From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 5b1e799cdb,3ef3e78eacf6f938 X-Google-Attributes: gid5b1e799cdb,public,usenet X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news2.google.com!news4.google.com!feeder.news-service.com!novso.com!news.skynet.be!195.238.0.222.MISMATCH!newsspl501.isp.belgacom.be!tjb!not-for-mail From: "Francois PIETTE" Newsgroups: comp.lang.eiffel,comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.modula3,comp.lang.pascal,comp.programming References: In-Reply-To: Subject: Re: Alternatives to C: ObjectPascal, Eiffel, Ada or Modula-3? Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:53:50 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"; reply-type=response Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Windows Mail 6.0.6002.18005 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.0.6002.18005 Message-ID: <4a61e20e$0$2865$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be> Organization: -= Belgacom Usenet Service =- NNTP-Posting-Host: b41735ac.news.skynet.be X-Trace: 1247928846 news.skynet.be 2865 81.244.161.172:57663 X-Complaints-To: usenet-abuse@skynet.be Xref: g2news2.google.com comp.lang.eiffel:296 comp.lang.ada:7130 comp.lang.modula3:23 comp.programming:11754 Date: 2009-07-18T16:53:50+02:00 List-Id: > I'm a CS student and I often need to write number-crunching code dealing > with combinatorial optimization problems. > In the past I used C, but now I have decided to change language. > I'm looking for a "better" one. > > Here follow the features it should have, ranked approximately by > relevance: > > 0) open-source support and an alive community > 1) directly compiled to efficient code > 2) statically typed and object-oriented, better if multi-paradigm > 3) general-purpose libraries (possibly standardized, either by standard or > de facto), including containers and some math abstractions. > 4) garbage collected. As an alternative, provide memory management > policies via libraries (e.g. memory pools and such) > 5) optional run-time checks and some kind of control over compilation and > low-level issues > 6) "relatively simple and consistent" > > So I have considered these alternatives: FreePascal, Eiffel, Ada and > Modula-3. You said you are a student. So probably your goal is to get a job after your studies. If this is the case, you forgot the most important thing regarding language selection: The possibility to get a job ! In that context, I wouldn't use any of the language you mentionned ! Ok, maybe FreePascal which would be replaced by Delphi or Delphi Prism once you are in a company for a real work. If it is not Delphi, then use C# or Java. It is likely that Delphi would be the fastest regarding number crunching. Delphi has a large and alive community. You can find a lot of opensource and freeware for Delphi. -- francois.piette@overbyte.be The author of the freeware multi-tier middleware MidWare The author of the freeware Internet Component Suite (ICS) http://www.overbyte.be