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Survey Results

What features are most important to you in a programming language?

Survey period: 4 Jan 2021 to 11 Jan 2021

Not an exhaustive list by any means. Comment to add what's missing for you.

OptionVotes% 
Strong type safety41561.48
Automatic thread safety19228.44
Lambda functions16624.59
Interoperability and compatibility with existing languages16624.59
Automatic Memory management33749.93
Extension methods13620.15
Macros639.33
Optional / nullable types15923.56
Dynamic typing (eg dynamic in C#, any in TypeScript)8913.19
Immutability10615.70
Tuples7911.70
A plethora of operators that reduce code (eg ??, .?)10916.15
String interpolation13920.59
Speed, efficiency46368.59
Simplicity in the syntax45867.85
Other6910.22
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%



 
GeneralRe: Documentation Pin
Pete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 6:44
professionalPete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 6:44 
GeneralRe: Documentation Pin
MarcusCole68334-Jan-21 9:04
professionalMarcusCole68334-Jan-21 9:04 
GeneralHuman readable error messages Pin
Pete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 3:23
professionalPete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 3:23 
GeneralRe: Human readable error messages Pin
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 4:04
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 4:04 
GeneralRe: Human readable error messages Pin
Pete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 9:30
professionalPete Lomax Member 106645054-Jan-21 9:30 
GeneralRe: Human readable error messages Pin
Nelek4-Jan-21 10:04
protectorNelek4-Jan-21 10:04 
GeneralA Strange Realization Pin
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:14
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:14 
GeneralRe: A Strange Realization Pin
Eek Ten Bears5-Jan-21 1:42
Eek Ten Bears5-Jan-21 1:42 
Puts me in mind of a thing I managed when I was younger - I am guessing 9 or 10.

We are in the real beginning, just after all the nonsense with punched cards and ticker tape, there was a micro-computer called a NewBrain Link to a WikiPedia page with right picture and lots of text I couldn't be bothered to check for accuracy. It was a really good piece of kit for the discerning geek. My father who was a physicist, was given one by his university, mainly to stop him annoying the Computer Sciences department with dodgy fortran code and keep him safely in his lab. Obviously he brought it home and equally obviously I taught myself to program on it.

I chose to create breakout - it was black and white, with very basic sound but looked good and was really quite fast. I'd made one mistake. I hadn't thought to detect a ball leaving through the top of the screen. This was where the real fun started. The NewBrain plugged into a monitor and you could use more memory for the screen if your screen had more resolution. So all the memory was accessible to my ball. The effects were highly educational as it bounced around destroying its host. At one point it flew back out the top of the screen bounced around a bit and eventually disappeared again out the top. Slowly the screen was obliterated in increasingly weirder and weirder complaints from the machine.

(for those still awake and interested - Switching it off and on again did fix it Laugh | :laugh: )
GeneralAutomatic thread safety? Pin
Greg Utas4-Jan-21 0:54
professionalGreg Utas4-Jan-21 0:54 
GeneralRe: Automatic thread safety? Pin
Gary R. Wheeler5-Jan-21 3:04
Gary R. Wheeler5-Jan-21 3:04 
GeneralRe: Automatic thread safety? Pin
obermd5-Jan-21 3:35
obermd5-Jan-21 3:35 
GeneralRe: Automatic thread safety? Pin
Bernhard Hiller7-Jan-21 21:12
Bernhard Hiller7-Jan-21 21:12 
GeneralGenerics or Templates? Pin
Greg Utas4-Jan-21 0:51
professionalGreg Utas4-Jan-21 0:51 
GeneralSimple syntax and efficiency Pin
den2k884-Jan-21 0:12
professionalden2k884-Jan-21 0:12 
GeneralRe: Simple syntax and efficiency Pin
Greg Utas4-Jan-21 0:50
professionalGreg Utas4-Jan-21 0:50 
GeneralRe: Simple syntax and efficiency Pin
den2k884-Jan-21 2:25
professionalden2k884-Jan-21 2:25 
GeneralRe: Simple syntax and efficiency Pin
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:19
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:19 
GeneralI share Daniel's view Pin
CHill603-Jan-21 23:36
mveCHill603-Jan-21 23:36 
GeneralRe: I share Daniel's view Pin
KarstenK4-Jan-21 0:36
mveKarstenK4-Jan-21 0:36 
GeneralRe: I share Daniel's view Pin
CHill604-Jan-21 1:07
mveCHill604-Jan-21 1:07 
GeneralRe: I share Daniel's view Pin
KarstenK4-Jan-21 4:00
mveKarstenK4-Jan-21 4:00 
GeneralRe: I share Daniel's view Pin
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:16
W Balboos, GHB4-Jan-21 3:16 
GeneralRe: I share Daniel's view Pin
KarstenK4-Jan-21 3:59
mveKarstenK4-Jan-21 3:59 
GeneralNone of the above Pin
Daniel Pfeffer3-Jan-21 21:40
professionalDaniel Pfeffer3-Jan-21 21:40 
GeneralRe: None of the above Pin
Marc Clifton4-Jan-21 4:07
mvaMarc Clifton4-Jan-21 4:07 

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