python "block" library
I'm looking for a library that let's configure/write special python block, something like ruby block and/or C-macros. ...
programming-languages
How do programming languages maintain backwards-compatibility AND fix design mistakes?
As you know if you've read some of my other questions, I'm writing a programming language. One of my big concerns is that many languages have troubles with backwards compatibility, and I wish to avoid such issues. On one hand, I've seen a lot of pain and agony in the Python community over the switch to Python 3000 because it breaks bac...
Release fast or learn new language
I have a decent idea in mind. I don't see a lot of stuff around for what I have in mind and stuff that is around is implemented badly. Kind of like expert-exchange vs. stackoverflow. I have not worked on a project by myself before, I've just been involved in working with teams for last couple of years. So I am scared to tackle what I ...
secure server side language
Looking around the horizon of the web server side, I see that scripted languages like PHP are quite popular, probably due to the speed of development and ease of programming. However scripted languages are human readable so isn't code security would be an issue here. I would like to know that if I am keen of security of my code on th...
What general purpose language should I learn next?
I'm currently participating in a programming contest (http://contest.github.com), which has as goal, to create a recommendation engine. I started coding in ruby, but soon realised it wasn't fast enough for the algorithms I had in mind. So I switched to C, which is the only non-scripting language I know. It was fast, of course, but I crin...
Suggestions on way/resources to start learning statistical language R?
Duplicate: Books for learning the R language Understandable documentation about R? Good intro books for R I have never used any statistical language and my field (Bioinformatics) demands that I know R, in particular, well. Any suggestions on how to start learning R? ...
what language should an EE major learn?
I want to know which language should I learn or reinforce so that i won't be caught off-guard. Let's assume that I'm an Electrical Engineer major and i want to go into the field of Power Systems ( Electric Power Engineering). Also, how can i become really good at using labVIEW. ...
New languages...
Does anybody know of a website that lists new scripting/programming languages (or old ones). I'm not talking about new versions of existing languages, just new or old ones that probably nobody has ever heard of. Even if they're not good languages...? ...
What high level languages are easily interfaced with C / C++ ?
I have experience with OCaml. You had to write a stub for every function you wanted to use to convert the types even C int <-> OCaml int. Linking was painful a well. I don't even want to thing about mapping C++ objects. What about other popular languages? Is it always a pain? EDIT: Please avoid duplicates. And state C and C++ interfac...
Reference of similar functions between Programming Languages
I'm wondering is there is a compiled knowledge base of similar functions or functionalities between several programming languages. The reason I'm asking this question is due to the fact that one is learning a new programming language and has extensive knowledge of another, it's often difficult to know or imagine the correlation of functi...
What technology should I delve into next?
I'm an experienced C#, ASP.Net, and Flash ActionScript developer. I'd I really like to keep learning new and exciting things. The upside is right now it seems like there are a lot of very interesting things to learn. The downside is that as a new parent, my time is limited. So I'd like to stick to learning something that might help me m...
In which language did exceptions first appear?
I first came across exceptions with ADA 83. As far as I know, the designers of ADA invented the concept of exceptions. Is this true, or did any programming language that came before use exceptions too? ...
Why do some programming languages restrict you from editing the array you're looping through?
Pseudo-code: for each x in someArray { // possibly add an element to someArray } I forget the name of the exception this throws in some languages. I'm curious to know why some languages prohibit this use case, whereas other languages allow it. Are the allowing languages unsafe -- open to some pitfall? Or are the prohibiting...
Comparing the uses/applications of java vs. python
We're talking about uses; not static vs. dynamic typing, whitespace indentation, etc. It seems Python and Java are similar in that they are both cross-platform and used in the desktop programming and server programming arts. How is Python being used like Java? Is it another good way to write your cross-platform software? ...
A common set of problems to learn new languages
With "Polyglot" programming techniques becoming more relevant, it is almost a necessity to use the "right" PL for the problem. However, learning new languages takes time which usually most project team can't afford. What is the best way to learn a new programming language? Is there a common set of problems that can be solved to reach a ...
Use of Different .Net Languages?
Is there a breakdown of the popularity of the different .Net languages available? Does anyone know of any surveys that give this information, or even if it is possible to determine this? Update The answer is not a list of the different .Net languages. I would like to see statistics showing the relative usage/popularity of each .Net...
Are there any languages that allow units?
When writing the following today in C# DateTime.Now.AddYears(-60) I wondered whether there are any languages that allow a more natural syntax with units: DateTime.Now - 60years Does anyone know of any? Specifically, I'm interested in the presence of unit operators(?) that turn "60years" into e.g. "TimeSpan.FromYears(60)". It'd also...
How do you measure the popularity of a programming language?
Hi, Following on from this question, I am interested in finding out how you could measure the popularity of any and all programming languages. As professional developers, we need to be aware of the trends in the software industry - what languages will employers be looking for in the coming few years, and we should be proficient in. Al...
What are the benefits/limitations of MacRuby and has anyone used it to program for iPhone?
I keep running across references to MacRuby and was wondering if any of you have used it for iPhone/Objective C programming. The MacRuby website says, "the goal of MacRuby to enable the creation of full-fledged Mac OS X applications which do not sacrifice performance in order to enjoy the benefits of using Ruby." So, my question is: wh...
Server side language for cpu/memory intensive process
Whats a good server side language for doing some pretty cpu and memory intensive things that plays well with php and mysql. Currently, I have a php script which runs some calculations based on a large subset of a fairly large database and than updates that database based on those calculations (1.5millions rows). The current implementatio...