What's your favourite programming language?

[Zephyr]

Why, and what do you mainly use it for?

I like C++ for its brevity, speed and templates, Python for its readability and libraries, and Scheme for the sheer elegance of lambda calculus. Unfortunately I haven't done much in any of them recently. I used to program random things for fun but I seem to've run out of ideas for now

[funkstar]

ML for anything with abstract datatypes, compilers. Lisp (Scheme is a nice variant) for advanced programming theoretical concepts, partial (self-)evaluators etc.

C for everything else.

[Sauna]

The experience of most of us is too narrow to usefully compare the merits, so generous explanations would be very welcome from those who may. To spare the time to learn another language, some persuasion is required.

[Xerxes]

My first language was scheme, and I did not appreciate it until after being exposed to the slow and ugly Java.

My favorite language though is... Python! It is powerful

[RubiksMaster]

I like C++ because it is relatively small and simple, yet quite powerful. I like that it's object-oriented as well.

My second favorite would have to be Java, for the sole reason that I know it better than anything else. It does have its problems though.

[Absane]

I spent a good month figuring out machine code on a computer using asmebly language.

I figured out a good bit.. but not enough to consider it a language I knew.

I haven't programmed in years.. but if I had to pick.. c++.

[Sauna]

... Python! It is powerful

What does powerful mean?

Some languages provide ready made functions that with others you'd have to construct from other functions, but is there more to it than that, is there something that it does that could not otherwise be done, or is it a matter of run time efficiency?

It does have its problems though.

Come on. Please tell, like what?

I spent a good month figuring out machine code on a computer using asmebly language.

Now you come to mention it, I'd fogotten doing machine code. This was a college course, was it?

I do remember that raw machine code would be the ideal except for the mental inadequacy of programmers for whom all the other languages are devised as translations of it.

[przyk]

At the moment I'm switching from C to C++ as my "default" language (before that it was QBasic and then Java).

I'm supposed to do everything in Fortran 90 in university - handles arrays and matrices nicely, but I find it rather verbose.

I've briefly tried out some others in the last year or so. I remember AWK having a nice feel to it.

[przyk]

I do remember that raw machine code would be the ideal except for the mental inadequacy of programmers for whom all the other languages are devised as translations of it.

Isn't that a bit harsh? What do you think computers were invented for in the first place, if not to automate tasks that are time-consuming and error-prone for humans?

[Sauna]

Isn't that a bit harsh?

The hope was to help those with no idea of what machine code is.

Translations are devised not so much because an original langauge is time consuming or error prone but rather because of the historical misfortune of not being educated to speak the authentic version.

Maybe one day they'll all be brought up from the start to read and speak in binary code, and the need will diminish.

[Sauna]

Isn't that a bit harsh?

The hope was to help those with no idea of what machine code is.

Translations are devised not so much because an original langauge is time consuming or error prone but rather because of the historical misfortune of not being educated to speak the authentic version.

Maybe one day they'll all be brought up from the start to read and speak in binary code, and the need will diminish.

[draqon]

Why, and what do you mainly use it for?

I like C++ for its brevity, speed and templates, Python for its readability and libraries, and Scheme for the sheer elegance of lambda calculus. Unfortunately I haven't done much in any of them recently. I used to program random things for fun but I seem to've run out of ideas for now

plain C language

[przyk]

The hope was to help those with no idea of what machine code is.

Anyone who's ever run a compiler knows (or should know) what machine code is.

Translations are devised not so much because an original langauge is time consuming or error prone but rather because of the historical misfortune of not being educated to speak the authentic version.

No, that's not why C and FORTRAN were invented, nor is it an accurate description of the first programmers to use these languages.

Maybe one day they'll all be brought up from the start to read and speak in binary code, and the need will diminish.

Are you serious?

Out of curiosity, how much programming experience do you have?

[Sauna]

Are you serious?

From now until the end of time is long enough for anything to happen, and I would not be surprised if other species already communicate with signals similar to electronic data transmissions.

