Update: If you feel like it, take the test and leave a comment with your score.
Update: I am curious about the question about which isn’t a real programming language. I guessed BASIC, but that doesn’t really make sense because BASIC can be compiled as well as interperted. Another question would be whether they are talking about all the BASIC languages (including the modern and very compilable Visual Basic) or whether they are talking about just the original BASIC language. I knew each of the other languages mentioned were at least pseudo-programming languages, but I didn’t know enough about any of them to randomly choose one. I chose BASIC because I thought its original form wasn’t compilable (“Contrary to popular belief, it [BASIC] was a compiled language at the time of its introduction.”) and because it is generally reviled by the C languages (C++, JavaScript, etc) community as a not-really-a-programming-language (BASIC, QBasic, Visual Basic, VBScript).
I’d love some discussion on that question. [X_software_company] employees?
Update:
I scored a 92% in my age/sex demographic.
9 Responses
July 26th, 2005 at 2:09 pm
61. Guess I’m just not as big a nerd as you. What a shame…
July 26th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Muhahahaha!
July 26th, 2005 at 10:37 pm
You’re probably hoping for an impassioned, slashdot-style squabble about Visual Basic. Sorry, you’re not getting that.
Some programmers do not consider Visual Basic a real programming language because they think it is used solely by amateurs to cobble together poorly designed programs and because the syntax is so different from their favorite languages, C++ and Java.
On the contrary, Visual Basic is certainly a real programming language. It is lacking in some areas, but that is hardly surprising. Every programming language works well in a certain domain, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Visual Basic has nice tools for user interfaces and excellent support for COM. Its disadvantages include the lack of object-oriented programming. (Visual Basic .Net does finally support objected oriented programming, at the expense of support for legacy code.) The lack of support for object-oriented programming does not pose a problem for small projects, but for large projects it can be a detriment. When deciding which language is best for a specific program, you have to weigh the advantages. For example, is it more important to be able to build a nice user interface easily, or is it more important to be able to write objected-oriented code?
Ultimately, the language that you use is less important than how well your program works. Writing a good program should make you prouder than learning a particular language.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:08 pm
X Software Developer, nice dissertation. It raises another question for clueless little me: VB6 isn’t OOP? I always thought OOP was Object.Property and Object.Method and using classes, etc. What is OOP?
Second, that isn’t the question I wanted discussion on… I was talking about which of the languages in the quiz isn’t a real programming language. The options were:
BASIC
C++
PASCAL
Assembly
FORTRAN
COBOL
I think I have it figured out now, but I’m curious what you think and why.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:03 am
Each of the options on the quiz is technically a programming language. See the list of languages at the bottom of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language
The question on the quiz was most likely tongue-in-cheek–as in, which language will not be used by a “real” programmer. The correct answer is “BASIC,” because many geeks view it as language for wimps. Thus, my explanation about why geeks dislike it, followed by my analysis and defense of the language. (In defending it, I’ve just proved I’m not a geek.)
You are right that OOP is about using classes, methods, and properties. I should have clarified that VB does have some support for OOP, but it is limited. For example, forms are objects, and you can declare class modules. In VBA (and presumably in VB 6), all classes must be in separate modules. This is enough to discourage programmers from using a lot of classes. Also, advanced OOP functionality like inheritance is not available in VBA and VB 6.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:38 am
My loser score is 85. I am a loser.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:47 am
My nerd score is 10. I am not nerdy, but then again maybe not all that cool either.
July 28th, 2005 at 9:02 am
Andrew: Waaah!
July 28th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
Hey, I scored 18 on the nerd test, and Naomi scored 6. I never realized my wife was cooler than me! I guess I should have known. No wonder both of us get confused by this computer stuff sometimes!
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