programming with more advanced concepts, like classes or templates. And to become productive in a new environment, you surely must spend a lot of time learning a new lib. But the language switch should be the easiest part of it.

(Also, IMO, after going through a few libs, learning new libs should become easy, since you usually find similar or almost similar patterns of how libs are organized and what is available in different libs, specific to various languages. Some not so basic libs are even maintained in various languages, so you don’t really ahve to re-learn them.)