[amsat-bb] Why choose one language over another - was :Re: Programming language recommendation?

[Eric Fort]

Much of this choice would seem to be based upon what you want to
accomplish.  My 3 top choices would be PERL which is well supported by CPAN,
Python, and C using the gnu compiler collection (gcc).   It seems that
everyone has a favorite and each has it's merits.  Why one language would be
chosen over another is a topic probably best answered by others on the
listso I'll open that up.  Why choose one language over another to code a
given task?  What makes a language better for one task and not so good for
another?

Eric
AF6EP

On Sat, Oct 4, 2008 at 2:55 PM, Alan P. Biddle <APBIDDLE at united.net> wrote:

> We have a lot of folks here who do programming at a variety of levels.
> After a 20+ year hiatus, I am looking to get back into doing a bit of
> programming.  The intent is not to get into it at a professional level, but
> to be able to rip off quick and dirty small programs.  Data acquisition,
> taking the output of a program and merge and reformat it for specific
> purposes, which of course I can do in some cases with Excel, are a couple
> of
> things which come to mind.  It will need the ability to interact with
> external hardware.  However, the primary purpose is as a brain stretcher
> for
> someone who once thought F*RTR*N was a real language.
>
> I am tempted to say that I am looking for the current generation BASIC, but
> I am want something a bit beyond that, though of course the ability to
> print
> "Hello World" with less than 10 lines of code is a plus.  ;)  And it needs
> to be something I can get into using a free or low cost compiler.  I am not
> much interested in spending a few hundred dollars.
>
> People have recommended Python, older versions of Delphi, early version of
> C, etc, as what I should do.  Well, maybe.  So if anyone has a good
> recommendation, please contact me OFF LIST.  And did I say, it needs to be
> cheap?!
>
>
>
> Alan
> WA4SCA
>
> -----------------------------------
>
> What's the opposite of Diversity?
> University!
>
> Catherine McMillan
>
>
>
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