What is the programming language of the future?

Brian23

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I've been hoping C++ would always be the best language, but it looks like M$ wants to make C# the programming language of the future. Will linux code continue to be C++, or is there something coming soon to replace it?
 

screw3d

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Nov 6, 2001
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C++ is here to stay. I seriously don't think it's going to get "outdated" or get replaced in the foreseable future
 

dighn

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Java possibly? it's mostly platform-independent and nice to work with. with just-in-time compilation the speed isn't too bad and memory requirement should be less of an issue as more ram becomes commonplace.

as for c# i believe there was some effort to create a .net platform on linux. i think this is it: http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:About
 

Nothinman

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Most Linux software is done in C. The only major project to use C++ is KDE and while that does include a lot of apps most Gnome and CLI tools are C and will most likely remain that way for a while. Technically, if someone wanted to they could create a C or perl or even Java compiler for Mono just like MS has Managed C++ in their .Net implementation. With .Net (and even Java) the language is largely irrelevant, it's the bytecode produced by the compiler that's important.
 

Brian23

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Originally posted by: Nothinman
Most Linux software is done in C. The only major project to use C++ is KDE and while that does include a lot of apps most Gnome and CLI tools are C and will most likely remain that way for a while. Technically, if someone wanted to they could create a C or perl or even Java compiler for Mono just like MS has Managed C++ in their .Net implementation. With .Net (and even Java) the language is largely irrelevant, it's the bytecode produced by the compiler that's important.


The language is not irrelivent to the programmer. I've spent a lot of time learning C++, and now that I'm getting good at it, everyone wants to change to C# and Java.
 

Barnaby W. Füi

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Originally posted by: Brian23
I've spent a lot of time learning C++, and now that I'm getting good at it, everyone wants to change to C# and Java.

Java's been getting hyped since what, the late 90s? It's taken you 5+ years to just start getting good with C++?
 

boran

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Jun 17, 2001
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it took me 2 weeks to switch from Java to VB.net and 3 weeks to learn 90% of cobol, so imho a good programmer should be able to switch programming languages in a snap.
 

Barnaby W. Füi

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I built a website with Ruby in a few weeks having never used it before, but I wouldn't say that I now "know" ruby. I know a subset of it, but to really be good with a language you need many months, and that's assuming a pretty weak definition of "good." Greatness takes years. A programming language isn't simply syntax and data structures, it is a way of thinking.
 

boran

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Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
I built a website with Ruby in a few weeks having never used it before, but I wouldn't say that I now "know" ruby. I know a subset of it, but to really be good with a language you need many months, and that's assuming a pretty weak definition of "good." Greatness takes years. A programming language isn't simply syntax and data structures, it is a way of thinking.

agreed, but knowing enough to do some usefull stuff doesnt take long, really mastering a language is a matter of years, but imho it's better to master procedures (ways of doing things) than master a language, because the first is language independent.
 

BFG10K

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I don't see C++ going away anytime soon and I don't see Java taking over the world anytime soon.
 

EagleKeeper

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Machine Language

Can not get any faster than that.

Without it, nothing will work.
 

Nothinman

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The language is not irrelivent to the programmer. I've spent a lot of time learning C++, and now that I'm getting good at it, everyone wants to change to C# and Java.

what I meant was that even though .Net is becoming popular, the language is irrelevant because a bytecode compiler can be written for any language.

Machine Language

Can not get any faster than that.

Without it, nothing will work.

But for which machine? x86, AMD64, Sparc, Alpha, MIPs?
 

EagleKeeper

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Originally posted by: Nothinman


Machine Language

Can not get any faster than that.

Without it, nothing will work.

But for which machine? x86, AMD64, Sparc, Alpha, MIPs?

Which every platform is needed for the project.
The least popular creates the best job security even though it is not glamorus (sp).

 

Nothinman

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Which every platform is needed for the project.
The least popular creates the best job security even though it is not glamorus (sp).

