Which is your favorite programming language?

[melgmry0101b]

I am only using C++ for OS development but for other development I am using VB.net and for the websites I like using ASP.

[Casm]

For webpages I like java, css, php and jquery. But since finding OSdev and starting myOS and learning new languages such as c, c++, and asm I have to say that I am starting to fall in love with c++.


Which is your favorite programming language?

Until very recently I would have said C. I probably would still say C, provided I steer clear of it for hardware programming.

[kfreezen]

I would definitely say C++, as it was AFAIK the first one I learned and also because of the OOP features. However I use C for kernel development.

[narke]

Python: Simple, easy to learn and remember yet powerful language, it's a kind of language in which you can code with a joy, web2py is also very cool for web sites development.

C: Force you to understand what is going on, high-level assembly language, mandatory for any decent system programmer or even a normal programmer.

Standard ML: Very strong quality of code, you enter in a new world of almost bug free programs and of functional programming,you are not force to type wasteful symbols while coding (as in 98% languages) you type only what is important, Ocaml is basically SML+object orientation (I'm exaggerating a little bit) but coding in SML is much more beautiful (biased opinion).

Languages I tested and disliked for various reasons (mostly because not being better that the 3 previously mentioned languages): Perl, Java, TCL/Tk, C#, unix shell scripts, C++, PHP.

[narke]

So does ML beat bash for the purpose of launching other apps?

To launch other apps I prefer python over bash.

Does python beat awk for the purpose of summing up statistics in a CSV file?

Again python with re module which is a standard module should rule.

Does C beat tcl/tk for driving some scripted hardware tests?

I did it in C with Gcov but here again I didn't see why python wouldn't do it.

[narke]

I decided to have 3 hammers: Python, SML and C unless I revisit my opinion.

[sandras]

My first language was Pascal. I wanted to learn programming and it was the only programming language I knew of. They use Pascal here to introduce kids to programming in schools. I don't think I even knew there were other languages out there at that time. Anyway, Pascal was nothing special. Now, after using C, it seems ugly, as it hides the details. I have to get ready for an exam where I'll need it, but I probably won't as it seems a waste... No, not a waste. It just seems that I should rather invest time in learning other languages.

Then there was a big break from programming, although I did get to see some html as I made my own webpage, but I gotta note I was looking to make my own web page, not to program in html. Looking back to html code, it seems like a language designed for a specific purpose and doing it's job in a simple, clean way, which I like.

Following that, I started using Linux. And with it came the ash scripting. The idea of having primitive tools at your disposal that you can combine in various unforeseen ways still seems very neat.

Also, I used XML for my system configuration, which seemed nice. Though I'd now prefer plain text files, or, better, shell scripts, over XML for configuration.

(Damn, looking over my own posts, I feel like I'm starting to sound like a real Unix fanboy. I do happen to like the Unix philosophy though.)

A friend then introduced me to C. I started writing some of my own tools.

After using C the ash scripts seemed unreadable, but, I think at this point, I found Plan 9 and it's rc. rc's scripts look nicer than ash's and I like how it handles the environment variables.

Eventually, as I delved deeper and deeper into operating system theory and design, I found that Linux and most of the other modern Unix-like systems, which I held as beautiful before, are ugly and outdated in design compared to some alternatives, though still very powerful. That's when I decided I'm going to try to write an operating system, thus looking even deeper not only into the design and theory of it, but also to the implementation detail, which led me to assembly. I like assembly simply for being the closest (machine code doesn't really count, does it?) to the hardware, besides, after implementing GDT in assembly after doing it in C I found that in some cases, at least for me, it can be more understandable than C.

So my knowledge of programming languages is not very extended. I did look at the code written in some other languages though, but, when talking about system programming, non of them seemed as clear and as understandable as C. Most notably I had some interest in Go, but turned out not to like it as much as C, which I might just be used to.

To sum it up, for me, C is THE language for system programming - it's portable, close to the hardware, simple (it can be fully understood by a person, unlike, some say, some other languages), generic and fast (it is theoretically possible to produce the most possibly optimized machine code, is it?). Then comes the scripting and assembly, in that order, even though they are designed for very different purposes. If I will ever get to that point, I plan to put most (maybe all?) of my system configuration to shell scripts. And I will probably write my documentation in html after I gather enough plain text notes and see or make a structure to them.

Anyway, I will have to look more into different languages, as I'm thinking of managed code user space design, besides there's still lots experience to gain in the languages I like and use.

[MasterLee]

Does python beat awk for the purpose of summing up statistics in a CSV file?

Again python with re module which is a standard module should rule.

Why don't you use csv modul instead? Which is also standard.

[narke]

@MasterLee

You are right, I forgot the csv module.

[ACcurrent]

c for lowlevel osdev & cgi (not C++)
c# for small quick GUI apps which do nothing.
python for string manipulation, prototyping and signal processing
proccessing for games, and graphics oriented apps.(basically java without me having to bother so much about classes)

[flukiluke]

All languages are created equal. But, C was created more equal than the others.

[Laksen]

For programming: Object Pascal. I use it for everything, and it just has everything

For compiler development I base my languages on Oberon-07 because it is so deliciously simple

[amd64pager]

Here are my favourite languages:
Assembler for osdev
C and C++ for osdev
Java for gamedev
Perl for text handling
PHP,JScript,HTML and CSS for webdev
edit:LISP for many other things.(best language I ever learnt)

[GAT]

For OS Dev:
x86 Assembly all the way!
Usually:
C, LISP, or BASIC

[brain]

Still has to be 6502 assembler for its simplicity - realistically though, c#, c++ and perl ... php is ok for getting the job done but from a design standpoint it can "go do one" :-p