Apr 16

From xkcd: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language

Mar 12

Vault is a prototype programming language created at Microsoft Research.  It’s a safe version of the C programming language, with features to record and enforce usage rules associated with interfaces.  The rules control the order in which the interface’s functions may be called and its data accessed.

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Jan 07

Inspired by AngelFire’s gallery of photos for programming language inventors, here is a brief biography of the inventors of major programming languages still in use today:

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Nov 10

Nobody knows better than Microsoft that programming can be a drag.  Even with all of the amazing advances in software development, computer programming is still a relatively solitary process that requires deep expertise, logical and creative thinking, and lots of patience.

So Microsoft comes to the rescue with Small Basic, a project that’s “aimed at bringing fun back to programming.”  Small Basic provides a small and simple programming language in a friendly development environment.  Small Basic is targeted to both kids and novice adults, allowing them to “take the first step into the wonderful world of programming.”

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Apr 25

This is the first in what will be a series of articles, each highlighting an obscure programming language.

There are over 2700 languages spoken on Earth. And while there are only about a dozen popular programming languages, there are over 400 known programming languages, many of which you can see in this extensive “Hello World” collection.

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Oct 04

Great empires often fall from within. 

The death knell for Visual Basic is premature, but it’s true that VB has deviated from its original vision as an “Application Construction Kit” for the masses and has lost significant market share as a result.  

Tim Anderson summed it up best:

It sounds like perfection.  Microsoft had perhaps the largest number of developers in the world hooked on a language which in turn was hooked to Windows.  Yet Microsoft took this asset of incalculable value and apparently tossed it aside.  Back in 2002, Microsoft announced that the language was to be replaced by something new, different and incompatible.  That caused rumblings that continue today.  Developers expressed emotions ranging from frustration to anger.  They felt betrayed.

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May 30

Debate over the most popular programming language can become an emotional, almost religious battle.  And sometimes there’s no debate at all, such as when a developer is assigned to repair legacy software.  “It was written in COBOL?” is a popular refrain.

A programming language is just one tool in a developer’s expansive collection of specialty software and hardware.  So does it really matter which programming language a developer uses, as long as he or she is meeting customer requirements on time and within budget?

Yes, yes it does.  Ford or Chevy.  Stihl or Husky.  Coke or Pepsi.  Let’s face it, we all get passionate about our tools.

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