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Saturday, January 30, 2010

What are Some of the Different Computer Programming Languages?

There are thousands of computer programming languages. These languages are used to control the way computers behave, process information, express algorithms, and handle tasks. Some computer programming languages have been around for many years while new languages, or variations on old ones, are developed every year. Computer programming languages range from the simple and easy to use to very complicated languages used by only the most technologically proficient programmers.

One well-known computer programming language is called Visual BASIC. Microsoft Visual BASIC is considered a high level programming language. It is descendant from Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC), a Disk Operating System (DOS) programming language. Visual BASIC is considered simple to learn, featuring codes that bear a similarity to written English. Visual BASIC is both visual and events driven, featuring a graphical environment for programming.

Pascal is also well known among those with interest in computer programming languages. Developed in 1970, by Professor Niklaus Wirth, Pascal is an imperative language. An imperative language is one that uses computations as statements, changing program states through sequences of commands. Professor Wirth developed Pascal to fill feature gaps left by other computer programming languages. His development goals included designing a programming language that would facilitate the creation of well-structured programs, allow for implementation efficiency, and prove helpful in teaching computer-programming concepts.

Fortran is a general-purpose computer programming language that was first introduced by IBM in the early 1950s. It is one of the most frequently used computer programming languages for numerical-based and scientific-computing applications. Fortran fits into categories reserved for general purpose and imperative computer programming languages; it is also considered procedural. It is frequently used in computation-heavy areas, such as computational sciences and climate modeling.

C++ is a high-level computer programming language. It is considered general purpose and is widely used for modern computers. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup, at Bell Labs, C++ was first introduced in 1985. This programming language was developed for the UNIX environment, allowing programmers to enjoy an easier process for writing code and improving code quality. Additionally, C++ makes it possible to modify existing code without changing it.


Often considered a superset of the C programming language, C++ includes some features of the earlier language. It also boasts compilers capable of running C programs. However, there are major differences. For example, the C programming language, developed in the early 1970s, employs structured programming concepts while C++ is object oriented. C++ was designed with the goal of enhancing the C programming language.

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