Out of curiosity, how much programming experience do you have?

As best I recall it bagan with ZX Spectrum Basic (yes, as far back as that) hence Assembly, Pascal, Javascript, Python, sundry macro languages and PHP, hands on, mainly, plus a passing curiosity with siblings, looking around for better ways to script for web sites, reliant on good advice, not familiar with enough to make a best recommendation for any particular purpose.

[przyk]

From now until the end of time is long enough for anything to happen, and I would not be surprised if other species already communicate with signals similar to electronic data transmissions.

Well if you're imagining futuristic cybernetic implants that allow us to transmit data to one another, then ok. It could happen in the not-too-distant future. You just made it sound like you expected people to start going around saying "one zero zero one one" to each other. I think this is getting a bit off-topic though.

As best I recall it bagan with ZX Spectrum Basic (yes, as far back as that) hence Assembly, Pascal, Javascript, Python, sundry macro languages and PHP, hands on, mainly, plus a passing curiosity with siblings, looking around for better ways to script for web sites, reliant on good advice, not familiar with enough to make a best recommendation for any particular purpose.

Impressive. So what are your personal experiences with the languages you've used? You don't need to know everything to have a personal opinion. I'd rate myself as a novice programmer, but this doesn't prevent me from adding my 2 cents' worth.

[Crunchy Cat]

Why, and what do you mainly use it for?

I like C++ for its brevity, speed and templates, Python for its readability and libraries, and Scheme for the sheer elegance of lambda calculus. Unfortunately I haven't done much in any of them recently. I used to program random things for fun but I seem to've run out of ideas for now

C++/Assembly for desktop applications for low level control and lightning speed.

Visual Basic/Java/DHTML for mock-ups fast UI mockups.

ActionScript for Web UI for robustness of graphics and ease of animation.

[Sauna]

I feel comfortable scripting with PHP but always having to look up functions to check the format.

With this for instance

strstr (haystack,needle )

the subject and pattern are the opposite way around to this

array_search (needle, haystack ,....)

and there is no shortage of similar inconsistencies to quote.

It is a trivial sort of thing, too much of an irritation perhaps because of some sort of dyslexia on my part but it drove me mad for a while.

PHP is also slightly buggy, with all sorts of little quirks to have to watch out for or be caught out by.

Using the array_rand function for instance to sort an array of strings prefixed with a "/" slash, e..g "/101",
for whatever reason it returns the required random assortment but with the slashes all stripped from the values, with the "/101" for instance returned as a mere "101", and nothing in any manual warns of this; I found out and had to work it all out and fix the hard way, tediously, nor did anybody since come up with an explanation of why it would do so.

And that is not the only ready made PHP function which for various reasons may be improved upon with home made replacements.

None the less, going back to Javascipt occasionally to do things that PHP wont do, I don't like it.

[Singularity]

If theres a time limited competition to write an very heavy paged and complicated but small AJAX application. Who will win ?

PHP or ASP.Net 2

[Absane]

Now you come to mention it, I'd fogotten doing machine code. This was a college course, was it?

I do remember that raw machine code would be the ideal except for the mental inadequacy of programmers for whom all the other languages are devised as translations of it.

No.. I was taking a computer programming class in 11th grade for an easy A (I came in already knowing all the material...). Because I was so bored, I always looked for something to do on the computer... so one day I thought I would spend some time deriving machine code by using the debug program in DOS.

I knew some ASM so when I type ASM code in the debug program, I could have it dump the memory in RAM and assuming I knew the address the program was stored, I could see the machine code.

I figured out enough machine code in a day to make a program that stored a value in memory, copied it, and then move it to another spot in memory.

I since forgot

[Zephyr]

There's an excellent ebook called "The Art of Assembly" available online.

Just to clarify, this thread was made for reasons of curiosity rather than to promote fights about which language is 'better' ... I'm of the viewpoint that most languages have their niche(s) where they outshine everything else.