Programming Languages I've Loved and Hated
Upon encountering various programming languages during my career, some appealed to me instantly, while others left me cold. I never really understood why, but perhaps by writing about them, I can discern a pattern.
PL/C: This was the first language I learned. Structured, imperative, and procedural, PL/C was Cornell's teaching variant of PL/1, and the language shaped much of my thinking. It was a good language, and I liked it, but it was also an academic language and one I would never see or use again.
Basic (IBM PC): It was hate at first sight. The language relied on line numbers, needed GOTOs, and was interpreted. But it was early in the PC days and I had to use it if I wanted to do anything useful. In time, Basic became a compiled language and eventually evolved into Visual Basic for Windows programmers. But even then, the first version of Visual Basic did not directly support arrays, an omission that convinced me that Basic would forever be a dumbed-down language.
8088 Asse…
PL/C: This was the first language I learned. Structured, imperative, and procedural, PL/C was Cornell's teaching variant of PL/1, and the language shaped much of my thinking. It was a good language, and I liked it, but it was also an academic language and one I would never see or use again.
Basic (IBM PC): It was hate at first sight. The language relied on line numbers, needed GOTOs, and was interpreted. But it was early in the PC days and I had to use it if I wanted to do anything useful. In time, Basic became a compiled language and eventually evolved into Visual Basic for Windows programmers. But even then, the first version of Visual Basic did not directly support arrays, an omission that convinced me that Basic would forever be a dumbed-down language.
8088 Asse…
