What is your favorite Programming Language?

[gianni]

DemonWasp @ Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:47 am wrote:

Java. It prevents me from having to deal with a lot of issues my retard-coworkers would generate in most other languages. Plus, I can write it a lot faster than any other language I know.

Next up to learn: Python.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when it comes time for Python - especially coming from Java.

[jernst]

c++ since I do all my simulation stuff in that....but in my undergrad days I used to like java alot

[Zeroth]

gianni @ Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:54 am wrote:

DemonWasp @ Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:47 am wrote:

Java. It prevents me from having to deal with a lot of issues my retard-coworkers would generate in most other languages. Plus, I can write it a lot faster than any other language I know.

Next up to learn: Python.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when it comes time for Python - especially coming from Java.

I totally agree with Gianni here. I managed to get a smart friend of mine excited about Python, when I showed him all the Prototypish OO stuff you can do in Python.

[syntax_error]

Java, simply due to the vast library it has.

[btiffin]

I polled C on this one. None of my top favourites are actually listed, but I include C as a fave. REBOL, SNOBOL, Icon, Forth, COBOL, awk, D.

Old guy opinion piece follows:
Why C? C is the parent, grandparent of all the other languages listed. If you really want to master Python, it's best if you can read the C sources for instance. If you are going to invent a new language, I'll bet the toolkit used is C code and its plethora of supporting friends. Know C and you'll go far in the world of Computer Science and Software Engineering. Don't know C and you'll be stuck at least one layer above where the "builders" hang out. Sure some languages are built on Java, but where does Java start out from? And yes there are exceptions to my generalized opinion, but they are exceptions, not the general state of the computing world at large.

Cheers

[wtd]

Maybe you could argue for all of the others, but Ruby shares very little heritage with C. It's implemented in C, but it owes its design to language like Smalltalk and Scheme, with syntactic inspiration from Eiffel.

[btiffin]

wtd; Yes, sorry, I agree. Conceptually, these languages can be as different as night and day. The methods and thinking when writing good code in these languages can also vary tremendously.

I was arguing along the lines of initial implementations and binary roots, not so much the cultural differences.

Old guy off topic drifting ramble follows:
I'll still opine; a master craftsman in any of the listed languages will be able to read the C sources and read them as "program" and how they influence the language at hand and not simply cryptic code that needs to be tolerated or ignored. Much as I would expect a master English linguist to know at least a little bit about Latin, Germanic, French, ..., roots of the word we use.

Favourites and roots can be two completely different things and perhaps nere' the twain shall meet for younger generations of programmers.

I don't know all the historic details, but I wonder what Alan Kay used to write Smalltalk? ...I just found a copy of a history paper Alan wrote; intriguing. http://gagne.homedns.org/~tgagne/contrib/EarlyHistoryST.html

I'm pretty sure Lisp was originally crafted in Fortran, even with the famous one page self-describing LISP by McCarthy. But I'll count that in the exception pile for the majority of the compsci.ca crowd. Bertrand used C to craft Eiffel, afaik.

C is found at many roots as it is only a few magical steps above assembler while still allowing a system builder to think assembler; the language one step up from machine.

and what do us old guys know about new fangled software systems anyway. Trix are for kids. My favourite car is still a 1976 green Honda Civic I used to bump around in.

But even the newest of the new fangled software (imho, although it is almost 10 years old now) and my actual favourite, REBOL, is C based.

Apologies for the drift.
Cheers
Edit; always with the typos

[octopi]

My favourite language is pseudo code.

I don't really have a favourite, if I'm making a website I'm going to use PHP, if I'm doing a school project I'm going to use java, and if I'm making a web-service or GUI application I'm going to use C#.

[chili5]

My favorite language is either Java or PHP. I've used Java more, and I'm getting good with using it.

All depends on what I'm doing, if it's contest problems I usually prefer Java but I enjoy PHP also.

How can people like Turing? Imo it's a ugly language.

[syntax_error]

Maybe only one they know of?

Limited choices, leads to limited answers no?

[chili5]

Perhaps! Though even though it looks like a ugly language, some of the example problems that are included are amazing.

I wonder if any teams on DWITE still use turing, I know their was one team that used turing. They still active?

[andrew.]

To be honest, I really like Cocoa and Objective-C although I'm just getting started with it.

[Tony]

chili5 @ Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:27 pm wrote:

I wonder if any teams on DWITE still use turing, I know their was one team that used turing. They still active?

In the last DWITE round, O(512) came in 24th using Turing exclusively, as well as O(n) in 28th, the R&A in 33rd, The Normal Team in 37th, and more. The Turing crowd is certainly performing better than teams that use PHP, with the top team being The Decoded in 48th.

[chili5]

Wow yeah, people with turing seem to be doing well. I didn't expect to to see any PHP though.

[Crazymik3]

Having only really experienced Java and PHP, I'd have to go with Java.