Tagged Questions
1
vote
1answer
174 views
How much inconsistency arises from Javascript's high flexibility?
I'll admit it, I haven't yet mastered the language, but my experience with it tells me that Javascript is a highly flexible language, allowing prototypal inheritance, dynamic typing, functions as ...
18
votes
8answers
2k views
Why is String immutable in Java?
I couldn't understand the reason of it. I always use String class like other developers, but when I modify the value of it, I need to create new instance of String.
What might be the reason of ...
1
vote
4answers
610 views
Why many programming languages have only 2 data-structures: arrays and hashes?
Many programming languages have only those 2 structures, and even some languages that have more structures still only provide special syntax for those 2; usually, [] and {}. Why is this? Is there ...
5
votes
2answers
296 views
Alternative Scripting Language to Lua?
I would like to add scripting support to an applications and with plenty scripting languages available I am a bit overwhelmed.
At first I thought about Python but I guess Python is a little too big ...
2
votes
1answer
51 views
Documentation Generation - FiM++
This is a question I originally asked on Stack Overflow, but as a conceptual design question as opposed to a technical issue, I believe it may be more appropriate, or possibly have alternate parallel ...
18
votes
9answers
1k views
Are there any programming languages that follow a minimalist development approach?
I find it that when languages are considered the same as commercial software, there is always a constant need to add new features to justify new releases.
Can there be or are there languages where ...
11
votes
2answers
837 views
Advantages and disadvantages of structuring all code via classes and compiling to classes (like Java)
Edit: my language allows for multiple inheritance, unlike Java.
I've started designing and developing my own programming language for educational, recreational, and potentially useful purposes.
At ...
6
votes
4answers
458 views
Could a programming language work as well without statements?
As programming in JavaScript, I've noticed everything that can be done with statements and blocks can be done with expressions alone. Can a programming language work fine with only expressions? And, ...
4
votes
10answers
940 views
KISS principle applied to programming language design?
KISS ("keep it simple, stupid" or "keep it simple stupid", see e.g. here) is an important principle in software development, even though it apparently originated in engineering. Citing from the ...
1
vote
2answers
161 views
Prioritize compiler functionality/tasks, when designing a new language [closed]
I've already made a very simple compiler with limited functionality. Now I'm getting more on it to make it more like a real-world compiler. I definitely need to start over because I've much more ...
1
vote
4answers
479 views
Are programming languages pretty much “stable” for now? [closed]
Recently i have looked at the "timeline" of Programming Languages and while a lot has changed in the past 5-10 years, there are a lot of languages that have pretty much "stayed" the same in their ...
6
votes
3answers
289 views
Use cases for “private” interfaces?
I was wondering if there was a valid use case for being able to properly define the specific internal properties and functions of a class in a way similar to how an interface defines the public ...
4
votes
2answers
543 views
Whats the difference between an interpreted language and one compiled to a VM?
It occurs to me that there's not a heck of a lot of difference between
$>python module.py
And:
$>javac module.java
$>java module.class
The former compiles to an intermediate language ...
10
votes
8answers
926 views
Why aren't design patterns added to the languages constructs?
Recently I was talking with a colleague who mentioned that his company was working on adding the MVC design pattern as a PHP extension.
He explained that they wrote C code for adding Controllers, ...
21
votes
7answers
2k views
Why are so many languages passed by value?
Even languages where you have explicit pointer manipulation like C it's always passed by value (you can pass them by reference but that's not the default behavior).
What is the benefit of this, why ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Benefits of classic OOP over Go-like language
I've been thinking a lot about language design and what elements would be necessary for an "ideal" programming language, and studying Google's Go has led me to question a lot of otherwise common ...
1
vote
2answers
143 views
What are/would be the characterists and applications of a programming paradigm where functions can't have statements?
Suppose there is a language where, instead of statements, functions could only be defined in relation to other functions and operators such as partial application and composition. What would be the ...
6
votes
3answers
374 views
Is there a language where collections can be used as objects without altering the behavior?
Is there a language where collections can be used as objects without altering the behavior?
As an example, first, imagine those functions work:
function capitalize(str)
//suppose this ...
7
votes
3answers
762 views
Why do .NET modules separate module file names from namespaces?
In implementations of the Scheme programming language (R6RS standard) I can import a module as follows:
(import (abc def xyz))
The system will try to look for a file $DIR/abc/def/xyz.sls where $DIR ...
6
votes
2answers
451 views
Programming languages, positional languages and natural languages
Some programming languages are modeled on machine code, like assembly languages. Other languages are modeled on a natural language, the English language. Others are not modeled on either machine code ...
33
votes
18answers
2k views
Has whitespace in identifiers ever been idiomatic?
C# style suggests using CamelCase in identifiers to delimit words. Lisp tradition suggests using-dashes-instead.
Has there ever existed a programming language where using spaces in identifiers was ...
0
votes
2answers
314 views
Procedure or Event Driven Language For Education [closed]
I am here to ask a question that has been asked many times before. What programming language should I learn to become a intelligent conceptual programmer?
Many people agree, you do not have to ...
0
votes
3answers
248 views
Why do different languages use different Code Line Delimiters? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why are statements in many programming languages terminated by semicolons?
I just found out that R Programming Language, which is somewhat belong to the C family (I'm ...
61
votes
8answers
13k views
How were some language communities (eg, Ruby and Python) able to prevent fragmentation while others (eg, Lisp or ML) were not?
The term "Lisp" (or "Lisp-like") is an umbrella for lots of different languages, such as Common Lisp, Scheme, and Arc. There is similar fragmentation in other language communities, like in ML.
...
