Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Languages

[Siberianhusky89]

Well, I have been trying to study programming in my free time. So far, I've checked out books from the library like "Programming for Dummies", "C for Dummies (Best Seller)", "C++ For Beginners", "Visual BASIC for dummies", Ect...

Anyhow, I've been discussing it with others and they tell me to use something different each time without explanation, so I'm here to ask you guys for explanations.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of these Different Langauges?

C++
C
BASIC
Python
Revolution

I've learned about C++ a bit and learned that it can do alot but it makes larger files and it was suppose to be a safer version of C as well because some commands might cause your computer to crash. C++ is also a bit harder to use than C from what I hear, though I could be wrong.

C is capable of doing pretty much anything you command but takes alot of space and can be risky since certain commands might crash your computer if you aren't careful.

BASIC is used for simple commands I believe. It's faster and was made for beginners. It's more efficient for simple commands and creates smaller files as well. If you wanted to do a simple command that would take C++ a bit longer time to do, you use BASIC. Example: PRINT "I am here today" would be simpler than what you would have to do with C++.

I have no idea about Python whatsoever. I was recommended to use Python instead of basic, though, I wasn't given a reason why and how, I was just told "It's better."

Revolution is something new I read about from my Beginning Programming for Dummies book. It's much simpler than BASIC and C languages. It is a language that treats programming as if speaking in English. Example "put "It works!" into message. Very simple to understand, more based around user interface I believe.

Also, I would like to know what the difference between Basic and Visual Basic is. Things that I'm missing and such. Thanks very much.

[DTR]

A great rule of a thumb:

Sucks for you, rocks for computer.
Rocks for you, sucks for computer.

0000 00011 = 0x03 = 3 = "Three"

Computer operates to the left, we tend to be more to the right.
Most of the languages tend to live somewhere on the spectrum, either serving the machine or the programmer. Asm and C tend to cater the machines needs more than for example Python or Java. Abstraction means inherently penalized performance, as effort is (wasted?) to make things appear more "intuitive".


As for the claim that C creates big executables is completely wrong.
Compiler optimizations might bend for either speed or size, but generally speaking the size wont be an issue.

Generally speaking any program language has a potential of crashing the computer but not by itself.

Either some driver drops the ball or OS gets caught in a weird situation, but I have lived under impression that the virtual memory space program resides in and operates in normal execution mode should not by itself be able to bring anything down. At worst, we can cause exceptions resulting in programs termination.

As usual, I ask the real experts to inherit my post and override my possibly twisted views, should they stand out.

[Siberianhusky89]

I somewhat understand what you mean. I can tell that some of what your saying is this.

It's a sacrifice between you and the machine. Something good happens for you, something not so good happens to the computer, something happens for the computer, something not so good happens to you, for example, Variables. Using variables can make things easier for you, but puts more work for the computer. Any programming language has the possibility of crashing your computer if you do something wrong on any of them. Anyhow, I can interpret what you say pretty well, though, I must admit, I had a bit of difficulty doing so at first.

[Gshonk]

http://www.cstruter.com/article.php?ContentID=30

[dzeligman]

C++
C
BASIC
Python
Revolution


C++ is a superset of C. It supports classes, encapsulation, exceptions, various kinds of polymorphism, operator overloading, dynamic binding through virtual functions, generic programmingish stuff through templates and everything that C does.
C++ uses dynamic memory management.

C++ is just as fast as C is if you dont use any C++ features. C is ideal for driver level and direct communication with the underlying hardware and operating system. Most OS's of the past are written in C. C++ is ideal for large system level projects that could make use of the speed and control the language has to offer (such as games).

BASIC I dont know enough about, same with Revolution and Python.

Python has similar syntax to the imperative family C language style but in itself is a scripting language at its core. Its syntax allows programmmers to write code much quicker than other languages but it has its drawbacks. Its probably 50 to 100x slower in execution than C is, as well as it uses automatic memory management.

[yaustar]

C++ uses dynamic memory management.

What? C++ doesn't have any memory management.

[dzeligman]

Well what I meant was that it makes the programmer manage it, dynamic vs automatic.

Poor word choice on my part.