Your Favorite Programming Language

[bartbes]

Wow, a lot of interesting languages here (some I've never heard of, like Vala) and a lot of posts, lol.

It's basically to FOSS answer to C#, it ties in with glib natively (but of course you can work around it), and compiles to c.
http://live.gnome.org/Vala

Is that because there's no forced indentation in Lua? For myself I find the programs a more readable in Lua, mainly because of the "end" keyword.

Actually I think that makes it less readable, because it's text, it's a wall of text really, and symbols like {} stand out. It doesn't really bother me though.

Can I ask a question about Lua. How does everyone else feel about that lack of bitwise operators, compound operators (this one is driving me nuts), and proper ternary statements (yes I know you can do some tricky stuff "and" and "or", but seriously, that's not great to read).

Well, c-style ternary: replace "?" by "and" and ":" by "or", again no symbols .
Bitwise, meh, don't really need it that often, and it's coming in 5.2.
Compound operators, I got used to it, those would be nice though.

[nevon]

and symbols like {} stand out.

DISAGREEMENT! There are few things I detest more than a hellish army of curly braces. Whenever I write (admittedly, bad) PHP, I always manage to mess up and either have one too many or one too few of those accursed bastards.

[Robin]

But my Python programs are usually more readable than Lua programs. If you're doing it right, Python code will look like poetry, rather than a program listing.

Is that because there's no forced indentation in Lua? For myself I find the programs a more readable in Lua, mainly because of the "end" keyword.

No, even in properly indented Lua I feel that way. It's because Lua is more C-ish and "curly" than Python, which is straightforward and a bit more sober.

[BlackBulletIV]

I miss bitwise and compound operators, but that's just a convenience thing. I really don't think it's that big of a deal. I never use ternary statements in other languages anyway, so I don't miss that much.

Yeah it's mainly convenience, because I can use a library to compensate for bitwise operators. But still, when I have a huge variable reference, like 40 characters long or something, I have to copy it again, then type the operator and then something else, making the line massive. Also, at least in other languages, referencing a variable twice like that is slightly slower (yes I know, by only a tiny, tiny fraction).

It's basically to FOSS answer to C#, it ties in with glib natively (but of course you can work around it), and compiles to c.
http://live.gnome.org/Vala

Had a quick look at it, looks pretty interesting. Sort of looks like they've taken some C#, Java, and Python into the mix.

Actually I think that makes it less readable, because it's text, it's a wall of text really, and symbols like {} stand out. It doesn't really bother me though.

If braces work for you, that's cool. But I find words more pleasing to the eye when not over done (AppleScript goes over line. For me, that language looks confusing); Lua has just the right mix of words and symbols for me.

Well, c-style ternary: replace "?" by "and" and ":" by "or", again no symbols .
Bitwise, meh, don't really need it that often, and it's coming in 5.2.
Compound operators, I got used to it, those would be nice though.

Yeah I know you can do that, but I dunno... I just find it a bit confusing to look at, mainly because it uses the "and" and "or" operators' special behaviour and precedence, which I haven't memorised yet.

Oh that's great, bitwise operators. Though I really want compound operators; I hope they wake up and realise that they're exceptionally convenient.

No, even in properly indented Lua I feel that way. It's because Lua is more C-ish and "curly" than Python, which is straightforward and a bit more sober.

Whatever works for you. But I prefer having an "end" statement that tells me where the end of a block is, it makes it easier to read for me.

[tentus]

and symbols like {} stand out.

DISAGREEMENT! There are few things I detest more than a hellish army of curly braces. Whenever I write (admittedly, bad) PHP, I always manage to mess up and either have one too many or one too few of those accursed bastards.

Goodness no, {}s are common precisely because they're easy to match. It's much harder to match a ) to an end, because ) is extremely common mid-statement.

That said, it becomes a moot point if you do a decent job with indentation.

[Jasoco]

I had always been a fan of QuickBASIC/QBASIC. It came with old computers for free and was easy to learn. And until Löve came along, I was using it to program a game until I hit a memory wall. But I still love it, even if it's not at all modern.

But I must say Lua is replacing it very quickly.

[BlackBulletIV]

Yeah I saw that. Nice effort there by the way!

So I'm guessing your favorite language is Lua then?

[Buddy4point0]

My favorite programming language is LUA! Without a doubt... I love it!

[Jasoco]

Yeah I saw that. Nice effort there by the way!

So I'm guessing your favorite language is Lua then?

It is now. For now. I've been impressed at how fast and easy it was to understand ever since I discovered Löve.

Post #888!

[BlackBulletIV]

Post #888!

Congratulations!