Programming Languages#
There are only two kinds of programming languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses.
— Bjarne Stroustrup (creator of C++)
Slides/PDF#
Generations of Programming Languages#
Generation - At first, computers were programmed directly in binary machine code that a processor could execute directly, but it could usually understand only a single processor type.
1101 0000 0000 0111 1011 1011 1111 1110 1000 1010 1101 0010 0000 0111 1111
Generation – assembly languages use machine instructions (ADD, MOV, …) for a specific processor type. The instructions are translated into machine code with the help of an assembler.
CLO MOV AL, 2 ; copies 2 into register AL ADD AL, 3 ; adds 3 to register AL END
Generation - High-level programming languages are human-readable and closer to natural language. A compiler translates the code into machine code.
while i < 20:
x = x + i * i
if x > 100:
i = i + 3
The Most Popular Programming Languages#
Changes in software requirements not only drive software architectures to evolve, but also bring new programming languages that gain in popularity. Initially, traditional application languages (C++) were replaced by server-side languages like Java, and then by web languages (PHP, Perl, JavaScript). Over the past 20 years, JavaScript has established itself in this area, mainly because it can be used on both the client and server sides. Since 2017, Python has gained enormous popularity, particularly because it is widely used in the AI field.
New programming languages constantly evolve to meet changing requirements.
Traditional application languages like C++ were replaced by server-side languages like Java.
Later, there was a shift to web languages such as PHP, Perl, and JavaScript.
In recent years, JavaScript has become popular for websites.
Since 2017, Python has become increasingly popular due to its use in AI.
Python#
Python has gained popularity in recent years, although it is older than Java, C#, and JavaScript. Its popularity stems, on the one hand, from the language being designed with a strong emphasis on readability and simplicity, which makes it very easy to learn. Moreover, due to its age there are now many libraries, and for almost every problem there is an existing solution. As a result, Python is also highly versatile.