5
votes
5answers
985 views
False friends? Keyword “static” in C compared to C++, C# and Java
To me, the use of the keyword static in C and languages like C# and Java are "false friends" like "to become" in English and "bekommen" in German (= "to get" in English), because they mean different ...
10
votes
4answers
895 views
What did Ruby do right (or was it Rails)?
Most programming languages have some design decisions that influence their usage and applicability.
For example:
Python focused on maintainability/readability of code and had indentation be a part ...
2
votes
1answer
212 views
Giving variables default values vs. treating accessing an undefined variable as an error
Having messed around with several scripting languages and being a bit of a linguist, there seems to be a way to divide dynamically typed languages into two groups: languages that give variables a ...
10
votes
5answers
444 views
A language built specifically for building languages
As the title suggests, I'm wondering if there are programming languages that were built specifically for building new programming languages?
3
votes
6answers
326 views
Would the concept of source code layers be of any use?
I'm talking about something like layers in photoshop, except they apply directly to the source code. For example, in pseudo-code... inventing what some project might look like - say a computational ...
2
votes
2answers
596 views
What is the reason behind the if syntax of CoffeeScript?
In most other languages the condition comes before the statement to be executed when the condition is met. However, in CoffeeScript (and maybe some other languages) the syntax is:
number = -42 if ...
4
votes
8answers
345 views
One-use variables - has any language ever had them?
A principle that I follow is that, when an identifier is established, it should be a signal to the reader that the value referred to is indeed an abstraction which will be used more than once. That ...
8
votes
6answers
942 views
How to verify/prove orthogonality of a programming language?
I know the concept of orthogonality, but from a programming language point of view, is there a way to verify/prove it?
For instance in C#, one can use public or static for a method signature. You can ...
-2
votes
2answers
690 views
Are there any languages that have both high- and low-level facilities?
Are there any? If not, is it feasible to create one? Why or why not?
In theory it would be very helpful to have a programming language that has both shell and regular programming language ...
5
votes
3answers
436 views
Why is scanf called scanf? (Same for printf.)
I am just curious why in the C programming language the function to read formatted input was called "scanf" as opposed to "readf". I assume it is derived from an earlier language, so in that case why ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Do any languages use =/= for the inequality operator?
Wikipedia says:
Not equal
The symbol used to denote inequation — when items are not equal — is a slashed equals sign "≠" (Unicode 2260).
Most programming languages, limiting themselves ...
6
votes
4answers
411 views
Where are programming languages published?
I have read that a number of new programming languages are created each year, however I have never seen a single one. Where exactly are these things published? Is there some site out there that keeps ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
What's wrong with JavaScript [closed]
There is a lot of buzz around Dart recently, often questioning Google motivations and utility of Dart as replacement for JavaScript.
I was searching for rationale of creating Dart rather than ...
0
votes
5answers
530 views
What is the most concise, unambiguous syntax for operator associated methods (for overloading etc.) that doesn't pollute the namespace?
Python tends to add double underscores before its built-in or overloadable operator methods, like __add(), whereas C++ requires declaring overloaded operators as operator + (Thing& thing) { /* ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
Standards to constraint HTML renderer in only US-EN
Does W3C or any other organisation has standard or protocol to constraint all developers to make sure they must use american english while they develop any sort of interpreter?
To avoid something ...
4
votes
2answers
339 views
What has been learned about making variance part of the type?
In Java, the variance of parameterized types is indicated depending on how it's used:
<A extends B,B> void store(ArrayList<B> list, A elem) {
list.add(elem);
}
Whereas in Scala it ...
2
votes
1answer
210 views
Is a partially familiar scripting language desirable?
Given that a program (under development) needs a scripting language, and that for various reasons it's not possible to use an off-the-shelf one as is, I'm considering basing it on the syntax and some ...
20
votes
11answers
1k views
Is there a language out there in which parameters are placed inside method name?
in JavaScript:
function getTopCustomersOfTheYear(howManyCustomers, whichYear) {
// Some code here.
}
getTopCustomersOfTheYear(50, 2010);
in C#:
public List<Customer> ...
4
votes
3answers
130 views
Synonyms for operators
In the case of a newly designed functional language, consider e.g. the not equals operator, spelled /= as is common among functional languages.
Of course this operator is also known as != in C family ...
7
votes
11answers
669 views
Why do interfaces require methods over members?
...As this forces us to create getters and setters, which in practice are often totally extraneous? Is there any good language-design reason why interfaces in most (all?) languages do not allow member ...
5
votes
3answers
339 views
Is structural typing in a hierarchical model necessary?
This is part of a series of questions which focuses on a project called the Abstraction Project, which aims to abstract the concepts used in language design in the form of a framework.
Another ...
4
votes
5answers
634 views
Scalability and Programming languages
What makes a language scalable ?
I believe scalability is more about system design. It sounds really odd to me, to say that one language is more scalable than the another.
11
votes
3answers
460 views
How does a static type system affect the design of a prototype-based language?
The Wikipedia article on prototype-based languages contains the following paragraph:
Almost all prototype-based systems are based on interpreted and dynamically typed languages. Systems based on ...
2
votes
9answers
518 views
The New Programming Language & BCL for the Cloud
Let's say you need to implement a new programming language and BCL designed specifically for operating in the cloud (it won't be used on client machines ever). It should be optimized for cloud ...
6
votes
6answers
415 views
How permissive should a language be about identifiers?
This is a sister question to: Is it bad to use Unicode characters in variable names?
As is my wont, I'm working on a language project. The thought came to me that allowing multi-token identifiers ...
15
votes
12answers
715 views
Should data structures be integrated into the language (as in Python) or be provided in the standard library (as in Java)?
In Python, and most likely many other programming languages, common data structures can be found as an integrated part of the core language with their own dedicated syntax. If we put LISP's integrated ...
