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+ 115

What are the things that make any one programming language better than another?

I've actually given this question a lot of thought. I'm very interested in programming language design. I think this question is both valid and very important. So i really need your opinion.. Leave un upvote for this question and let it reach everyone here..

26th Apr 2018, 6:13 PM
Baraa AB
Baraa AB - avatar
113 Answers
+ 36
sometimes you need a specific language for a spacial environment like a micro controller but in general a good programming language has a good performance, is clear, takes the user off a lot of work is safe is easy to debug In other words a good programming language has been developed for programmers and does what it should do no more and no less
27th Apr 2018, 1:39 PM
Stefanoo
Stefanoo - avatar
+ 30
As most answers stated it depends on the purpose of for what a language should be used. Some of my personal preferences (concerning not only the language but also surroundings) are... - readability (easy to read) - execution speed (fast is good) - has powerful commands - has library support - documentation - cross-platform support (many is good) - IDE support (syntax highlighting, debugger, ...) - learning curve - usage community (many users is good) I am working on a little language comparison project. The idea is to write the same simple program (Bonus) in every language available on SoloLearn. It's still a work in progress and so far I have written it in 8 languages. https://www.sololearn.com/Profile/8489802 Any comments concerning improvements of a language are very welcome. Upvotes of course also...
28th Apr 2018, 1:54 PM
Modi
Modi - avatar
+ 29
Python 1). easy to learn 2). beginner friendly 3). saves line of code 4). complex problems solved easily 5). user friendly
27th Apr 2018, 6:04 PM
Salman
Salman - avatar
+ 24
Syntax, Performance and the learning curve of the language. Python students tend to "understand" the python code quicker than C++ students because the Syntax is harder for C++. Performance and Syntax will be really the 2 factors. Also the amount of documentation on the web for the language helps in the learning process the more docs usually the clearer it is to understand. Your purpose will determine what coding language will be better for the job. Langauges that are higher-level, (C++, Java, Python) meaning farther from the hardware/machine. Will have better READABILITY but will lack in performance compared to lower language like ASSEMBLY. LOW to HIGH Machine Language => Assembly => C => Java, Python, JavaScript, etc. At the end of the day it comes down to what your job is. Ex: Doing machine learning in Python will allow you to write your code quicker (Syntax, Langauge is easier) than someone else but using C++ to write ML you will most likely have a better performance time than Python.
27th Apr 2018, 5:00 PM
Chris Kramer
Chris Kramer - avatar
+ 24
I love programmer♥ but programer not lovemeback!
30th Apr 2018, 11:16 AM
Nina Hendra Putri
Nina Hendra Putri - avatar
+ 16
That is a very good question! I’m following this post. Curious to see what people think. Because I know I don’t know.
26th Apr 2018, 6:15 PM
Jax
Jax - avatar
+ 15
Adam yeah right 😅
30th Apr 2018, 9:35 PM
Baraa AB
Baraa AB - avatar
+ 15
i like with game development, thats why i am choosing C++ because cpp had a good perfomance and uhhhhmm.... i forgot any detail about it. (´ー`)
6th May 2018, 10:18 PM
ZΛRTHΛИ
ZΛRTHΛИ - avatar
+ 14
There really isn't such a thing, if there was it would have been worked out already. The question is sort of the equivalent saying "what makes one model of car better at travelling than another model of car?" The question needs a context applying to it. All cars travel, and so all cars are great for travelling, the only way to narrow it down to one it to apply further constraints i.e. Comfort, fuel efficiency etc. And even then the 'winner' is only the best in that specific scenario. This explains why there are so many languages about. Sure some languages are a jack of all trades but master of none. But more often than not one language will master one thing and let the other languages be better at other things. Most real world industries choose a well known well supported language that is great at many things but poor in few (and master of none), because then it is more versatile.
27th Apr 2018, 9:29 PM
James Cooke
+ 14
Look at Lua: They kept it very simple and without abbreviations like -- or *=. So it's very easy to read and write simple codes. But what if the task gets more complex? Suddenly, the simplicity is annoying, so you should better choose another language, like C#, C++ and so on. Like this, every language is developed with a special focus and as you go further away from it, the language is less and less suited. So that's why (almost) every language is best for at least one task.
28th Apr 2018, 10:08 AM
Timon Paßlick
+ 12
No language is "better" than another, right tools for the right task. Just my humble opinion.
1st May 2018, 8:32 PM
Haris
Haris - avatar
+ 11
It really varies depending on both necessity and convenience. In some cases, one language might be preferable to solve one problem, while another might be more suited to solve a different problem.
26th Apr 2018, 9:22 PM
Michael Sluck
Michael Sluck - avatar
+ 11
some people like cola, some people like pepsi, someone can make a building with one brick, some people cant break a window with that brick, better, worst it is just perspective, the main point is design and performance, in some cases i believe performance can be improved by switching languages
27th Apr 2018, 1:21 AM
Milenko Raic
Milenko Raic - avatar
+ 11
My opinion is that languages are tools, some tools fits better some tasks. Using the right language for the right problem will save you time and problems. For example, you have to measure the temperature of a nuclear reactor and shut it down if to hot, you may have milisseconds make a decision, would you rely on a high level language, running on a virtual machine on top of a operating system or something like assembler running directly on hardware? The other way around is also true, will you setup the entire asp.net framework to send a e-mail from a HTML form in C# or write just one line of PHP? Will you make a project in java just to download a file or use a script language like python or even bash? And... there is taste... some prefer dynamic weak types, other strongly static. Some people prefer Object Oriented, some Functional, some procedural... The only advice besides "choose the right tools" is let languages mature, there is a bunch of new languages appearing, wait a little to follow the hype... Python 2 is a great example, it's incompatibility with Python 3 locked early adopters in version 2 unable to upgrade to 3, now some developers maintain code written on both... now python developers promised that all new versions will be compatible with version 3, meaning it's more mature now... been safer to embrace python hype now than before... hope it helps...
29th Apr 2018, 6:44 PM
Gabriel Militello
Gabriel Militello - avatar
+ 11
1. Speed 2. Complexity & Simplicity 3. Environment 4. IDEs 5. Frameworks 6. Libraries 7. Syntax 8. Readability 9. Tools 10. Budget
30th Apr 2018, 12:25 AM
Anthony Perez
+ 10
Its synthaxes. The more easier the synthaxes of a programming language, the more easier we can understand that language. Then, we can do a lot of things and we are able to solve a variety of problems. 😂
29th Apr 2018, 8:11 AM
Muhd Khairul Amirin
Muhd Khairul Amirin - avatar
+ 10
Lee Tae-Min Charan Leo25😔 Crystal.kerosene Edwin Mergelkuhl can we hit 100likes 😘 plz like this Q&A discussions
6th May 2018, 7:16 PM
Ahlin Chan
Ahlin Chan - avatar
+ 9
I’m not completely sure but probably part can be simply the coder’s preference.
26th Apr 2018, 6:18 PM
🐺Michael🐺
🐺Michael🐺 - avatar
+ 9
It depends upon situation. Programming language designed for same purpose can be compared. Like you can't compare Php with GWBasic. You can compare same type of language. Among same type of language you can compare power, learning curve, platform. If i have to choose, I will prefer platform independent, efficient, easy to learn. There are still many other considerations depending upon requirement.
27th Apr 2018, 3:09 PM
Rafique Abdullah
+ 8
Very good question! I am really curious what other might think of it!🤔
27th Apr 2018, 7:19 PM
JTLZ