CCAE - Request for help

[kmj]

Hi. TLD's been hard at work with the site lately, and he's got a documentation script all set up, so that people can click little question-mark links next to things they have questions about, and they'll go to a brief description of the given item. We'd like to add documentation for each of our 'language' categories, too, and I was wondering if any of you guys would be interested in helping us with it. I know alot of you guys are pretty devoted to specific languages and have alot of knowledge on things like:

1) why a language was created
2) what a language is most often/best used for
3) what a language should not be used for
4) other info (compiled/interpreted; dynamic/static; etc)
5) any other random info a person should know about the language...

If anyone would like to volunteer to write a description of a language (or languages), we'd be very appreciative.

A few things:
1) It's obviously okay to discuss the benefits of a languages, but don't pimp it (x r0x0rs!)...
2) Don't disparage other languages (i.e. use python because perl sucks!),
3) Make it simply a brief informative helpful message.

Again, if anyone wants to help us with that, we'd be superthankful. :)

Oh, and if you want, you can simply post the message right here, and we'll C&P it. But before writing the whole thing, post a message declaring your intent to write one for language X, so that three people don't start working on something for the same language, and all post their's, know what I mean? (yeah, I'm optimistic. :))


Thanks to anyone who helps!

[Gnu/Vince]

I'll do Ruby as soon as I get home.

[Bradmont5]

Originally posted by kmj:
<STRONG>i.e. use python because perl sucks!</STRONG>

But it's totally true! :D

[inkedmn]

i'm still really new, but i'd be happy to try and do one for python (if nobody else more knowledgable decides to do it :))...

[Gnu/Vince]

Do we just email the description?

[debiandude]

I volunteer to do one for C and PERL however I prolly wont be able to get it to you until Friday. Would that be okay?

[TheLinuxDuck]

You can either email them or post them right here.. (^= Either way will be fine.

We both (kmj and I) appreciate your guys's (uhh.. yea) interest in helping out with this.. we're busy just getting the scripts and stuff working appropriately, and doing improvements to the site, so it's harder for us to spend the time necessary to write up this stuff..

And, as always, we appreciate and smile upon examples for the site. (^=

We're doing pretty well, I think, considering we've never advertised, or anything, except for the brief announcement here.. we've got 124 examples for 12 different languages and the like. The site is getting nicer looking, and once we get user logins done, it should be super swell! (^=

&lt;not very macho&gt;
You guys! ::group hug::
&lt;/not very macho&gt;

[Stuka]

Not sure what length you're looking for, but how about this for C++:C++ is a statically typed, compiled language that supports both object-
oriented (polymorphism, inheritance, encapsulation) and generic (template
based) programming paradigms. Created by Bjarne Stroustrup, then with AT&T,
C++ is an expressive, efficient, and powerful evolution of the C programming
language. C++ adds language/compiler support for Object Oriented and Generic
Programming to the C language, allowing programmers to use proven design
patterns and methods for good program design more readily.
C++ is used for a wide range of applications, though it is most popular in
larger applications requiring application speed. It's speed is right up there
with C, yet the additional language facilities for OOP and generic programming
make modularization and code reuse easier.
In general, hard real-time applications will not use C++, since there is often
more overhead associated with the OO features of C++ that can cause these
applications to miss there real-time targets. However, C++ can be used in
literally any application - careful coding can eliminate most inefficiences.

[sans-hubris]

Paragraphs, my good friend, paragraphs. I hope you've heard of them. Ok, enough with the sarcasm, I will proofread your description.

C++ is a statically typed, compiled language that supports both object-oriented (polymorphism, inheritance, encapsulation) and generic (template based) programming paradigms. It also has backwards compatibility with C.

Created by Bjarne Stroustrup (who was with AT&T during its original incarnation), C++ is an expressive, efficient, and powerful evolution of the C programming language. C++ adds language/compiler support for object oriented and more layers of generic programming to the C language, which, in turn, allows programmers to use proven design patterns and methods more readily.

C++ is used for a wide range of applications, though it is most popular in larger applications requiring application speed. Its speed is often right up there with C. Along with that, the additional language facilities for OOP and generic programming make modularization and code reuse easier.

In spite of its speed, hard real-time applications will not generally use C++, since there is often more overhead associated with the OO features of C++ that can cause these applications to miss their real-time targets. However, this does not mean that C++ is not used in such applications, nor does it bar it from being used in any other application. Careful coding can eliminate most inefficiences.


[ 23 January 2002: Message edited by: sans-hubris ]

[ 23 January 2002: Message edited by: sans-hubris ]

[kmj]

Thanks for the response guys...

gnuvince - you can just post it in this thread.

stuka - Yeah, that's exactly what we're looking for. I'll copy ndogg's "proofread" version, assuming you don't have any issues with that.


thanks again. :)

[Stuka]

kmj - No complaints from me - looks like I got a decent editor...I'd just hacked that out here at work and was gonna play with it more, but ndogg beat me to it. Feel free (just make sure we both get credit! ;))

[TheLinuxDuck]

Thanks guys.. the c++ snippet has been added to the site, but is not actively linked yet. I'd like to get a few more in place before activating them.

[debiandude]

Okay here is the one for C I promised:


The C programming language was created by Dennis Ritchie in the 1970s. C is often refered as being a middle level language, inbetween assembly programming which is low-level prgramming and high level programming such as Pascal. C allows for a balance between the two giving the programmer both power and structure.

C is the most popular language in the world and is used for nearly every concieveable purpose, from dynamic webpages to operating systems.

They're some downfall to C. It is not a strongly typed language and provides almost no run-time error checking which is often a cause of headache for new and old programmers. However C makes amends for that by not demand strict type compatilbilty. In C arguments can be of any type.

Lastly when C is broght up, C++ is sure to follow. C++ is an extened version of C that is designed with OOP in mind (note: it is possible to program object-oriented in C thought).


[ 26 January 2002: Message edited by: debiandude ]

[debiandude]

And Perl:


Perl is short for "Pratical Extraction and Report Language." It was created by Larry Wall as a system administration tool after awk failed to serve its purpose. It is an OOP interpreted language that is inteded to make the "easy jobs simple, and the difficult job not impossible." It combines many of the best aspects of popular langauge of today.

Perl is an extremely powerful language that has complete Regex support, that is it can do very powerful text transformation and extractions. Because of this and the many available db modules it is often used in database applications to manage and display data.

One of the common comments about Perl is that is looks similar to line noise. This is sometimes true becuase it is very easy to write programs that become write only. However, when proper care is given to style your program can be readable (hint: use strict and -w!).


[ 26 January 2002: Message edited by: debiandude ]

[kmj]

muchas gracias! :)