Re: OT: Learning programming languages
- Posted by Jules Davy <jdavy at dsl.pipex.com> Apr 12, 2007
- 601 views
jxliv7 wrote: > > > Here's an interesting (and perhaps opinionated) article on learning > programming > languages today -- which ones when, why, and so on: > > <a > href="http://www.shlomifish.org/philosophy/computers/education/introductory-language/">http://www.shlomifish.org/philosophy/computers/education/introductory-language/</a> > > > Way back when I was first getting my digital feet wet TTYs, tape drives, and > mainframes were king and everybody spoke Fortran, COBOL, and maybe Algol. C > wasn't really invented back then, but it had an interesting history about that > time: > > <a > href="http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/chist.html">http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/chist.html</a> > > > And for those that want to see the value of Euphoria, take a look here: > > <a > href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_</a>(programming_language) > > > All this brings me up to a question, where is Euphoria going? > > If the future of computing is multiple cores, 64 or 128 bit processors, easy > GUIs for users, and managing data, shouldn't Euphoria be thinking ahead...? > > > Happy coding... > > > -- > jon here's an extract from 'Linux:Rute user's tutorial and exposition' by Paul Sheer "Many people who don't program very well in C think of C as an arbitrary language out of many. This point should be made at once: C is the fundamental basis of all computing in the world today. UNIX, Microsoft Windows, office suites, web browsers and device drivers are all written in C. Ninety-nine percent of your time spent at a computer is probably spent using an application written in C. About 70% of all ``open source'' software is written in C, and the remaining 30% written in languages whose compilers or interpreters are written in C." and "Further, there is no replacement for C. Since it fulfills its purpose almost flawlessly, there will never be a need to replace it. Other languages may fulfill other purposes, but C fulfills its purpose most adequately. For instance, all future operating systems will probably be written in C for a long time to come." wouldn't it be more useful to ask 'what is Euphoria's purpose?' rather than 'where is it going?' If C 'fulfils its purpose almost flawlessly' then it doesn't make much sense to ask 'where is C going?'.