Subject: SURVEY: Programming Languages for the Amiga
From: [email-masked] (Vinnie Platt)
Date: 10 May 1993 18:02:07 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This survey was originally posted in
	comp.sys.amiga.programmer, so I grabbed it and posted it here (with
	permission given below).  If anybody would like to volunteer to clean
	up the survey results, and perhaps do some summarizing or make some
	tables, feel free!  - Dan]

	These are the responses I received to the survey I posted in
comp.sys.amiga.programmer.  The only changes I made was to strip out all
identifying headers and footers, and the responses are now numbered.

	None of them have been censored/edited in any way.  

	There are a total of 28 responses.  To move ahead to the next
response simply search for the term "Response #".  All responses have this
title.

	I did not prepare a tally for all of these.  Since the survey was
pretty much informal, there didn't seem to be much reason in retrospect.
Also, I'm not posting this to c.s.a.reviews so if someone else wants to then
go ahead.

	Also: sorry for the delay.  School comes first for me and it hasn't
been calling gently as of lately.

	I didn't get a chance to thank all who responded.  So, to all those
who responded, thank you!  You know who you are.

	If you have questions then just email me at
[email-masked].

			-- SURVEY RESULTS BEGIN HERE --

Response #1

In comp.sys.amiga.programmer you write:
>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
  Aztec C (5.2a)

  In no specific order:
   - ease of use...it's reasonably similar to the Unix tools I work with at
     school
   - it's packaged with an assembler (when you want to get down and dirty),
     and a nice source level debugger
   - complete library source (stdio, stdlib, etc)

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)
  Compiler construction (course work)--it's a Pascal subset for an imaginary
  RISC machine; Freelance software development--recently completed a custom
  touch screen driver for a local multimedia company

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
  Benchmark Modula-2

>4.  This is my next favorite because:
  Fast compilation, and integrated development environment (microemacs editor). 

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)
  Manx isn't planning any further development for the compiler package in
  the near future.

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
  Generated code is poor, ie zero optimization, and I hate emacs.

Response #2

>
>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
>
  Assembly language (at least for CISC type machines.  I've programmed
Assembly on RISC architectures (MIPS R3000) and man, it's even scarier than
the Intel 80x86 line 8-).  On the Amiga, I use A68k because:

	1. It produces object files that I can link to other programs
	   (important to me).

	2. It's free 8-)

	3. It comes with source code, and I have it running on my Unix box.

>
>
>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)
>
  System utilities and so far, one library.  I would also use it to hack
hardware, if I did indeed, hack hardware (which I don't yet).

>
>
>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
>
  C.  Specifically for the Amiga, Lattice C 5.1 (can't afford anything new,
and I'm still running 1.3).

>
>
>4.  This is my next favorite because:
>
  ViTH, a Forth like language I'm currently writing.  Object oriented, very
modern.  I like it because I'm writing it 8-)

>
>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)
>
  It can get quite tedious to use, and quite ugly if I'm not careful.  It's
also pretty easy to blow the machine if I make a typo (pass in the wrong
register, get addressing modes confused with the Intel 80x86 line (I do
program on several systems)).

>
>
>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
>
  Not enough control over the machine.  It comes close, but it's still not
as consice as Assembly.  And there are things one can do in Assembly (like
actually push arbitrary items on a stack for a newly created task) that one
has mucho trouble doing in C.

  -spc (Gee, I should get back to work now ... 8-)

Response #3

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

C.  I really can't agree with you that I should name one system as more
comfortable over another. After all, you ask for a _programming language_;
do you mean _programming environment_?  I got into a big argument
about this once.  I asked some people what features they would want in
a totally new programming language.  People replied that they would like
a nice integrated editor, on-line help, etc. etc.  I smacked them around a
little because THESE THINGS ARE NOT PART OF THE LANGUAGE. They
are part of the compiler/enivronment/developing package/whatever.  C is
my preferred language; I really don't care if it's SAS C, Borland C, or the
Unix acc.  However, as for my preferred environment : SAS C, 6.2 (on the
Amiga; Borland C on MS-DOS machines.)

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

I use C to program all sorts of things.  Games (of the thinking, role-playing,
and strategic variety, not action games), system software, experimental
programming for my own amusement (what happens if I do... this?), and
various other things I've only dabbled in.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

Hm. It used to be Pascal.  But, I've seen the 'C' light. :-) I used PCQ Pascal
on the Amiga.

