What do you like / dislike about the different programming languages? What is your favourite?

C++, because all the low level languages are really retarded, VB is too slow, and I don't know Java. Actually Matlab's really good with vectors and stuff and more intuitive, but that's not an option on your poll.

All I know is a bit of Visual Basic and even less Java that I learned in high school. I want to be a game designer, but I'm just not a math person.

goodman528:
C++, because all the low level languages are really retarded, VB is too slow, and I don't know Java. Actually Matlab's really good with vectors and stuff and more intuitive, but that's not an option on your poll.

Yeah, I'm a fan of c++, agreed with for VB and also I just don't like the language, not enough room to move.

Last option on the list is for all others.

I know very little about programming..

I think I did a year of VB at highschool

The only modern programming language I have any level of proficiency in is Java, since the computing degree I'm taking only uses Java. I've just started teaching myself C++, as I'm working towards becoming a games programmer. My first impressions of C++ are that it seems less intuitive than Java, and there's a lot of operators to learn, but that allows control of memory and system resources on a more basic level. I suppose it seems a bit like the difference between Windows and Linux. I'll vote for Java since it's what I know, but I'd be interested to hear someone who has significant experience of both give their views of the comparison between the two.

Python.

Because it takes at least nine months for me to look at my code a second time.

Pascal, because its the first language i ever learned and its just as powerful as C or C++ or java for that matter.

C++. Because it's the only language I got used to. I could add Assembly here, but I'm not really good with it.

Java, although I'm quite partial to Haskell too. Good fun, programming

I'm a programmer by trade, mostly on the web side granted. I've never been one for applications programming. However, i have done it and i'd like to say that Java is Satan, and has some really annoying practices. Though its syntax is quite decent, C# used Java as a base if i remember correctly. I actually quite like bits of C#, and today if i was to code a real application it would be in C#.

C++ is full of some many intricate annoyances frankly i'm happy i don't bother code applications. As Yahtzee said, it has a learning curve like running into a brick wall. It's VB is basically the worlds equivalent of a 'My First' training language, and is largely for people who need to be escorted to the toilet in my opinion. Or as a stepping block to a real language, especially older pre .NET variants.

I actually really like the syntax of Ruby actually. I've also dabbled with Python and that was pretty decent as well, though i sense things going a bit long winded.

I'm quite opinionated about the languages I choose to use really. Though scarily you can usually tell quite a lot about the programmers that use a certain language, i find most .NET developers a bit...off. As in, i'm pretty certain most of them think in SQL and are incapable of answering a simple question with a simple answer. You know, the sort you ask 'what is wrong here?' and you get a stack trace back.

I mostly use PHP these days, as its a nice clean language, is quick, and has a decent knowledge base. Decent utilities and for hosting costs, definitely cheaper. As is the running cost of starting to use it, as legally, you'd have to spend quite a large sum of money to get started in .NET tech which is the only real alternative, considering JSP and Tomcat are evil. I usually use it with XHTML 1.0 Strict, AJAX (usually JSON) and CSS to make cool interfaces. Last few weeks i've basically made a Photoshop interface inside a browser.

VB, and C++, since no option to choose both I went with VB, oh well.

I'd have to say visual basic since I'm learning that in school now. And when I say now, I mean that literally. I'm in computer programming class right now. When i saw this thread I had to log in so I could post this now.

Different tools for different tasks. Pretty much every language in widespread use is both very useful and beautiful and very ugly and clunky at the same time, depending on what you're trying to do.

If I really had to pick one it would be Python. Python's probably my favorite for its flexibility -- I like how it lets you mix the imperative, object-oriented, and functional paradigms. I <3 lambda. Being able to fire up an interpreter and actually test a small chunk of code as you write it is absolutely wonderful, too.

Most of my current work is in C++ with Qt. C++ with Qt feels very different from just plain old C++, just like C++ with Boost feels very different from just plain old C++, or C++ with a modern compiler that actually supports most of the language feels very different from old-old C++, for that matter (Qt is mostly a cross-platform GUI toolkit but it also adds a nice structure for dealing with events using "signals" and "slot"). C++ is flexible but in a way that's horribly abused. There's just something perverse yet wonderful about a language that supports metaprogramming (with templates) and yet still lets you dick with naked pointers. Most programmers don't use it, right, I think. C++ is a total mess without some clear idea of just which features of the language you really want to use. If you've got a smart project engineer who can figure out just which style fits a project best and focused team that's capable of following its own standards, you can get somewhere with C++. For more naive development or do-it-yourself learning, though, the language is a pain to work with and produces messy, horrible code. It's no wonder that the languages that have followed in its footsteps (Java, C#) are much more restrictive about just what you can do.

-- Alex

Turing! Its fun and simple to use. I don't have much time to learn the complex ones.

Video game programmer here, C++ and Up only. Occasionally assembly for optimization, or for handhelds.

I know how to code with the actionscript in Flash, but I don't know any of the "real" programming languages.

my bad wrong ppost

C++

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.

Xaryn Mar:
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

@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).

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).

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

-- Alex

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.

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

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.)

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.

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.

harhol:
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.

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.

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.

Sensei2006:
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

harhol:
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.

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

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

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

C# and Java are C++ for people who don't know C++ properly. C++, C, FORTRAN, Lisp - these are real languages.

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

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