OOps... First ... I've replied to a wrong thread. Sorry for that On my own humble opinion )) C is the best language after Assembler, MacroAssembler. Intuitive, fast, efficient.... Just an opinion ))
On Thu, 2012-08-09 at 11:31 -0400, Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre wrote: > On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 10:50 AM, Hendrik Boom <[email protected]> wrote: > [...] > > It survives because of inertia. It's the systems language most people > > use, so most systems programs are written in it, and so most programmers > > have to learn it, because a lot of programming deals with changes to > > existing software, not writing new. Because most programmers know it, > > most new programs get written in it. > > Can you explain why you think C is obsolete? What issues makes it so? > Please provide examples, alternatives, solutions. > > IMHO, no amount of convenience of programming (e.g. easy to code in, > or easy to learn), or nice features like garbage collection and > whatnot amount for the flexibility and power that C provides. > > Yes, it's complicated, yes, it's definitely not always the right > choice for just any project, and yes, you have more than enough rope > to shoot yourself in the foot with when you use C... ;) But it > remains that all languages have different purposes, different > strengths and weaknesses. > > Cobol is clearly an obsolete language that is still sticking around > due to inertia -- most people aren't writing new things in it, but are > forced to maintain existing complex systems because of the cost of > rewriting from scratch. > > C however, *is* being used for new projects. It's being taught in > schools (though definitely not everywhere), and is a clear choice, at > least to be considered, when building complex systems. It's not only > used for new projects because most programmers know it -- but because > it really works. I've seen a definite shift in schools from teaching C > to teaching other programming languages, at least in CEGEPs. > > I have yet to see other languages that provide the level of > reliability and speed of execution of well-written C. I have also yet > to see any language (other than C++) that makes it as easy to leak > memory and make hard to debug, painful mistakes as C. > > Don't get me wrong -- I'd just as well use Python for most things I'd > write, and I wouldn't hesitate to use Java or god-forbid, ocaml should > it clearly be the right tool for the job; but I totally disagree that > C is obsolete, and you haven't brought evidence to support your > position. > > [...] > > > Modula 3's specific handicap is that it's distributed under a > > free-sofware licence that happens to be incompatible with the GPL and > > after a series of corporate takeovers, the entity that now owns the > > copyright no longer has any interest in it, so it's impossible to get > > the licence changed. And it's not popular enough to make it worth-while > > to write a new implementation. > > I had never heard of Modula. But again, there are so many different > languages out there, it's impossible to know them all. > > Why has it not gained in popularity? It's highly likely that there are > very good reasons for that. Maybe it's just really good at one > specific thing, and its use can't be generalized to just about any > problem? > > The licensing is a definite issue. There are so many "free" languages > to choose from, all of them particularly well designed and that have > proven their efficiency and reliability, that there is no reason to > choose a "private" implementation for anything. If only just the fact > that then, the pool of people that have designed and have seen the > internals is so small, you're absolutely in your right to question > whether it's really going to do the job right in the long run, or if > it's just a matter of time before it explodes. > > > But you're right. No one is about to rewrite the Linux kernel in > > another language. It's too much work. > > I don't think the amount of work required is the real blocker in open > source projects. People have tried re-implementing X. Everyone knows > just how complex X is and how much work it would be to rewrite it from > scratch. It hasn't stopped various re-implementations to spring up, > like Wayland. > > / Matt > _______________________________________________ > mlug mailing list > [email protected] > https://listes.koumbit.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-listserv.mlug.ca _______________________________________________ mlug mailing list [email protected] https://listes.koumbit.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-listserv.mlug.ca