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

It's like a cripple-ware version of C :-)

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)

C is impossible to read someone else's code in.

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

It's not as good as C.

>THE END

OK. If you don't like the fact I was dealing with languages instead of
compilers, think longer before you word your next questionnaire. :-)

Response #4

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
>    C++. It's class concept let's you write programs rather quickly, without
>    having to type certain things like list-implementation or string-management>    everytime. Sure, you can do this with C or Pascal, but it's just better 
>    with C++
>
>
>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)
>    Here at Purdue we use C++ in the CS-curriculum; unfortunately, I have
>    no experience with C++ on the Amiga, but I used to write in C (Aztec) on
>    the Amiga. When I get my Amiga from Germany, I will also get the C++
>    package from Maxon.
>
>
>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
>    I believe, that the MC680x0 machine code is so easy,that you actually
>    don't need a high-level language, especially if you have the 68881/2.
>    With a little experience you can write just as if you were writing in C.
>    I have written a spreadsheet program ENTIRELY in assembler without any
>    problems.
>
>
>4.  This is my next favorite because:
>     NONE - 
>
>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)
>    There is not much about C++, that is bad, but the Pascal command WITH 
>    should be implemented. I personally like the low-level languages
>
>
>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
>    There is nothing, that I don't like about assembler; however, if you are
>    writing programs that need not be speedy or that would just be a few lines
>    ( up to a 1500) use C or Pascal or Modula (which I don't know)

Response #5

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

DICE C unregistered, version unknown
It's small, fast and FREE (Well, actually shareware, but as the status of
support for the moment is unknown, as well as the fact I've heard Dillon
changed address a while ago makes me wait until the rumoured commercial
version is released. Besides that, AmigaOS is written in C, making just about
any C compiler essential to do Amiga programming, independent of the
programmer's taste. Another reason why I use it is because I often move code
between Amiga, UNIX and PC machines.

>
>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

Anything I need for the Amiga. E.g. a small one-purpose-only video texting
program, a register for videotapes, an invoicing program, a small game, etc.
etc. etc.

>
>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

Benchmark Modula-2 1.04

>
>4.  This is my next favorite because:

I like the Modula-2 way of programming. Clear and simple code, even if it
lacks many of the advantages of C, as #defines, ( a ? b : c)-if statements
etc. I like the possibility of having RECORDs whos contents depends of the
value of a variable in the RECORD. Nice src-level debugger.

>
>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)

Not C++-compatible. :-)
No source-level debugger available (as far as I know).

>
>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

It lacks #defines, ( a ? b : c)-statements, 2.x/3.x compability. Not very much
used by others. Its default OS has almost not spread from the corridors of Mr
Wirth's university.

Response #6

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

This question is too simplistic because I use and feel more comfortable with
different languages when I am programming for different purposes.

For example, I would not feel comfortable writing a tiny, run-once file-
manipulation hack in C.  Neither would I feel comfortable writing a large
project in Basic.  However there I situations where I would feel most
comfortable with either of those languages.

On the Amiga:

  When speed is critical:
    Assembler.  Macro68 is my favourite because it assembles so fast and
    supports such a wide range of directives.  Less speed critical parts
    of the same program may be written in another language.

  For large projects:
    When portability to other platforms ia critical: SAS/C 6.2 with STRICT_ANSI
      and using the SAS ANSI libraries (no direct KickStart calls), because
      ANSI C is available on so many platforms.
    When speed is important but not critical: SAS/C 6.2, because it
      generates the best code of any HLL for the Amiga that I know of.
    When speed is not important: BenchMark Modula-2, because I prefer the
      BenchMark debugger to SAS/C's CPR and I think Modula-2 is a better and
      safer language overall.

  For quick hacks:
    For high-level control of other applications: AREXX, because of its
      in-built message passing capability.
    For file manipulation hacks:  HiSoft Basic, because I am familiar with
      Basic and can code small hacks in it very quickly, and HiSoft Basic
      has always worked well for me on the Amiga --- but definitely not
      suitable for large programs (no structures, pointers, modules, etc).
      I would use Perl, but I haven't got to grips with Perl yet.

On other platforms:
  I rather like Pascal, but I'll take a guess that you don't really want to
  know the details.

I try to use the right tool for each job.

