Is there the only one ultimate programming language, what is the best match for every application?
Some of folks may say- "Yes, It's L**. I've used it for X years in production environments and there is nothing in the world better than that". But it's not yet another thread about java vs c++ vs python vs ruby vs php [vs pick_your_language]...
Look at the current situation of existing programming languages. There are probably more programming languages than ever before and they are still evolving, what is IMHO good thing. An evolutionary criterion here is mainly market demand. It regulates need for that kind of tools and the most obsolete ones are vanishing.
Most of the programming languages start existence as a project of small group of enthusiasts or scientists. One person driven projects are quite usual. When it gains wider audience as good candidate for programming environment there is a moment when market influence kicks in.
From business point of view software production process must be optimized to get needed set of features, using possibly smallest resources and time to get final product of desired quality.
So there is economical pressure to keep (man time cost)/(product quality) ratio low.
What is programming environment? The main element is of course programming language concept with its constructs, and a set of basic framework libraries. It must be implemented, so it goes with tools like compilers, interpreters, virtual machines, debuggers and other preparing software to run and monitor software in target system. On the other end there are Integrated Development Environments boosting programmers’ productivity. All of these elements are used during software production process which has strategic impact on software cost and quality. The total cost and quality depends on the combination of lower level facilities of programming environments (I am excluding people skills).
All programming environments have some sweet points there and sometimes hard to reach or lack of other features somewhere else. So there is no one simple and effective tool for creating software.
So how to choose best one for your needs? Productivity depends on domain and size of application, architecture, speed of elementary analyze-write-compile-test cycle, easiness to create small and clean code, good debug information, matching tools power to programmer skills and other minor factors. These factors should be evaluated during short "evaluation runs" to get the complete picture.
How to collect such valuable metrics? We need productivity measuring features seamlessly hooked up into existing tools used during software development and maintenance. Having recorded software feature production time metrics and process structure can give us very valuable information. It gives possibility to look back, find weak points of process and try to improve it. Or, you would try to compare metrics in context of features and application character for different programming languages and choose the best for your needs. But we need tools to acquire those metrics. Some of commercial tools are going into that direction, and I think it's time to incorporate that into platforms supporting creation of open source software and sharing information with wider audience.
There is a very long way (if any exists) to one leading programming environment with simple but powerful programming language and well designed set of libraries etc. We have different competing programming environments find their market niches today. Evaluating and selection of best solution isn't trivial task. But if you can - think about it and choose the right tool for the job.
Maybe one day there will be one ideal small and complete programming language with good framework library, with scripting for small programs and support for big enterprise application features, with changeable features and many sets of well designed libraries and frameworks. Sounds like utopia for me, but who knows?
Some of folks may say- "Yes, It's L**. I've used it for X years in production environments and there is nothing in the world better than that". But it's not yet another thread about java vs c++ vs python vs ruby vs php [vs pick_your_language]...
Look at the current situation of existing programming languages. There are probably more programming languages than ever before and they are still evolving, what is IMHO good thing. An evolutionary criterion here is mainly market demand. It regulates need for that kind of tools and the most obsolete ones are vanishing.
Most of the programming languages start existence as a project of small group of enthusiasts or scientists. One person driven projects are quite usual. When it gains wider audience as good candidate for programming environment there is a moment when market influence kicks in.
From business point of view software production process must be optimized to get needed set of features, using possibly smallest resources and time to get final product of desired quality.
So there is economical pressure to keep (man time cost)/(product quality) ratio low.
What is programming environment? The main element is of course programming language concept with its constructs, and a set of basic framework libraries. It must be implemented, so it goes with tools like compilers, interpreters, virtual machines, debuggers and other preparing software to run and monitor software in target system. On the other end there are Integrated Development Environments boosting programmers’ productivity. All of these elements are used during software production process which has strategic impact on software cost and quality. The total cost and quality depends on the combination of lower level facilities of programming environments (I am excluding people skills).
All programming environments have some sweet points there and sometimes hard to reach or lack of other features somewhere else. So there is no one simple and effective tool for creating software.
So how to choose best one for your needs? Productivity depends on domain and size of application, architecture, speed of elementary analyze-write-compile-test cycle, easiness to create small and clean code, good debug information, matching tools power to programmer skills and other minor factors. These factors should be evaluated during short "evaluation runs" to get the complete picture.
How to collect such valuable metrics? We need productivity measuring features seamlessly hooked up into existing tools used during software development and maintenance. Having recorded software feature production time metrics and process structure can give us very valuable information. It gives possibility to look back, find weak points of process and try to improve it. Or, you would try to compare metrics in context of features and application character for different programming languages and choose the best for your needs. But we need tools to acquire those metrics. Some of commercial tools are going into that direction, and I think it's time to incorporate that into platforms supporting creation of open source software and sharing information with wider audience.
There is a very long way (if any exists) to one leading programming environment with simple but powerful programming language and well designed set of libraries etc. We have different competing programming environments find their market niches today. Evaluating and selection of best solution isn't trivial task. But if you can - think about it and choose the right tool for the job.
Maybe one day there will be one ideal small and complete programming language with good framework library, with scripting for small programs and support for big enterprise application features, with changeable features and many sets of well designed libraries and frameworks. Sounds like utopia for me, but who knows?
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