Thread: What's your favourite language?

Basic!! (Or at least the Ti83+ version of it) Haha, I'll never forget the days I spent in Algebra I teaching myself to program on my Ti83+! I made some great games, pokemon, pearls before swine, mastermind, hangman...

That's what made me love the programming challenge. I took AP Computer Science two years ago and learned Object Oriented Programming in Java, but it was just too syntax heavy to flow as elegantly as the simple basic programming on a calculator. In anticipation of the java fans - it's not that I didn't get it, I got a five on the exam. It's just too unnecessarily picky for me.

Originally Posted by dsr

That's not a problem with Java, just with Sun Microsystem's implementation. Check out the GNU Compiler for Java (GCJ) if you prefer to compile Java source code directly to machine code ahead of time.

That's pretty sweet, I will be using that from now on when I have to use Java. I've seen some real compilers for java before, but they gave me tons of errors and I didn't just them. GNU I trust.



I meant Ada, it's an OOP language used mainly by the government. It's syntax sucks:

with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Hello is
begin
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("Hello, world!");
end Hello;

I've used it once and couldn't really figure it out.

I program in C++ With the Dev-C++ Compiler, i have the 2005 Ex. Edition of Microsaft VB, i also have Darkbasic, and i make webpages for fun.

P.S. I HATE java .

Man, i LOOVE darkbasic, the syntax is so simple:

do
Print " Hello World"
suspend for key


Or if you want a rotating cube:

Make object cube 1,1

do
position object 1,0,0,0
Yrotate object 1,1
loop

making games and apps is a synch.

But i like to play aroung with C++ & make web browsers in V. BASIC.

Oh, and LOLcode is fun too, but... i'm not sure what it is dervied from:

Sample:

HAI

I CAN HAS STDIO?

VISIBLE "Hello World"

KTHNXBYE

O wait, now that i think about it, it looks to be from C++.

Not to be picky, but "Dev-C++" is not a compiler, it's an IDE.

Ever played around with Brainfuck? It's a fun little language.

Originally Posted by Replicon

Ever played around with Brainfuck? It's a fun little language.

I was thinking the exact same thing at the mention of lolcode.

I'm just average when it comes to programming so I am no real expert on any language.

It's difficult to compare mark-up languages to programming languages so I'm seperating it.

My favorite programming language is probably C. It is short and pretty. I also know a bit of Basic, Java, and Objective-C.

My favorite scripting language is perl. It's so elegant. I also know a bit of javascript and a some basic shell scripting.

Mark-up languages: I know HTML, XHTML, and XML. My favorites are XHTML and XML. What I use obviously depends on the kind of document. I love standards. I always try to comply to W3C standards.

Originally Posted by illidan

C [...] pretty.

perl [...] so elegant

Yeah, I misinterpreted "perl [is] so elegant" to be a pun.

What are your thoughts on D?

Originally Posted by arby

My favorite language is english. But its obviously not yours. See, because you never said you were talking about PROGRAMMING languages!

Oh my god, how witty. What an excellent, original joke.

The problem with English is that it's not type-safe .

I'm surprised by the lack of support for C#, I haven't used it much, but I voted for it considering it is the best, most lucid realisation of what a programmer really wants that I have used. I'm most experienced with Java, but I do not recommend it over C# unless it can't be helped.

Also, so much for support for *BASIC? Given that you can do exactly naff all with it? Except the brilliant, late IdXLog ha ha

Also, HTML is out of place here. It doesn't do what the others do and it's not meant to.

Also, Ada, (not spelt ADDA, nor is it an acronym, it is named after Ada Lovelace, worlds first programmer and also a lady), is apparently completely flipping mental, so much so that it took years for a compiler to actually be written for it (long after the documents were realised).

I miss stuff like PHP :/

Originally Posted by Identity X

[C#] is the best, most lucid realisation of what a programmer really wants that I have used.

Would I be right in guessing that you've never tried Python? You can learn it in a day or two with Guido van Rossum's excellent tutorial, and I almost guarantee that you'll never go back to C# or anything .NET for the rest of your life.

Originally Posted by dsr

Would I be right in guessing that you've never tried Python? You can learn it in a day or two with Guido van Rossum's excellent tutorial, and I almost guarantee that you'll never go back to C# or anything .NET for the rest of your life.

I've used Python a lot. I infinitely prefer C# for anything non-trivial. So much for the guarantee, eh?