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

Assembler: I wrote the Spectrum Emulator on Aminet entirely in assembly.

SAS/C: Various portable language interpreters and compilers.

Benchmark Modula-2: Weather satellite image manipulation for the local
weather service (includes time-critical parts in assembly).

AREXX: High level automatic control of animation programs for weather service.

HiSoft Basic: Various personal hacks for once-off use.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

Second favourite assembly: A68k.  I would probably like DevPac but I've never
used it.

Second favourite C: DICE

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

A68k because it's free.

DICE because it's good value for money.

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)

Macro68:  The version I have doesn't optimise forward branches and has a rather
  small limit on size of macros.

SAS/C: Because it's C.  (C was not designed for safe programming.)

BenchMark Modula-2: Lack of termination-routine mechanism (for resource
  tracking), 64kbyte size limitation on structures and arrays, no IEEE or
  68882 math support.

AREXX: Stores numbers as strings.

HiSoft Basic: No structures/pointers, no modules or separate compilation

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

A68k: Doesn't support 020/030/040.

DICE: Doesn't optimise as well as SAS/C.

Response #7

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

	Sas C 5.10b. It is fast powerfull, and for some strange reason I
understand it. :) It is unix C compatible so my code ports easily back onto the
school machines.

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

	I write and update utilities. I am working on a debugger and on the
lateset version of Snap.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

	68000 assembly. Inparticular using Macro68.

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

	While it is a little slower for me to get stuff coded in it, it is the
fastest assembler on earth. It has tons of options and it totally configurable.

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)

	It produces big code. And that they have updated it and the update has
produced some incompatibilities with my old code.

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

	Programming in ASM can be just plain hard. But one of the things that I
really dis-like about it is that the author is in Australia and so it is nearly
impossible to get bug reports to him.

Response #8

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
SAS 6.2 because of the integreted programming enviroment,
speed, the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most complete
C compiler on the Amiga.

> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)
A paint program which will use intuition, gadtools and datatypes, RTG
etc. It's under development. :)

> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
MC

> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
It's quick (I'm not talking about development time).

> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
> 	here if you can)
I love it.

> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
The size of the source.

Response #9

1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
        (also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

That would be C, if only I understood it completely.   I want to know a lot
about the Amiga and its fabulous OS, but for that I need C and my knowledge
of that is not as good as I thought it would be.

2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
        you do with it)

Little stupid hello world programs and things of approximately equal 
intelligence levels.

3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

C64 machine language.  Seriously!  That's where I got started, and I still 
love it because you don't have to be polite to other programs.  My program
wants the graphics screen, the sound chip, and the joystick.  "No, no," says
another program, "I already have them."  "Fuck you," bellows my program and
siezes them. Wonderful.

To be serious (I was up there), on the Amiga it would probably be E, but
I need to know more about it to make a serious judgement about it.

4.  This is my next favorite because:

See above.

5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
        here if you can)

Too damn slow and also rather ugly when it comes to complicated structures and
pointer combinations.

6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

Needs type checking, needs to be a little bit more OO.  But -- the speed
of the thing when it compiles, oooh that gets me going.  :P

Response #10

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

PCQ Pascal 1.2d (Registered)

I like the way it converts Pascal to assembler source so I can tweak the
code to my liking...

>
>
>
>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)
>

I work as an applications programmer for an up and coming scientific
company, who use amigas for their control/database applications.  I am
in charge of writing applications, and I chose PCQ due to it's relatively
low price and ease of use.

>
>
>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
>

Assembler for obvious reasons... 8-)

>
>
>4.  This is my next favorite because:
>

I use it in conjunction with PCQ

>
>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
>	here if you can)
>

When it comes to using external libraries, some people's memory management
routines conflict with PCQ's.

>
>
>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
>

Can't think of anything...

Response #11

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

 AsmOne v1.15 / Trash'em One v1.6

 All in one editor, debugger and monitor, Fast, Easy to use + too lazy to try
 anything else...

> 
> 
> 
> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)
> 

 Demos and utilities + starting on a game soon...

> 
> 
> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
> 
> 
> 
> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
> 
> 
> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
> 	here if you can)
> 
> 
> 
> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

Response #12

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

AMOS Basic

It's comfy cos it does everything for you -- perfect for knocking up the odd
throwaway program

> 
> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)

My piece de resistance was a flat-file card index program which opened an
Intuition screen and almost complied with the `Amiga User Interface Style-Guide'.

