What languages?

[KingTermite]

Coders....what languages do you use on a regular (semi-regular) basis?

Me?

C/C++
Perl
Java
C#.net
Does HTML count? (probably not)
VB/VB.Net (now and again)

[sodface]

VB6
PHP

I've always been really interested in programming, but I've never had a job that lets me explore it or the free time to properly teach myself. One of my major mental obstacles is deciding on a language to concentrate on. I'd like to hear your reasons for working with the languages you listed.

For me, getting into visual basic was a natural evolution of using basic on the apple 2e (probably not even close in syntax but they both have basic in their names :p ) and also from using quickbasic, which I still think is pretty cool.

I've done a bit with java but to be completely irrational, I've never been interested in it because of all the silly little names they have for everything. It seemed to be sort of close to php in syntax but also different enough to mess me up when I was working with both. One of the things that irritated me about visual basic when I first started using it, was the runtime files. Trying to explain to people that they had to download and install another piece of software before my little 10k program would run was not ideal - .net and java have the same problem now don't they? My under informed impression of the java apps that I have seen (mostly web based) are that they are slow.

I really like php. I like the client/server model in general, to me, being able to develop something that only requires the end user to have a web browser installed is the way it should be - it puts the burden back on the developer, though I suppose at the cost of wasting the processing power of the client...

[KingTermite]

Well my primary reasons for many of the languages listed is because that was what they taught when I was at school (Ada, C/C++), and the others because we have used them for various things at work and I've been forced to learn them (though I've never complained....a new language is always good to throw into your personal toolbox).

C/C++ has always been the defacto standard because it gave you so much for so little. It's a relatively easy language (to a programmer) and gives you a lot of power. It's a pain and not the best language for doing windows/gui programs though. It's "the bomb" for hardcore "work" in the background kind of stuff. This is why for so many years it was popular to have a VB gui frontend with C DLLs doing the real work in the background.

You are right about Java and .Net forcing you to download seperate components, but that won't be true in the future. .Net will be integrated with Windows next OS (Longhorn) so that no download will be needed and .net framework programs will be native (not through a runtime) and will thus be a lot faster. It would be like running java programs in a Java OS so that you didn't run "inside" of the JVM.

With that said, my language of choice at the moment is C#.Net because C# is probably the first "real" totally OO language and .net gives you a HUGE library of built in stuff underneath you to ease the programming burden. It gives you the simplicity of GUIs as VB gives you, but nearly the power of C underneath between the language and the .net framework. VB.Net is probably really about the same...they are really all "variations" of CLR which is the real language underneat of .net. I just like C# better because I never really liked VB syntax and paradigms, and C# is very much like Java.

I've never done PHP, but I've never really been much into web (client/server) based coding either. Although...that does seem to be the way the future is pushing. I think M$ is pushing ASP.net for that market.


VB6
PHP

I've always been really interested in programming, but I've never had a job that lets me explore it or the free time to properly teach myself. One of my major mental obstacles is deciding on a language to concentrate on. I'd like to hear your reasons for working with the languages you listed.

For me, getting into visual basic was a natural evolution of using basic on the apple 2e (probably not even close in syntax but they both have basic in their names :p ) and also from using quickbasic, which I still think is pretty cool.

I've done a bit with java but to be completely irrational, I've never been interested in it because of all the silly little names they have for everything. It seemed to be sort of close to php in syntax but also different enough to mess me up when I was working with both. One of the things that irritated me about visual basic when I first started using it, was the runtime files. Trying to explain to people that they had to download and install another piece of software before my little 10k program would run was not ideal - .net and java have the same problem now don't they? My under informed impression of the java apps that I have seen (mostly web based) are that they are slow.

I really like php. I like the client/server model in general, to me, being able to develop something that only requires the end user to have a web browser installed is the way it should be - it puts the burden back on the developer, though I suppose at the cost of wasting the processing power of the client...

[pointreyes]

... my language of choice at the moment is C#.Net because C# is probably the first "real" totally OO language ...

What about Smalltalk and Ruby?

http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~wolfgang/cosc205/smalltalk1.html#basic
http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/20020101.html

Ruby is a scripting language, like php but AFAIK Ruby is a real OO scripting language.

[Mikki]

Schooled in C++ but haven't used it in a long time. Obviously I use HTML everday, tho that's not a programming language. I also use PHP tho I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm currently giving myself crash course #2 on that...:p

PHP is amazing, and it's a lot like C/C++ so it's been fairly easy to pick up, tho applying it is another matter... :rolleyes: :coocoo:

[pointreyes]

PHP is amazing, and it's a lot like C/C++ so it's been fairly easy to pick up, tho applying it is another matter... :rolleyes: :coocoo:

I know the feeling. I'm building a PHP/mySQL Invoicing/Inventory application for a customer and it's all new to me. Guess I should be happy that I even have PHP and mySQL working on Small Business Server 2003. :p Not using Linux for this because the customer is not using Linux so did not want to discover platform dependencies a little too late in the project. :)

Complete newbie to PHP/mySQL. :)

[Mikki]

Well, if I know you pointreyes, you'll have it mastered well before I ever do....:p:look:

[Mikki]

sodface, I know what you mean about Java/PHP, I never could get into Java and the PHP's performance factor kicks Java's arse IMO. Both languages do the same thing, but Java makes the browser do all the work while PHP makes the server do all the work, that's why PHP-based pages like these (depending on the server) are so fast. No comparison really....tho I understand the future may not be the same....;)