The Big D, ahoy !!

Hallo Leute =)

So, here we are, trying to figure out the languages of the future and which makes for an essential addition to our skill set.

Have you decided yet ?

Or maybe the decision still hangs in between the dilemma of “this language or that language”.

Perhaps this anecdote from my personal experience might help. If you are supposed to make a choice because of an urgent need to learn a particular programming language than that in itself rules out our options of getting acquainted with different programming languages. If the need dictates HTML, you certainly won’t get away with learning R !!

However, if you are trying to learn a programming language purely out of you sheer interest in the world of programming languages than there are many, many options so the choice of the language would really depend upon the “Feel” of the language along with the fact “ How well does it accomplish your need “. I personally like the “minimalistic” approach, I choose a language that “appeals” to me rather than someone’s notion of which programming language is “more useful”.

And building up on the previous posts I would like to introduce the D language to you. By now you have met with Python, Julia from one end of the spectrum and from the other end of the spectrum you have met the C and CPP languages.

Today, I am gonna talk about a language that attempts ( and a good one at that !! ) to upgrade or in more audacious terms to succeed the legacy of these two programming heavy-weights.

And the name is, of course, D. Sort of a cliché, don’t you think ?

But honestly, I think it suits quite well, given the audacious aims that the entire D-community has.

So, like C/CPP languages, D is also a Compiled-language. In fact it would be so familiar to anyone who is used to C/CPP syntax that you would feel right at home from the very beginning. The Major differences being in the fact that the programming community as a whole has learned a lot in the last decades and some ideas have been discarded while others proved to be quite useful. Hence, the D language.

D language attempts to filter out the redundant features of the C-legacy while still holding on to it’s most appealing features like

> Speed

> Clarity of Syntax

> It’s comfort level with the low level tasks

> It’s adaptability

> As well as the portability of the language.

While at the same time it whole-heartedly embraces the advances that have been made in the field of computers during the course of the last decade.

> Parallel Processing

> The Internet Revolution

> The portable-device Revolution

And, I dare say, the language is already something of a Wunderkind in the block. While the language has been designed by two people Walter Bright, Andrei Alexandrescu.

The former with the experience of creating the Digital Mars’ C/CPP compiler and the latter with the zest and zeal of the new-age language designers. Actually, they do have a good story to tell about and not to mention, they have implemented many new ideas of their own in the language design.

Ah, Yes !

Andrei Alexandrescu is the reason why Facebook has started to replace it’s code with the D language. Plus, the D-conferences are attracting more and more people every day.

If you too are one of those who would much rather learn a language that’s gonna be revelant in the future rather than the “most relevant one, right now” then here’s a good language for you.

Don’t forget to check out the following links.

D - Overview

D - Tutorial Book

Free Ebook for D language

Next stop, The LISP =)

Till then,

Take Care People,

Himanshu Sharma, signing off.

JULIA

Bonjour;)

Hey, finally we get to talk about the language that is gonna be all over the place in future or at the very least, the one with the most promising potential. Let me introduce you to JULIA !!

For an overview let’s go through the checklist.

• An Interpreted language                 :-                   Check
• Fast                                                   :-                   Check
• Functional programming               :-                   Check
• Liberal License                                :-                   Check
• Platform Portable                           :-                    Check
• Multi-purpose                                 :-                    Check
• Gen-Future                                      :-                    Check                   

See, you get the best of everything.

>> Like Python, it’s amazingly simple to learn. In fact, give the fact that so many amazing things have been done with Python and on top of that Julia and Python can be operated together makes it all the more appealing to the vast and vibrant Python community.

>> Worried about speed ?

Don’t be !! Julia is designed using the giant leaps that the compiler design technologies have taken over the past years and more over it tries to enact the most important lessons that have been learned with decades of experience in Programming Language Design.

Julia’s almost as fast as the legendary C language and the fact that it’s as simple as Python to learn is just mouth-watering, to be honest.

You might ask, what’s the need for another language when we have Python ?

Hey, this is something that I have talked about in the previous posts so you are gonna have to look them up. Though there is another reason, like natural languages, programming languages evolve too. Some for domains and some for general purpose use. Julia, aims to cover both niche.

And the entire Python project started way back towards the end of the last millenium. Julia, is a new born !! It took it’s first steps after nearly 2 years of “incubation” and was launched in 2012 and then made available to the whole wide world.

As far as the future of this wonderful language is concerned I would, without any reservations whatsoever, would definitely bet on it. JULIA is the way of the future.

>> Now, what does "metaprogramming" mean ?

Well. Basically means it can generate it's own code. Say you want to make 5 functions which different only in the number of arguments that they take in. You can do it with a single line of code !!

Another exciting thing about Julia is that the insanely vibrant python community and the iconic lisp community are almost ecstatic about the language as it is an intriguing hybrid of these two awesome languages.

And yes, it was developed in MIT and again, by students !!

It aims to replace MATLAB, r and is completely free. Already into production and research. Covers the spectrum. I really believe that this is the long awaited wunderkind of the programming languages.

And why is it that I stress so much upon the language being free or not.

Well it’s because of the freedom that the original author gives a user to modify the language or even redesign it to suit one’s own purposes. You see, Apple recently released Swift Language and it does not have a liberal license. So, it’s more like an everyday consumer’s product which says “ No warranty if the seal is broken” plus you are gonna have to look out for a legal suit.

As far as the libraries of Julia are concerned, all I can say is that we create libraries so that the effort that’s put in while fulfilling one task would be available for others to make use of too. Much like how the Real-World library systems work.

Hey, I am gonna get down on the next stop soon so before leaving off I would like you to check out this link.  .THE JULIA LANGUAGE

Some really really cool and awesome people are involved in the language so, if you decide on getting to know Julia better, you just might fall in love with it.

This is Himanshu,

Till next time folks=)