> 
> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
> 

Assembly Language (with Devpac 3) -- if I get the time, this will become my main
language...

> 
> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
> 

You can do anything in it. And it's small, it's fast.

> 
> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
> 	here if you can)

It's basically just too close to the metal -- the only way to do OS-friendly
programs is by covering them with Pokes and Peeks. In fact there's a lot of the
OS which is just _totally unavailable_ to AMOS programmers.

> 
> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
> 

Assembly is a helluva difficult and time-consuming.

Response #13

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

Forth ( JForth v3.1 on the Amiga). Forth is a high-level language, but 
do provide almost the same control possibilities as Assembly-language do. 
You do work inside your programing-kernal, and can easily test any sub-part
of a program. 

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

Playing around and investigate the Amiga and its OS. Writing small utilities 
for my own and friends need.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

C(++). ( GCC 2.3.3 on the Amiga)

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

Because it is so common, most programers know about it and understands what 
you are talking about ( you can't say that about Forth :-) ). It is rather
portable.

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper

There has for a very long time not been a common standard. ( But now there is
an ANSI-standard.) Most Forth-programmers are self-learned, therefore there 
are almost as many Forth-programming-styles as there are Forth-programmers.

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

Too large, and too unpredictable and clumsy.

I hope this could be of some use....

Response #14

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

Awk.  Typeless data. It does all of the low-level work of parsing a text file
for you.  It is interpreted but fast enough for lots of things.  The entire
well-written users manual (_The Awk Programming Language_) is 204 pp. and
has the best index of any book I've used.

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

I do all sorts of text processing with it.  That's what it's designed for,
and in keeping with UNIX type tools, it does one thing very well.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

C.

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

It's a small language, portable code (if written so), can do "anything" 
with it.

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper

Graphics programming is difficult.

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

It's too flexible.

Response #15

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
> 

C ... Because it is portable and you can do almost anything in it ...
If you really wonna get low level, you can still link assembly code
with your C code ...

> 
> 
> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)
> 

Everything ... AmigaDOS projects : simple things to create soft-links, more
complex stuff with GadTools interfaces, low-level stuff (The Promotor) that
patches libraries ...

> 
> 
> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
> 
>

Assembler ...

> 
> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
> 

Because it gives me control over the few things that are still a bit difficult
from C.

> 
> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
> 	here if you can)
>

The fact that the development environment doesn't write the program completely
by itself ... :-)

> 
> 
> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
> 
>

Well, it's too low-level to do the really serious work in ...

Note:

Some people have told me that E should combine the good points of both C and
assembler, so I'll be checking out E ... I doubt however that it can drive C
from my harddisk, since it isn't really portable yet !

Response #16

|> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
|> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

Quite difficult. It would have been easier if you had used separate questions
for "fav. language"/"fav. implementation". Well...

SAS/C 6.2   - A great implementation of the C language. Has got everything and
              more. Best of all: The debugger. But it's still C.

|> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
|> 	you do with it)
 
My "master's thesis" (I think this is the equivalent thing in USA. In 
Germany there's a final task for students of cs. which is called "Diplomarbeit".
This is what I mean) as a student of computer science with SAS/C.

Other programs which have to be fast (chinese chess).
 
|> 
|> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
|> 

UNSWProlog 4.2. Prolog is the only language where programming is still
fun and adventure :-) Unfortunately there seems to be no commercial
Prolog implementation for the Amiga. Therefore all Prolog programs are sloooooww.
IMHO, UNSWProlog has got the best features of the available PD implementations
(speed,online help...)

|> 
|> 4.  This is my next favorite because:

I'm some kind of prolog fan, and because You can write Prolog programs in 20
lines which take hundreds of lines in C/Pascal/Basic. 

|> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
|> 	here if you can)

The only thing about SAS/C which I don't like is that it's C. And IMHO, C is
crap. It's better than Fortran or BASIC, but worse than everything else (especially Prolog, SML, even MODULA-II.). It's a language of the 70's, and
we've got the 90's now.
(If You cite this, I'll be flamed to death :-) ).
 
|> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
|> 

Prolog programs are sloooooww (more than 50 times slower than their C
equivalents). UNSWProlog has far to few debugging facilities.

Response #17

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

Assembler. Fast and powerful. Generates small programs.

> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)

So far: IntuiTracker 1.50 (module player)
        NPD 2.40          (noisepacker 2.xx decruncher)

> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper

Too much reinventing of the wheel when coding :-).

Response #18

1. SAS/Lattice C 5.10b.
	Umm, It's easy to program OS, not too type constrained like Modula-2, and
	it's the best package I have on my Amy.

2. Intuition programs, basic at the minute., Least I'm honest.

3. Umm Assembler, with Devpac 3.02.
	Ace editor/Assembler/Debugger enviroment, easy to see what's happening.

4. I hate Modula-2 on the Sparcs and am not learning C++ yet. Sparcs have an Ace
   debugger thou, MEGA Debugger!!

5. Umm, hard one. Compiler Speed!! Especially on big programs.

6. Umm I am not very good at it so if errors come streaming my way I run for cover.

Hope it helps

Response #19

Well, you didn't limit the programming language platform to the Amiga,
so I'm (unfortunately) going to have to base these reponses to my
experiences on platforms other than the Amiga (ie. Unix-boxes).

1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:

	Prolog.  Yes, it's a masochistic, bondage-like language, but I
guess you have to read the response to question number 2 for full details.

2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
	   you do with it)

	Natural language processing.  At least in this field, Prolog
is the best suited language keeping in mind ease of programming and
availabilty of previous code.  I've used it, specifically, to process
English sentences into Conceptual Dependency structures, and I'm now
working on using Functional Unificiation Grammar to create output in
Japanese.  But that's not important, is it?

3.  My second favorite language is: 

	C.  

4.  This is my next favorite because:
	
	I had to use it all during my CS days, and it was the only
other language (other than Scheme) that was widely used for
undergraduate work at UCLA.  (Well, except for Prolog in the NLP
sections of my education.)  I like it because it'll let you nitpick
and be precise about everything (mostly because it forces you to do
so).  It's quick and portable, too.

5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: 

	It really doesn't support output formats really well.  I'd
like it if it could have the output functionality of C.  At least with
Sicstus Prolog, it's hard to link the code with X-windows, making it
hard to come up with any real kind of graphical interface.  

6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is:

	C tends to be a nitpicky language, forcing the user to look at
every single * and & during programming.  It's hard to debug.

Response #20

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
	C -	It has a compiler on most machines and is low level enough to
		do anything. Interface with many packages.
>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)
	Unix Database Access (C-ISAM)
	Unix Screens (Curses)
	Amiga screens
	Amiga/Unix Comms. (serial)
	Unix Network (sockets)
	Unix IPC (ques, shared mem, semaphores)
	Vax Mailbox Stuff (A long time ago)
	etc
>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
	BASIC

>4.  This is my next favorite because:
	It's the only other one I know really well
	It has a reasonable availability. (PC, Amiga, my old vz200)
>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
	Functions need to be re-written most of the time, rather than
	be re-used. (There's alway some parameter that is required or not
	required). I think I'll be heading for C++.
>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
	Parameter passing, global parameters, two types of saving (token) and
	(ascii). Built in editor for tokenised.

Response #21

1. GFA Basic. C compiling is great, but NOTHING beats hitting Amiga-R to run 
an interpreted version of my program. Add to that Bit arrays, binary 
inclusions, Fast floating point operations (with import/export to IEEE!), 
built in support for the Basic Amiga libraries (like ? AvailMem(2) right from 
immediate mode!).... etc...

2. I use GFA basic to program 2D and 3D graphic utilities.

3. C. For libraries, small utilities, etc.

4. It's my next favorite because it doesn't have an interpreter!

5. GFA Has bugs. Everyone is so enthralled with AMOS that GFA has dropped the 
Amiga market and it will never get fixed.

6. The only thing I don't like about C is the edit-compile-run process. I 
need instant feedback.

Response #22

: 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
: 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

`C'  (I use SAS/C, GCC on Unix, Borland C++/C on MSDOS)

I have been programming in `C' for app. 4-5 years.  It was also the first
programming language where I did anything serious.

: 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
: 	you do with it)

Anything that doesn't demand the utmost possible speed, in which case I downcode
to assembly language. (rare)

: 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

C++ I guess.

: 4.  This is my next favorite because:

It has some nice object oriented stuff.

: 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper

I can't really think of anything right now.

: 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

Too complex I wish Objective-C would have been the popular successor to `C'.

