What is the programming language of the future?

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Not to bring back an older thread but I came across this video today, a discussion panel on the future of programming with Guy Steele, Douglas Crockford, Josh Bloch, Alex Payne, and Bruce Tate (some big names there). It reminded me of this thread and is worth watching. Anyway here is the link:

Future of Programming Languages

Thank you everyone for the replies, I have decided to stick with C and Javascript to start with, and maybe in a few years, adopt a few more. I'm hoping to build web-apps and apps for smartphones, ipods, etc. I think there's employment in any of the popular ones, but I can see, if you are willing to move around, there being a demand for less popular languages because so few know them or know them well.

Thank you for this Fearofmusic!

It's hard to say what will be the ultimate programming language of the future. But I just have to say:

C++ is currently the most powerful programming language in existence. Anything a computer can possible do, can be done with this language. Don't forget that C++ is an EXTENSION of C(for all you pure C buffs out there) and has added features.

I think it's a trick question. I don't think that programming will be done with "languages" in the future. Rather, it will be something high-level, visual and interactive. I don't claim to understand the details, but it has always seemed to me that programming is somehow really about "pictures" or "structures", and the act of putting your pictures into code often seems slightly tedious and artificial.

About as likely as the singularity. Most of the tedious parts are inherent in the problems being solved, they're not created by programming languages. If computers are intelligent enough to solve that for you, human programmers are pretty much obsolete. Actually, strike the "programmer" part.

polymorphic object oriented languages have been around for a while (i started incorporating polymorphic modularity into my object libraries in 1999) and i can not see how that approach can be superseded any time soon.

in fact, i have noticed that most people write "strips" of verbose and peculiar code to tackle the situations they are required to service, and they do not have ready made modular components that they can just simply plug in to their designs that will seriously simplify the progress of their arduously "spontaneous" stabs at meeting their required specifications. i know there is always an "arena" of unique specificity that will require a unique approach, but the peripheral logical environment can be handled by polymorphic modularity of executable objects in ones library (they execute their own code to handle the IO specifications they can read from other module's IO maps).

if you can think about the focal point of the problem rather than the process of facility, then i believe that it will be much more efficient.

whatever. i maybe i am getting old and i do not realize that things have moved on, but i never saw many people capitalizing on the fantastic opportunities of object libraries, let alone polymorphic object libraries.

As long as Enterprise and consumer hardware run on them, most of the high level languages out there will remain around. Assembly is pretty much dark arts for many today, except programmers who want to keep a tight leash on the code's memory and processor cycle usage while performing a particular algorithm.

The day quantum computers become reality (it will soon enough as long as the technology is marketable), the whole concept of programming based on binary states will be over, and other sets of languages and programming concepts and algorithms, will be required to create applications that can run on such a platform. Either that or a another layer of abstraction, which would allow you to interpret an older language to run on the new hardware platform.

C++++++....+

ruveyn

All of the most dominant languages follow the same basic structure established by C/C++
C#, Java, javascript, as3 all follow the same basic standards and are easier to jump back and forth between.

languages that follow a different pattern will require more translation making it much harder for them to establish themselves.

Anything that gains domination in the future will likely still have much in common with C/C++ structure-wise.

Yes, very naive. Understanding the heart of programming is like understanding the heart of thought. A language is a structured and limited way to express thoughts. Different languages allow for thoughts to be expressed in different ways. They do not change thoughts.

If you can understand but a fraction of what the programming language you write in does, you will not have a hard time moving on to another, and you will have an even easier time forgetting the syntax of the languages you used previously. It is not a language that has to be challenged when it comes to solving problems, it is the mind. Once the mind knows what to do, putting it into code is a simple matter of time and experience.

If it's employment that worries you then rest assured that all the major languages are major because they are used by businesses. On top of that, if you can do programming, switching to fit the employer should not take long. If you're worried, once you feel you got a hang of Ruby and Python, experiment with other languages, especially languages that don't share too many properties. Try JavaScript (or better yet, Dart), try Scheme (or other functional programming languges), C, PHP, Java, IA-32. Try scripting languages in games, try programmable math tools, try ActionScript.

Also, if you want a job at Google, learn C++. If you want to make apps to iOS, learn Objective-C.

Edit: Forgot this, when you engage with a new programming language, try solve some of the simple Project Euler problems. It puts purpose to your exploration.



Binary processors will not die in this century. Better algorithms do not beat cheap, simple, and small. Quantum computation is not a replacement to binary computation.



I disagree. I think people are absolutely horrible at explaining, without ambiguity, what they think, myself included. Considering people I speak to compile what I say differently, the thought that there could be one true way to do so seems unrealistic.
That aside, plain speech, in this case English, does a poor job allowing me to express what I think. If I can't define in any language what I think, it's kinda pointless to try and compile it.

Forget C++, and Java, they aren't going to be in use 10 years from now. This is the true programming language of the future:

LOLCODE(link)

IM IN YR LOOP UPPIN YR VAR

Thats incorrect. Look at minecraft, Written in Java.

Though, I would think that PHP, HTML, CSS and Javascript would be the languages of the future, as everything is becoming internet based.

I've been a professional software developer for thirty years now and my CV reads like the history of programming languages! Languages come and go or evolve and gain new functionality. New technologies come and go, some persist.

One thing that does persist whatever language you write is the need to think clearly and logically and to break problems down into manageable modules whether you program in assembly, C++, Visual Basic or whatever.

The most important task is understanding and converting human requirements for what some software is required to do into code that a computer is capable of executing. If this process itself can be automated then maybe human programmers will become completely redundant? Taking a big leap into the future (50 years? 100 years?) maybe this will be the case? If an AI can ever be developed that is able to understand the analysis side of things be they business related, science related etc and it can write good code, quickly then it is the end for human programmers... probably the end of the human race too but that is a different matter!

• COBOL
• RPG
• FORTRAN
• BASIC
• Pascal