Worst language of all time?

[Phlegmak]

What do you think is the worst language of all time? I won't make a poll, since there are too many choices.

I vote C++. Its design is inconsistent, dumb looking, huge, and difficult to learn. Essentially, it has no design. There have been innumerable documents written on what's wrong with C++; I won't mention them here.

A very strong runner up for worst language is Perl. There have been 40+ years of advancements in computer language design principles. Perl throws all those 40+ years away and says, "this looks like an unintelligible way to do something -- looks good to me!"

The reason I mentioned the two above is because they're popular. There are worse languages of course, but they're not used at all. Example: Intercal.

BASIC and COBOL are also noteworthy in crappiness.

 

[Quinzy]

while C++ is a b*tch, its easy to "get into". if you start with C or Java, then you can get into C++. also, C++ is a very versatile language. that said, i still say its a "snobby" language, the one you learn to show off.

now BASIC is great. Darkbasic and VisualBasic mainly. both very simple to learn, and increadibly powerfull all the while.

but then again, to each his own

 

[Chairman Meow]

Fortran 77. Fixed-form source is a pain to work with, and it lacks dynamic memory allocation. Fortran 90, on the other hand, is a very good language (although the Intel compiler's error messages are very uninformative).

I don't mind working with C++, although it can at times be unreadable, while F90 is usually pretty easy to read. Of course, on that scale, F77 is an extremely bad language, especially due to the tendency in F77 to put everything in capital letters (F90 is still afflicted to some extent, but it's not quite as bad as in F77).

 

[History_Buff]

It's design may be inconsistant, dumb looking and huge, but it's not hard to learn, it's infinitely versatile, and it's still in use despite the fact that it's foundations were laid more than a decade ago. Definitely not the worst language of all time.

 

[Padma]

I can agree with Phlegmak's points about C++ (and Perl). The main reasons C++ is still used is because

• Computer geeks are ... well ... geeks. They like knowing arcane, hard-to-understand, "l33t" stuff that "normal" people can't comprehend.
• A lot of developers design for Windows. The Windows C++ API is well-supported, as are numerous IDEs for Windows.
• Object-Oriented Programming. Something C++ is good at. After all, OOP is what prompted the development of C++ in the first place.
• Speed. You can get near-assembler speed out of it, with proper optimizations in place. (Yeah, you can get it with C, too, but C is soooo 1980s....)
• Probably many other reasons that I'm forgetting right now.

I only use C++ when I'm forced to. Which usually means the original programmer used C++, and I have to maintain the code.


My own personal "favorite" worst programming language is Jovial (Jules Own Version of the International Algebraic Language). For many years (back in the 70s-80s) it was *the* standard programming language at HQ SAC. But it was actually little-used, because it was such a terrible language.

 

[Grisu]

how about Brainf*ck?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainf*ck

 

[warpus]

Does LISP count?

I hate it.

 

[CruddyLeper]

FORTH reliance on Reverse Polish Notation for maths makes my headspin.

Although that's pretty easy compared to raw binary CPU code.

 

[Comraddict]

how about Brainf*ck?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainf*ck

utterly beaten by Whitespace p.l.

 

[ybbor]

utterly beaten by Whitespace p.l.

that actually seems kinda cool! you could write secret programs inside other programs. so while I may just appear to be sending
System.out.println("Hello World !")
I could actually be sending secret information!

 

[Heretic_Cata]

What's wrong with you people ?
Assembler is the :suicide:-est.


Oh, and i hate Java kuz i have to learn it till around september 12.
I gotta go find a "Complete ******'s Guite to Java Programming".

 

[Till]

I'm with warpus regarding LISP. It may be OK as a scripting language, but i find it godawful for actual programming.

Assembler for SPARC wasn't too bad. It's pretty much a lost cause trying to understand your code a few months later, though.

Java has been by far the best language i have encountered thus far.
Heretic: I found Java for Students by Douglas Bell to be a good introduction. If i recall, i only assumes that you are capeable of starting your computer and everything afterwards is explained step by step.

 

[Padma]

I first learned Assembler for the Honeywell 68000 series mainframes. I loved it. (And if you properly commented your code, you could understand it years later. )

I have to agree that Java is one of the better languages I've encountered.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Java has been by far the best language i have encountered thus far.
Heretic: I found Java for Students by Douglas Bell to be a good introduction. If i recall, i only assumes that you are capeable of starting your computer and everything afterwards is explained step by step.

Well, sometimes that button is hard to find ya'know.

I can't buy things from the internet ... well i can, and i did, but never amazon/eBay and that sort of things, only things in the country.
(i like that book cover tho )

My brother says we have a book called "Thinking in Java" he printed a while ago. I guess i'm gonna learn with that. The hardest part is going to be starting ... Damn it, not even failing exams motivates me.
Anyway, does anyone know a bit of this book ? Is it any good ? My brother says it's some sort of bigshots book.

 

[Till]

I can't say i loved Assembler, but at least it is an imperative language and there is a non academic benefit from using it.

With LISP and Prolog, on the other hand, i had the suspicion that they were hobbies of the respective professors.
I nearly surrended after my first battle against the combined forces of Lisp and Emacs. *shrudders*


Edit: Heretic: No, i'm afraid i haven't heard of it. For the bare basics, you could try web tutorials as well. But any book should do really, just as long as you have a good development platform, like eclipse.

 

[Padma]

I recently had to become "certified" in Java for work. This basically meant taking a class at the local college. (The whole office trooped over there twice a week for several months! )

We used Eckel's Thinking in Java as the textbook. It seemed pretty good to me. I still use it as a reference at my desk.

 

[ybbor]

I'm tried to teach myself Java using "begininng programing with Java for Dummies". I did it very casually and can write basic programs. It's really basic, and I wouldn't recomend it if you're taking a class (it barely touches on the idea of multiple classes) but if anyone else is reading this and wants a very good introduction I can very highly reccomend it.