What programming language do you use?

[Guildenstern]

Recently I have used:

C, C++, Java, Perl, HTML, VHDL, assembly

I have written things in (for classes and amusement):

VB, KornShell, FORTRAN 95, JavaScript, Python, SCHEME, QBASIC, HP-calculator, TI-calculator, NQC

HTML is of course not really a programming language. VHDL stands for "VHSIC Hardware Description Language" (VHSIC stands for "Very High Speed Integrated Circuit"); it is also not technically a programming language, but is used to, er, describe hardware ICs. The computer models for your processor were probably written in either VHDL or Verilog.

NQC stands for "Not Quite C", and is a language designed to be used with the Lego Mindstorms kit. It resembles C in structure and syntax, but has special macros and libraries for Mindstorms robot functions, and can be compiled into S-records which can be run on the Mindstorms microcontroller.

KornShell is pure evil.

SCHEME is a dialect of LISP, and is a very interesting language, structured completely differently from, say, C-like languages.

 

[Achinz]

@Guildenstern
BTW would you consider Python a programming language rather than a scripting one, which was discussed previously.

 

[Guildenstern]

I consider Perl, Python, and KornShell to be scripting languages, though KornShell is certainly more primitive than the others.

I have used Perl and Python to make GUIs before, though. The Python one was just a simple exercise, but the Perl GUIs were rather sophisticated. Drawing the line is a bit tough, but I think Perl still falls on the "scripting language" side (the GUIs were, after all, just a front to make it easier to supply switches and arguments to massive command-line calls).

Python does appear less like a scripting language than others, but I'd still put it in that category.

 

[Padma]

I've been a little out of the loop here for a few days, so let me respond to an earlier post...

Originally posted by bobgote
Uni and the Defence Dept are tightarses

You're telling me! I have spent 20 years programming for DoD, both as a "blue-suiter" (USAF) and as a contract programmer.

What do you think of Ada? I've just started learning it now for my Real-Time Programming class. I haven't really sat down to work it out properly yet so haven't got the hang of it just yet.

I have written some very major apps with Ada. For several years, it was *THE* language for DoD programming. You had to get a waiver to use anything else. It is essentially a superset of Pascal. It is a very sound language, but it is *tighter* than many programmers like: very strongly typed. For instance, a char is a char. It might be *identical* to a 8-bit int, but you cannot manipulate it as an int. It *must* be treated as a char. (Which makes to_upper() and to_lower() really fun routines to write!)


For the record, currently, most of my programming is in Java. I need the cross-platform capability it provides. That, and a *lot* of ant scripting. (Including writing (in Java) my own tasks for use with ant... )

Over the years, I have programmed in FORTRAN, COBOL, Ada, VB, C, B ( ), Assembler, C++, PowerBuilder, Java, and probably a few others that slip my mind. (And yes, COBOL will outlive us all!)

 

[wlievens]

C++ owns all.