From: obry@flash.bellcore.com (Pascal Obry)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Computer languages
Date: 5 Nov 92 21:33:44 GMT
Distribution: comp.lang.ada
Organization: /u/obry/.organization


Some peoples said (and I thought too) :

	We should use the good language for the good job.
	And one language can't be use for all purposes.
	So we need to know more than one language.

I agree and desagree with this.

It is true that one should make the good choice whenever he need to start a
project. But I think that this choice is more between *kind* of languages
since :

  1)	- Ada, C++, Modula-3, Eiffel are all good `all purposes' languages
	  And whatever you can build in Ada you could do it in C++ or Modula-3
	  (the opposite is true) except maybe for the real-time programming
	  which is include in the core of Ada.

  2)	- C / C++ for low-level programming and binding.

  3)	- Prolog for expert system and logic programming

  4)	- Smalltalk for prototyping

  5)	- Lisp for ...
	  It's a little bit a `all purposes' programming since it has been
	  use (and implemented) for different domain.

		star-lisp on the connexion machine
		lisp on the silicon graphics computer
		lisp is on work station but also PC and use for e-macs ...

	  But it handle very well list.


So here we have 5 groupes. There is more anyway : real-time, databases ... 
But I don't know very well these areas.

So my point is that we should know more than one language, but they must be
spread amongst the differents group.

Is it worth to know all the languages in the first group ?
I'am sure not. But how to know that before learning all of them ?

Yes, by the good advices of somebody else.

Feel free to comments, or complete this.

Actually, I find Ada very attractive. And I use it for every kind of works.
I never use it for big projects, but I use it for small or very small ones
(for my personals tools, filter ...) and I find it very usefull, there is
so more reusable packages that you don't have to worry about linked-list and
all known data-structure and more. Working with Ada is like to build houses,
when you terminate a package (pose a brick) you know that you made a step.
A brick has 4 sides in common with others. If your brick is straight you know
right now that you will never had to worry about it later ... I'm really in
love with Ada ...

Opps ... Ok, I'am back. I was dreaming and you never know what could happen
then. Anyhow I have never feel the same thing with others languages. Except
maybe Eiffel, it's definitely a great language.

Pascal.

PS : Sorry but I know that my english is not perfect.

     By the way, I have seen a lot of abbreviations in different text 
     that I don't know, If somebody want to define them : IMHO, BTW
     (they are no relations with Ada or computer languages)
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