Response #23

Hi,
  Using 'r' didn't allow me to edit your post, so I'm just sending you
a normal mail...

1) favorite language--> AmigaE..  It can do most all of what C can do, and is
   much easier for me and other C-illiterates to read.  Even C people who
   don't know E code can usually look at it and immediately tell what it's doing.

2) Right now, I'm programming a 3d modeller

3) 2nd favorite--> AMOS.. it's a lot of fun to use, and since I grew up on BASIC,
   it came very natural to me.

4) see #3

5) I really don't like the lack of good float support in AmigaE so far.

6) The dirty looks I get when I say that I happen to like AMOS.. ;)

Thanks, and I hope that I've helped... ;)

Response #24

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

    C is my favorite language, although I like AREXX for ease of use, since
it is interpreted. I 'came' to C from assembly language and so appreciate the
standard library support. It's a good balance between low-level
speed/flexibility and rapid developement.

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

    Sound-processing programs; started about 10 games :); shell utilities;
general hobby-programming.

>3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

    Assembler, I suppose.

>4.  This is my next favorite because:

    Speed; flexibility; simplicity; simple programming environment;

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper)

    Too much freedom! This problem has a lot to do with the enormity of the
Amiga OS. 

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

    Even more freedom!

Response #25

>1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
>	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

E, because it's a versatile, low-level programming language. It also
includes lots of things not (easily) found in other languages, like LISTs,
"quoted expressions" and exception handling.
Also, it gives me fast compilation times, because of the pre-compiled includes.

>2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
>	you do with it)

All sorts of things:
LPmud room/monster/weapon/whatever creator.
ASCII text editor.
P interpreter. (Don't ask me what P is, it's something my teacher thought of)
+ other stuff.
(Most often, however I make small utilities for myself, programs that for
example adds a couple of lines to a text file, or whatever. Short utils,
meaning size < 3k)

>5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper

The E package consists of the compiler/assembler/linker "EC" and the includes.
The compiler goes straight from source to executable, without producing any
.o file. I hate having to include all my structures, etc. in the source code.
I would prefer "EC" to produce proper .o files like any decent compiler would.

Response #26

> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
> 
> E polymorphism because im lazy and its like modula2
> 
> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)
> 
>  small utils
> 
> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
> 
>  C
> 
> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
> 
  modula 2 versions for the amiga are crap
> 
> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
> 	here if you can)
> 
>  no oo and no user defined modules
> 
> 6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
> 
>    C is awful to look at

Response #27

1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)

    Assembly (assembler: AsmOne v1.02)
    comfy because:
    - no restrictions whatsoever
    - allows me to write quality software

2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
	you do with it)

    compilers, editors, intros, various utilities

3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)

    E (compiler: Amiga E v2.1b)

4.  This is my next favorite because:

    - powerfull features not found in other languages
      (exception handling, lists etc.)
    - fast
    - inline assembly
    - great type-system
    ... and lots more

5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
	here if you can)

    - ease of silly bugs introduced when being uncarefull
    - slow development speed

6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)

    some minor things ...

Response #28
 
> 1.  My favorite programming language for ease of use and comfort is:
> 	(also name what makes this language so 'comfy' for you)
68000 assembly language.  The cleaness of it, being able to know
exactly what is going on in any of my programs, being able to control
hardware very easily.  Also low resource use in development (don't
*need* hardisk and > 1 meg memory).  Interactive nature due to high
speed compilation and re-compilation.
Being able to write code that cannot be bettered :)

> 2.  I use this language to program: (name specifically what sorts of things
> 	you do with it)
Experimental hardware hitting code (vectors mainly)
OS friendly utilities - Mod players, Text viewers etc.
Applications, e.g. a directory utility, fully OS compliant etc (to my
knowledge - still writing :)
READ: anything!

> 3.  My second favorite language is: (don't bother with this question if NA)
'C'

> 4.  This is my next favorite because:
Simple, clean language.  Not too much control by compiler - allows ideas
to flow easier into programs. (compare with Pascal say)

> 5.  Something I don't like about my favorite language is: (think of a whopper
Bulkiness when interacting with some OS routines, being able to crash
computer too easily!

>6.  Something I don't like about my 2nd favorite language is: (insert whopper)
Too resource hungry, not so interactive due to compilation time etc.
Ecessive #include's for Amiga programming.
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