Since The 1950s, Computer Scientists Have Invented Thousands Of Programming Languages. 

Most Of These Languages ​​Are Unfamiliar And Perhaps Only Developed As Doctoral Theses And Dissertations, And We Never Hear About Them Again.

Others became popular for a short period and then faded from the cycle due to a lack of support or because they were limited to a particular computer system.

Some of them are a branch of the current languages, only some functional features have been added to them, and they emerged with the sole purpose of running on different computer systems.

Comparison of programming languages

There are different ways to compare and evaluate programming languages. Still, to make this article easier to understand, we decided to only go for compiled programming languages and provide a good level of abstraction.

Compile to machine code

Some programming languages ​​work so that the code written by programmers must be converted into machine code. More precisely, the instructions that the central processing unit (CPU) can understand. This process of changing regulations from language understandable to humans to computer language is called compilation. Assembly languages C, C Plus Plus, and Pascal are included in the group of compiled languages.

Interpreted languages

Other programming languages are interpretive. Among these languages, we should mention Basic, Actionscript, and JavaScript, which can be interpreted or, like Java and C#, a combination of both compiled and interpreted modes.

Interpreted languages ​​are processed at runtime. These languages work because every line of code is read, analyzed, and executed. Because these programming languages have to reprocess lines of code in a loop, they are slower than compiled languages. This overhead means that interpreted code runs 5 to 10 times slower than compiled code.

Interpreted languages ​​such as Basic or JavaScript are the slowest programming languages. Their advantage is that there is no need to recompile after making changes. These features come in handy when planning to learn a programming language.

Since compiled programs almost always run faster than interpreted programming languages, languages ​​such as C and C++ are the most popular for writing games.

The results of some benchmarks show that the execution speed of programs written in Java and C# languages is the same or sometimes faster than the compiled language of C Plus Plus. Java and C# are interpreted or assembled, increasing their performance. Because the Java Virtual Machine interprets Java code and runs the .Net framework of C#, they provide the highest optimization level.

Abstraction Level

Another way to compare programming languages is based on the abstraction level. The abstraction level of the program expresses how close a language and program written with that programming language are to the hardware. Machine code is the lowest level, and assembly language is just above it. C++ is superior to C because C++ provides more abstraction. The abstraction level of Java and C# languages ​​is higher than C++ because they are compiled into an intermediate language called bytecode.

How to compare languages

Fast compiled languages

• Assembly Language
• thirty (C)
• C Plus Plus (C++)
• Pascal
• C# (C#)
• Java

Interpretive and fast

• Perl
• PHP

Commentary at low speed

• JavaScript
• ActionScript (ActionScript)
• Basic

Machine code is the instructions that a central processor executes. This is the only thing a CPU can understand and implement. Interpreted languages ​​require a program called an interpreter to read each line of the program’s source code and run it.

The interpretation is more straightforward.

It is easy to stop, change, and restart programs written in interpreted languages, which is why these programming languages are so popular to learn. These languages ​​do not need a compilation process. For example, a large graphic written in C++ can take minutes to hours, depending on how much code needs to be regenerated and the memory and CPU speed.

When computers first appeared

When computers first became widely used in the 1950s, programs were written in machine code because there was no other way. Programmers had to flip switches to enter values physically. A tedious and slow process used to build an app. This problem made the need for computer languages ​​close to human language felt.

Assembler: fast to run – slow to write!

Assembly language is the machine-readable code version and has a syntax similar to vhMov A, $45. This process is done in the central codes that are supposed to be executed in the heart of an operating system or graphics card driver. Since assembly language codes are written for a specific family of CPUs, they are not very portable and take time to learn and write. Languages ​​like C have reduced dependence on assembly language, except when we are short on RAM or need time-sensitive code.

Assembly is a programming language with the lowest level of code.

Assembly language is shallow-level. Most code only moves values ​​between CPU registers and memory. When you’re building a payroll program and thinking about options like payroll and withholding, you’re no longer looking to move the value of a variable into memory location XYZ. the programmer can think about salaries, deductions, taxes, etc., and not get involved in hardware issues like registers, memory, and instructions. Higher-level languages such as C++, C#, or Java have emerged.

System programming with C

Dennis Ritchie invented C in the early 1970s. C is a low-level language and is called a portable assembly language. It can be thought of as a general-purpose tool that is quite useful and powerful. Still, the relatively unlimited power it gives the programmer makes systems running applications written in this language insecure. The syntax of many scripting languages ​​is based on C, including JavaScript, PHP, and ActionScript.

Perl-serving websites and utilities

Famous in the Linux world, Perl was one of the first web languages ​​and is still popular today. It’s unrivaled for doing “quick and dirty” programming on the web, and many websites are built using it. Of course, PHP has marginalized this programming language.

PHP programming language, the undisputed king

PHP was invented as a web server language and interacted with Linux, Apache, MySql, and PHP to form the LAMP stack. This language works based on C syntax and has objects and classes. A language is interpreted but precompiled, so its code executes quickly. PHP is not used to develop desktop applications.

The Pascal programming language was invented a few years before C as an academic language, but it has limited string and file management functionality. Various companies tried to fix its shortcomings, but it didn’t meet with success until Borland Turbo Pascal (for Dos) and Delphi (for Windows) came along. These two practical implementations added enough functionality to the language for commercial development. However, Borland succumbed to Microsoft and faded away.

C++ is an unrivaled language

C Plus Plus was designed about ten years after C and was noted for introducing the object-oriented programming paradigm and features such as exceptions and templates. Learning all the features of the C++ language is a huge undertaking that is well worth it. C++ is the most complex programming language in this article, but once you master it, you will have no problem with any other language.

# Big C is Microsoft’s trump card in the world of programming

Delphi architect Anders Hejlsberg created C# after he moved to Microsoft. C# is similar to Java, which is not surprising since Hjelsberg developed it. Learn C#; you will have no problem learning Java. Both languages ​​are semi-compiled, so instead of being compiled into machine code, they are assembled into bytecode and then interpreted.

JavaScript at the heart of web applications

JavaScript is nothing like Java. The programming language is based on C syntax with support for the Objects feature and is mainly used in browsers. JavaScript is interpreted and slower than compiled languages but performs well in browsers. After several years of stagnation, the language was reborn with the advent of AJAX. A feature that allows only the parts of a web page that have changed to be downloaded and loaded from the server. JavaScript supports asynchronous and XML well.

Basic suitable for beginners

Bare stood for General Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code for Beginners and was created to teach programming in the 1960s. Microsoft developed this language in different versions, such as VBScript for building websites and Visual Basic. Its latest version is VB.NET, and similar to C#, it runs on the .NET platform and produces the same CIL bytecode.

Free and simple Lua

Lua is a free scripting language written in C that provides features such as garbage collection and routines. This programming language interfaces well with C++/C and is used in the gaming (as well as non-gaming) industry to script game logic, event triggers, and game controls.

last word

While everyone has their favorite language and invests time and resources in learning how to program, some problems and applications are better solved with the appropriate language. For example, you wouldn’t use C to write web applications, and you wouldn’t write an operating system with JavaScript. All in all, whatever language you choose, whether it’s C, C++, or C#, at least you know you’re in the right place to start.