graphics.. no thanks :P I'll stick w/ NOT fighting w/ GL and directX, thanks!
skinbag: The market varies from place to place, in the states, anyway. California, which is where i am, is in a slump, but i've been told DC's got a lot of opportunities, as well as Louisiana. so... On the other hand, I know a couple alumni from my college who still come visit who are making some serious dough out here working for the govt. But, in general, things are a bit tight, market's a bit glutted. hopefully the economy will pick up and that'll change about when I graduate
(god whole generations of coders are making that prayer right now!) So, it CAN be lucrative, but i wouldn't say you can ALWAYS find work, and what you find may not be what you want to do.
As for why I code? 'cuz i can. well. and it's fun.
languages: have to disagree w/ Lebell about learning something functional before something Object-Oriented. I started in C, also, but one isn't really any harder than the other, it's just another way of thinking about it.
I learned:
C
C++/Perl/Obj-C (all around hte same time)
Java
and on my plate for this semester are at the least smalltalk and something scripting... python or ruby, maybe.