Member Avatar for kris222

Why do you think there are soo many programming languages?

  • 6 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 127 Views
  • 8 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by iamthwee

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for DeeperShade

At a guess, because there are so many goals and tasks that require completion and so many people attempting to complete them but each with their own skillset and ability so that one language alone cannot cater to them all.

Not to mention different languages have different focuses. Some for more physics/maths based focus, others better for graphical focus etc etc.

Member Avatar for deceptikon

Why do you think there are soo many programming languages?

Off the top of my head:

  • Because one size doesn't fit all, and different languages suit different purposes.
  • Because computer science continues to evolve, and yesterday's language may not be suitable for today's needs.
  • Because programming language theory is interesting, and creating a language is an amazing educational tool.
  • Because new languages let us push the limits of programming theory, which produces new techniques and beneficial advancements.
  • Finally, why not? :D
Member Avatar for mike_2000_17

I think deceptikon listed all the "good" reasons, but there are also "bad" reasons:

  • A new programming language can be an attractive sale-point to promote the adoption of some new framework (e.g., .NET or JVM).
  • A programming language can be a good tool for vendor-lock-in strategies when certain companies (cough.. Microsoft.. cough.. Apple..) get developers to adopt a language that is tied to a certain exclusive framework or operating system (cough.. .NET.. cough.. iOS..).
Member Avatar for Dani

A programming language can be a good tool for vendor-lock-in strategies when certain companies

Objective-C was actually created in the 1980s, not by Apple for iOS, and today, that's just one popular use case for the language. Back in the day, it was used to write the flavor of Unix that OS X is based on. It only makes sense for Apple to encourage iOS apps to be written in the same language that the iOS, and OS X, itself, are written in.

Compare that to Microsoft who promotes their C# language and yet MS Windows is written in C/C++. (Mainly b/c C# is such a high level language, but still.)

Member Avatar for iamthwee

be written in the same language that the iOS, and OS X, itself, are written in.

One claims to do what others do not. In essence they all, more or less behave the same.

Crunching binary 1s or 0s.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.