Current Events > questions for programmers of ce

(+) Yeah! (+)

do you have a favorite or preferred language(s)? why?
least favorite?
what separates a good one from a bad one?

what was your first language
why did you start doing it in the first place
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Java sucks ass, that's all I've got to say.
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java because it's what I learned on and focused on in college and so it is by far the most natural for me

also I don't feel qualified to have a least favorite or to comment on the good vs. bad. All I can say is that I have often heard it compared to trying to find the tool for the right job. Different programming languages are more suited for certain kinds of programs, so it's kind of like a mechanic trying to pick the best tool for a certain task.
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I dunno, I like Java personally, but most of CE and a lot of my programmer friends hate it. I used to, but I like having a rigid structure to coding, and it feels easier to debug than say something like Javascript
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Started with Python

Mostly use C++

PHP is the devil
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Yeah fuck PHP. I swear people do PHP just so that nobody else can do their job
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CelestialVoices posted...

do you have a favorite or preferred language(s)? why?

Not really, though I enjoy Prolog because I find logic programming very elegant and satisfying. Though I wouldn't use it for anything other than toy projects. Wyvern, because I'm biased and that's the language I work on.

least favorite?

C++ is complex and header files are a horrendous and outdated way of implementing modules. Python is terribly designed all around, from the scoping rules, default args, lack of real information hiding, and it never gets flak for being terribly designed. Perl looks like dog shit, although Perl 6 is a pretty good language. Golang is horrendous (version controlling, no generics, repetitive and tedious patterns needed because golang doesn't have the features it should).

what separates a good one from a bad one?

Clean syntax. First-class abstractions. Allows you to make more complex static guarantees about your program as you want them (but doesn't require you to use them all the time). Has a good standard library and eco system (I don't have to write my own data structures every time unless they're special purpose).

what was your first language

Pascal, but Java was the first language I got truly proficient in (to the point where I know 80% of it and can tell you things about its specification etc).

why did you start doing it in the first place

To make gamez.
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Sinroth posted...

To make gamez.

are you making gamez now
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CelestialVoices posted...

Sinroth posted...

To make gamez.

are you making gamez now

On the side, mostly I'm an "academic" now
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first language was C in highschool but we only really did super simple stuff with it, like just a very basic intro to what programming is. First language I felt like I actually learned beyond the most surface stuff was python

least favourite language I would have said java but someone reminded me php exists so definitely that. as far as less commonly disliked languages goes I'd say scheme because it looks ugly

favourite language (and I'll probably get a lot of ?_? for this) is javascript. I like the way it runs natively in web browsers, I like the way it does prototypes/inheritance, and I like how if you really want to it lets you modify a ton of stuff you probably shouldn't be touching <_<
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I use more Ada than anything for side projects. It's kind of a pain but that's really kind of its strength. Like, if you have type A that is a type B, and you try to put a type A into a type B variable, it will make you explicitly cast it or instead declare the variable as an access all B'class and put an access A in it.

Basically if there's anything that looks like it might have been a brainfart, it won't even compile until you reassure it that you meant what you said. Which actually saves hours and hours of debugging.

I just wish its error messages were easier to decipher.

My first language was Apple BASIC, on an old IIc. But that was horrible amd I never managed to get it to do amything but print some text. The first language I ever managed anything with was C.
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