Python has some nice things, but some utterly horrible things too: the "self" parameter comes to mind, and lack of even optional static types.

Plus GUI building is obviously much easier in .NET

Originally Posted by Identity X

I've used Python a lot. I infinitely prefer C# for anything non-trivial.

I'm shocked.

Originally Posted by Identity X

So much for the guarantee, eh?

"almost guarantee" ...

Originally Posted by Identity X

Python has some nice things, but some utterly horrible things too: the "self" parameter comes to mind

Python treats bound methods just like class-level (as opposed to module-level) functions. What's wrong with object.method() being a synonym of Class.function(object)? The explicit "self" parameter has the nice side effect (or main effect?) of forcing method calls within a class definition to use self.method() instead of method(). C/f with a language like Java where the "this" keyword is often optional. The use of "self" is just one more aspect of Python that promotes consistency in source code---a big plus for "anything non-trivial" (your words) in which there is more than one programmer at work.

Originally Posted by Identity X

and lack of even optional static types.

It's a dynamic language for crying out loud. Enter "python -m this" at a shell prompt and you'll be reminded that the Python philosophy is "There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it." I don't think making Python a fusion of Perl and Java would be a plus for consistency. Besides, you should never need static typing in Python because the vast majority of your functions should be polymorphic, and those that are not will automatically raise a runtime exception if they are passed the wrong data. That's the beauty of dynamic typing. If you mean that there should be a Python ahead-of-time compiler for distribution (in which optional static typing would have some pluses), I agree. But until someone writes it, I'm happy with the status quo.

Originally Posted by Identity X

Plus GUI building is obviously much easier in .NET

Compared with Tkinter, perhaps (I have no experience with it). Compared with wxPython or PyQt, I must disagree.

Originally Posted by dsr

What's wrong with object.method() being a synonym of Class.function(object)?

I don't like it, because it turns encapsulation on its head. Encapsulated methods become special-case static methods instead of just encapsulated methods. It doesn't make sense. What's wrong with "encapsulated except where static"?

Also, since Python is interpreted, everything needs to be written "in-order"... I'm used to sticking anything everywhere. I like writing the main functions of a class before the auxiliary ones, for instance.

Originally Posted by Identity X

I don't like it, because it turns encapsulation on its head. Encapsulated methods become special-case static methods instead of just encapsulated methods. It doesn't make sense. What's wrong with "encapsulated except where static"?

Python's double underscore name mangling is enough in the way of encapsulation for me. Unless I am misunderstanding you, since the programmers still call methods in Python by the usual object.method() syntax, the only oddity with which one could fine fault is the explicit "self" parameter. See my last post for more on this.

Originally Posted by Identity X

Also, since Python is interpreted, everything needs to be written "in-order"... I'm used to sticking anything everywhere. I like writing the main functions of a class before the auxiliary ones, for instance.

Actually, the very opposite is true. Unlike some static-typed languages that require either "in-order" definitions or prototypes (e.g. C), Python allows you to define functions and methods in whatever order makes the most sense to you.

I use PHP for websites, C and Lua for Nintendo DS programming, and Perl for "quick" programs on my computer...

Oh you do NDS programming eh? How do you get it on your DS? Do you have a flash cart and a PassMe device et al? I found all that to be a bit of a bother really.

Well that's how I used to have to do it but now there are slot-1 cards that don't use PassMe's and don't stick out of the DS.

Like EZFlash V + 3-in-1? I just ordered one of those a couple of days ago. I will use it for ROMs I downloaded illegally mostly, hardly homebrew I would not dare to ever do something illegal with it like downloading ROMs, though!

Also, how hard is DS programming? I think it'd be kinda fun to do. I know a bit of C++, though nothing extensive. C and CPP don't differ that much.

Aren't console dev kits extremely expensive? (unless this isn't a full-blown devkit, and was planned as part of the perks of the DS)

Originally Posted by TweaK

C and CPP don't differ that much.

They sure do if you use each properly. While C++ maintains backwards compatibility with many features and language constructs found in C, C++ programmers don't (or certainly shouldn't) do things the C way. For example, C++ programmers use the STL whenever possible. They use vectors and lists instead of C arrays, std::cout and std::cin instead of puts and gets, etc. Besides, C++ programs are usually object-oriented, which makes them very different from C programs. Also, C++ allows generic typing for better code reuse, exception handling for better readability and fewer bugs, and a bunch of other features.