OpenEuphoria

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?'.