[RESOLVED] Various languages and their strengths

[nmadd]

Hi all,
I'm beginning to get an understanding at what some languages are "good at" and what they are generally used for, however, I'd like to get some opinions of some of you more experienced coders.

Basically, I'm wondering what you think these languages strong points are. If someone told you they wanted to write code that performed job [x], you would point them toward language [y], because it is good at doing [x] and that is one of it's strong suits. For example if somebody asked you to write some business desktop application in the next 5 hours, you may choose VB.NET/C# because you can develop something rapidly; but if you were going to write a game over the next two years, you may choose a C/C++ language because it is speedier, correct?

I'm particular wondering about these languages (which I grabbed from the first page of the TIOBE list). Of course, any and all comments are certainly welcome!

VB.NET/C#
C/C++
Java
Python
Perl
Ruby
Lua

[Shaggy Hiker]

C/C++: C for embedded programming, and either for games.
VB.NET/C#: General programming, DB front ends, business programming, internal dev, etc.

[nmadd]

Thanks for the reply Shaggy.
If anybody would like to comment on the other languages, of course, feel free to do so otherwise I'm just going to let this thread slide on down the page. :bigyello:

[Lord Orwell]

vb.net seems to be almost designed from the ground up to work well with databases, both on and off line.
Java is platform independent. It will run on any operating system, even IPhones.
I don't know why, but Perl seems to be a favorite for makign CGI with, even though supposedly you could use any language.

[Fazi]

nmadd, you forget to add Delphi,

Actually Y Delphi people say 'Hah, We are powerfull' ?

[Paul M]

As for Ruby it is gaining a lot of respect in the software development scene. It is a very logical language the only criticism i can kind of naturally spot is lack of support for Unicode, not that it makes a huge difference. It combines parts of Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp. So it has to be good :) After all Crash Bandicoot was made using Lisp :D

As for Lua it is more of a scripting language, which has be used for programming in regards to game consoles.

[nmadd]

Thanks for all of the responses. Lua is big for World of Warcraft right? (I've never played. Guild Wars guy myself. :bigyello:)

I'm particularly interested in Java because as Lord Orwell said it can run on anything...most importantly my BlackBerry.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Fazi]

Opps. you have forget about Delphi :(

[Hack]

Opps. you have forget about Delphi :(Why?

[techgnome]

Is Delphi (VisualPascal ;) ) even still around? Who is maintaining it these days? Is Borland even still a player?

-tg

[Fazi]

Is Delphi (VisualPascal ;) ) even still around? Who is maintaining it these days? Is Borland even still a player?

-tg

www.codegear.com :D

[Paul M]

Thanks for all of the responses. Lua is big for World of Warcraft right? (I've never played. Guild Wars guy myself. :bigyello:)

I'm particularly interested in Java because as Lord Orwell said it can run on anything...most importantly my BlackBerry.

Anyway, thanks again.

Yea it is big in World of Warcraft :) Never played it but it has something to do with customizations.

[szlamany]

I'm particularly interested in Java because as Lord Orwell said it can run on anything...most importantly my BlackBerry.
Doesn't the blackberry run some version of the MS Windows CE OS?

[Lord Orwell]

NO. It runs Blackberry OS. And even if it did, why would you target the OS when java would also let it run on Palm.

[szlamany]

Isn't it always a balance between user needs and computer capabilities?