Download There are many different programming languages used in the

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Anthony DiCarlo
Mr. Carpenter
INFT 111
04 April 2006
Program Languages in Today’s Computer Industry
There are many different programming languages used in the computer industry
today. Some of these languages are more popular than others, and depending on the
objective it is up to the programmer to decide what language he or she will choose.
This paper will compare and evaluate three major programming languages which are
used in the computer industry today.
Visual Basic 2005, the latest version of the program language, is one of the most
popular languages that many programmers begin with. An incredible 52 percent of
programmers were using Visual Basic back in 2003, which is quite a large percentage
with the amount of program languages available today. Many corporations use Visual
Basic because it has the ability to create Windows applications quickly and efficiently;
almost on the fly. The easy to comprehend syntax is another possibility why Visual
Basic may be so popular with users. Visual Basic is not an actual object-oriented
language, but it holds to the same the philosophy. Object-oriented programming allows
programmers to identify data types, as well as the operations that can be joined to the
structure. Another type of programming is procedural which is similar to object-oriented
programming, except with object-oriented programming you have the option to produce
modules that do not need to be altered when a new type of object is added; you do not
have this option with procedural programming. A program is a structured list of
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commands that cause a computer to perform in a fixed manner when the program is
ran, or executed. A compiler, which is included in ever high-level programming
language, has the ability to decode a source code into object code. Visual Basic is a
high-level programming language because it is moderately easy to learn, maintain, and
it comes with a compiler. If it were a low-level programming language the language
would be a machine language and basically written in a language that only the
computer could understand. Many programmers today are making the choice to move
on to more popular, advanced languages such as C, C++, or Java.
C++ version 6.0, the latest version of this language, was designed and
implemented by Bjarne Stroustrup in the early 1980s while working for AT&T Bell
Laboratories. Stroustrup initially created C++ while adding attributes to the program
language called C. C had many limitations so C++ was created to support objectoriented programming (OOP). C++ is a high level program language because it is
easier to read, write, as well as maintain. It is stated by Juan Soulie that C++ “has
certain characteristics over the other programming languages. The most remarkable
ones are object-oriented programming, portability, brevity, modular programming, C
compatibility, and speed”. I don’t yet know a whole lot about programming but from
what I have learned I would agree that these characteristics are very important. Any
programmer would be happy with having a language that is fast for compiling and such.
With its portability you can just about compile the same C++ code on a variety of
computers and operating systems, with very little changes to the code. C++ is a very
powerful language that holds a great deal of popularity with a large amount of
programmers.
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Java is an object-oriented programming language that is widely used by
programmers today, as well as one that is currently being used extensively on the
Internet because of its intentions for use in the distributed surroundings of the Internet.
Due to its ease of use and ability to maintain, Java is considered a high level
programming language too. The current version of Java may differ depending on the
platform someone is using such as Windows, UNIX, Linux or Macintosh. To keep it easy
we will use the Windows environment and the latest version is JDK 5.0 Update 6. It is
the first platform independent language that I have encountered so far, and it is quite
interesting. Webopedia describes a platform as “The underlying hardware or software
for a system”. Platform independent is a program that is dependent on a specific type
of platform, and a language may be platform independent if it will only run on a specific
platform and nothing else. The Java platform contains two components which are the
Java Virtual Machine, as I am sure many computer owners have heard of, and the Java
Application Programming Interface or API. Many programs on the Internet require the
Java Virtual Machine to run, such as when you are viewing certain streaming media
videos. Without this Java program installed, you will be unable to view certain software
that runs on the Internet. Java is also another very popular programming language that
many ‘coders’ seem to advance to from other languages such as Visual Basic.
There are a variety of programming languages available today. Depending on
the experience of the user, as well as meeting the objectives from a client, there are
many languages he or she can choose from. Some more popular than others, some
easier then others, and some more advanced; they all do very much the same thing
which is they all write code. The computer industry come leaps and bounds since the
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first days of programming languages, and given programmers many more options and
something to look forward to in the future.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Visual Basic." Wikipedia. 06 Apr. 2006. 08 Apr. 2006
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic>.
Crowley, James. "Complete VB Beginners Tutorial - What is VB?." Developer Fusion.
2006. 08 Apr. 2006 <http://www.developerfusion.co.uk/show/30/2/>.
Webopedia. 2006. 08 Apr. 2006 <http://www.webopedia.com/>.
LaMonica, Martin. "Study: Visual Basic use may be slipping." CNet News.com. 07 May.
2003. 08 Apr. 2006
<http://news.com.com/Study+Visual+Basic+use+may+be+slipping/2100-1007_31000011.html>.
Pottepalem, Giridhar. "C++." GIRI's Award-Winning Home on Arts, Entertainment and
Technology. 24 Jul. 1999. 21 Mar. 2006
<http://giridharp.tripod.com/Technology/cpp.html>.
Stroustrup, Bjarne. "The C++ Programming Language." Bjarne Stroustrup's Homepage.
16 Feb. 2006. 21 Mar. 2006 <http://public.research.att.com/~bs/C++.html>.
Soulie, Juan. "A brief description." cplusplus.com. 12 Nov. 2005. 08 Apr. 2006
<http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/information/description.html>.
"WebAsyst Glossary." WebAsyst. 08 Apr. 2006
<http://www.webasyst.net/glossary.htm>.
"The Java Tutorial." Java Technology. 23 Dec. 2005. 08 Apr. 2006
<http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/>.