Poll: Programming Languages

[Alex_P]

Fortran 90 and IDL. Mostly because I use them at the university but also because they are quite powerful and easy to use. Have had a little experience with Pascal and good old basic.

I hate IDL.

It's supposed to be a language for nice quick computation and visualization. And yet the default integer size is that of a C++ short (only goes up to 32767 if signed)! And the language doesn't auto-promote anything! Forgetting to add "L" to the loop counter will ruin your whole simulation. Making a physicist have to worry about this kind of implementation minutiae is just a joke.

-- Alex

 

[Xaryn Mar]

@alex_p
True but that is why it is used in combination with eg. Fortran so that IDL does the graphics part and Fortran the brute calculations (which it is better at anyway).

 

[Alex_P]

@alex_p
True but that is why it is used in combination with eg. Fortran so that IDL does the graphics part and Fortran the brute calculations (which it is better at anyway).

That is, indeed, much better! Well, as long as you're using version of FORTRAN that aren't from the 70s, at least. >.>

-- Alex

 

[Total_Meltdown]

For me it's really dependent on the task, but generally my choices are between C++, PHP, Python and Lua. C++ for fast applications, such as the game engine I'm co-authoring (because it's blazin' fast), PHP for web applications (because that's what it was designed to do), Python (and pygtk) for the vast majority of non-performance-critical applications (because it's simple, cross-platform and full of libraries), and Lua for any embedded scripting (because it's fast for a scripting language, extremely easy to pick up, and very lightweight). It's difficult to pick just one that's my absolute favorite, because they're all designed for such different things.

 

[SilentHunter7]

C++ as long as I don't have to manipulate strings. Else I like Java.

 

[hamster mk 4]

For work I have to code in C#, PHP, or Action Script. But when I go home I write something in C++ and feal clean again.

I know that C# is easier to code in and has some advantages but when it comes down to it programming in C# compared to programming in C++ is like riding an old mare compared to a riding wild stalion. Sure they will get you to the same place. The tame mare will correct your minor mistakes. However if you know what your doing the stalion will get you there faster and in more style.

 

[Sensei2006]

C++ is my personal favorite. Possibly because the language doesn't hold your hand at all. No memory leak cleaners or variable initialization and stuff like that.

This means that what you make in C++ is usually more efficient and easier to read than what you come up with elsewhere.

I'm taking a VB class right now, and I want to hurl. It feels like a toy language, doing everything for you until you try to do something strange. For me it was trying to drag one button into another button. After four hours of searching both Google and the book for a solution, I decided that Ill just lose whatever points that was worth and copy the text values.

 

[hamster mk 4]

If someone could answer these questions for me I'd be very grateful:

How difficult is it to learn a (good/useful) programming language? Does it require skill or just lots of hard work?

I'm speaking as a total beginner - I've never even had a go at the most basic line of code. Nope, not even "hello world".

(I have an A-level in maths, if that counts for anything.)

It depends on what you want to do and how deep you want to go. If you want to impliment a game concept you have in your head. Flash Action script will get you there faster. However if you want to make a living of coding learn C++ first. After that learning any language will be a piece of cake. It seems counter intuative to learn a language you may never use but trust me on this. C++ teaches good coding practices beause it will beat you down every time you step out of line. Then when you go play with the nicer languages you will do so with a strong foundation.

I once had to wade through code made by a visual basic programmer and it was a nightmare of bad design and inconsisten choices. Like resuing the same object for multiple dissimilar tasks, and indexing arrays starting at 1, ignoring the 0th element.

 

[Alex_P]

C++ is my personal favorite. Possibly because the language doesn't hold your hand at all. No memory leak cleaners or variable initialization and stuff like that.

That's not holding your hand, that's getting the bitchwork out of the way. Some languages just do it poorly. Even when you're working in C++, though, you shouldn't always be managing your own memory; 90% of the time it's faster, cleaner, and more future-proof to just use a smart pointer and move on. The language gives you some nice tools for getting into the nitty-gritty machine-level details of what's going on, but if you want to spend all your time at that level, you really should be using straight C instead -- it's far less obfuscated.

This means that what you make in C++ is usually more efficient and easier to read than what you come up with elsewhere.

I find C++ code to be pretty butt-ugly compared to any language that natively supports list comprehensions and named function parameters. C++ also massively trashes up compiler and debugger output with its templates and namespaces (which are both lovely features that I'm glad to have).

-- Alex

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

If someone could answer these questions for me I'd be very grateful:

How difficult is it to learn a (good/useful) programming language? Does it require skill or just lots of hard work?

I'm speaking as a total beginner - I've never even had a go at the most basic line of code. Nope, not even "hello world".

(I have an A-level in maths, if that counts for anything.)

Try learning Z, it'll help at higher levels. Determining True = Not False from basics.

 

[Radelaide]

From a friend of mine, if I can remember, either C# or C++ are the work of the devil..

 

[karl_eller]

C# is epic win, and deserves to be on that list. Almost all the programming power of C++ with the garbage collection of Java, and built from the ground up to work with the .NET framework, which is a god-send when programming for Windows platforms.

But like one of the other posters said, different tools for different tasks. While for one task C# might be better, but for something else, Java might be better (eg and app that needs to be run on a whole bunch of different systems).

Eller

 

[Radelaide]

C# is epic win, and deserves to be on that list. Almost all the programming power of C++ with the garbage collection of Java, and built from the ground up to work with the .NET framework, which is a god-send when programming for Windows platforms.

But like one of the other posters said, different tools for different tasks. While for one task C# might be better, but for something else, Java might be better (eg and app that needs to be run on a whole bunch of different systems).

Eller

I thought you hated C# and C++. Or was that Java? Fuck you confuse me sometimes, Eller

 

[Uncompetative]

APL. Here is the entire code for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life