Re: Sociology of Programming Language Use

[mcsun!uknet!ukc!yorkohm!minster!mjl-b@uunet.uu.net]

In article <1991Oct21.175825.10745@beaver.cs.washington.edu> pattis@cs.washingt
on.edu (Richard Pattis) writes:
>I thought that the following post (From: eric@tfs.com (Eric Smith)) might
>be of interest to those discussing why Ada hasn't "caught on" as much as
>it "should".
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>C++ seems to be gaining "critical mass" for the same reason Pascal did
>in the late 1970's.  Pascal became widely available at low cost when
>UCSD published their version at a very low price.  It rapidly gained
>popularity during the rest of the 1970's and early 1980's.  Borland's
>Turbo Pascal gave it an additional kick.
>
>The same thing happened to C a few years after Pascal.  There were lots
>of companies publishing low cost high quality compilers for it so it
>gained critical mass.
>
>The same thing has been happening with C++ recently, and that is IMHO
>the real reason why C++ is more popular than Eiffel.  When people
>choose a new programming language, it has nothing to do with what
>language they used before.
>
>Programmers satisfied with their present programming language are less
>likely to try to find better alternatives than those who are
>dissatisfied.  So a C programmer who wants to find a better language
>would probably have a bias against C++ in favor of getting further away
>from C.

Indeed, if you read the US Air-Force report on the comparison of Ada and
C++, Ada scores over C++ in almost every catagory. Two of the catagories
that Ada doesnt't win are "popularity" and "acceptance".

It seems that Ada is up against "brand loyalty" here. The very people who
admitted that Ada was better than C++ in each of the catagories mentioned in
the report also said that they were happier with C++!

>  Richard E. Pattis			"Programming languages are like
>  Department of Computer Science	 pizzas - they come in only "too"
>    and Engineering			 sizes: too big and too small."

| Mathew Lodge              | "Baldrick, are the words 'I have a cunning plan' 
|
| mjl-b@minster.york.ac.uk  |  heading towards this conversation with ill      
|
| Summer: lodge%alsys@uknet |  deserved confidence?" -- Blackadder III         
|