> It's circular reasoning. Languages get those things by being popular.
Maybe it is but it's reality. Also, there's the other kind of reality: Languages don't matter. Solving problems is what matters.
I've programmed in everything from Machine Language (note I did not say "Assembler") to APL, passing through languages like Forth, C, C++, FORTRAN, Objective-C, Lisp, PHP, JS, Python, etc. At the end of the day the ONLY thing that matters --if it isn't a hobby-- is solving problems computationally. I have no cult adherence to any language whatsoever. They are tools, that's all.
My best example of this was making tons of money solving a problem using Visual Basic for Applications, which allowed me to use Excel to automate a time consuming task in a CAD program. It just so happened that this CAD program could be automated using VB. Put the two together and several months of work and we had a tool worth quite a bit of money.
APL still has lots of value...in the right circles. I believe it still sees professional usage in the finance industry.
Maybe it is but it's reality. Also, there's the other kind of reality: Languages don't matter. Solving problems is what matters.
I've programmed in everything from Machine Language (note I did not say "Assembler") to APL, passing through languages like Forth, C, C++, FORTRAN, Objective-C, Lisp, PHP, JS, Python, etc. At the end of the day the ONLY thing that matters --if it isn't a hobby-- is solving problems computationally. I have no cult adherence to any language whatsoever. They are tools, that's all.
My best example of this was making tons of money solving a problem using Visual Basic for Applications, which allowed me to use Excel to automate a time consuming task in a CAD program. It just so happened that this CAD program could be automated using VB. Put the two together and several months of work and we had a tool worth quite a bit of money.
APL still has lots of value...in the right circles. I believe it still sees professional usage in the finance industry.