And it also double, quadruples, etc your work because you have to rewrite from scratch every time you want to port to a new system. Sane people use languages like C so they just need to recompile.
 

boran

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Originally posted by: Nothinman
Which every platform is needed for the project.
The least popular creates the best job security even though it is not glamorus (sp).

And it also double, quadruples, etc your work because you have to rewrite from scratch every time you want to port to a new system. Sane people use languages like C so they just need to recompile.

or java so they dont even have to recompile :p


I dont see assembly being all that ehm .. useful.
The main cost nowadays is support, not developement, that's why the whole OO concept is getting promoted now, makes for easy editable code hence less time spent on the support.
 

EagleKeeper

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no-one appreciates sarcasm :(

Unix was originally supposed to be the magic bullet.

Then everyone determined that they could get better performance is they tweaked it for the platform.

Now there is a problem with compatability.

The same will apply to most languages.

Generic is slow and sluggish.

C# may be considered better than C++; howver it is platform specific.

The answer to the original question will depend on the platform being used, OS being used on the platform and the flexability within the project as to what the language that is used.

No one language will solve every problem; and most will not be able to generate a reasonable solution.

It will all be about using the right tool for the job.
 

kamper

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Mar 18, 2003
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Nothinman got it right in his first post. Software virtual machines are the future for applications programming. They offer better programming flexibility, better security and, as runtime optimization technology progresses they will outperform compiled languages for many applications. Again, like Nothinman said, the language doesn't matter although java and anything .NET are the popular ones right now. If someone comes up with a better implementation of the virtual machine idea it could possibly become the dominant platform (as java and .NET are certainly not without their detractors).

Of course C/C++ will stick around for some time to come as they form the underpinning of everything. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they outlast java in terms of active development (as opposed to maintenance).
 

Nothinman

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or java so they dont even have to recompile

But then you have to put up with java and you're restricted to platforms that Sun supports.

C# may be considered better than C++; howver it is platform specific.

The only platform it's tied to is .Net, just as Java. Any platform with a .Net implementation (i.e. Mono for Linux) will run most .Net apps. There will probably end up being APIs that MS won't make standard so that .Net on non-Windows machines will be a PITA but the only way around that is to make developers aware enough to avoid those APIs.
 

Pr0d1gy

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Reading this thread just makes me realize how happy I am to have dropped my CS major after my junior year.
 

TerryMathews

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Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: Nothinman
or java so they dont even have to recompile

But then you have to put up with java and you're restricted to platforms that Sun supports.

BS. The specification is out there, anyone who wants to can write their own JVM. As a matter of fact, GNU is working on one as we speak.

Sun's JVM isn't open source, but OTOH it doesn't claim to be. We don't blame Microsoft for not giving us the source to Windows, why do we blame Sun for holding the source to Java?
 

Nothinman

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BS. The specification is out there, anyone who wants to can write their own JVM. As a matter of fact, GNU is working on one as we speak.

Not BS, as of right now I don't know of a jre that will run on sparc64 Linux. Sure in a few years the JRE that the Apache group is working on might be usable, but there's no guarantee the project will do anything.
 

kamper

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Mar 18, 2003
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Originally posted by: TerryMathews
Originally posted by: Nothinman
or java so they dont even have to recompile

But then you have to put up with java and you're restricted to platforms that Sun supports.

BS. The specification is out there, anyone who wants to can write their own JVM. As a matter of fact, GNU is working on one as we speak.

Sun's JVM isn't open source, but OTOH it doesn't claim to be. We don't blame Microsoft for not giving us the source to Windows, why do we blame Sun for holding the source to Java?
BS. Many are trying "as we speak" and no non-proprietary endeavours are close. It's simply extremely difficult to produce something as big as an implementation of the java standard. I fully support any group that tries to do it but the lack of freedom/portability just may be the price that java will always have to pay for aiming at the corporate/enterprise market.

And nobody blames microsoft for not opensourcing windows because no one wants to duplicate it ;)