What's the best language?
MU.
There isn't one.
Since there is no requirement that all code be in one language,
pick the language most appropriate for the task at hand.
- C is probably the painfully correct choice for
high volume, low latency applications.
The efficiency is highest, and the code size is small.
Character string support is dismal, however.
(All platforms).
- C++ is better for character strings,
but even a minimal program will bring in 50k-100k bytes of
libraries, so the startup won't be quite as fast.
(All platforms).
- MAWL/ML is excellent for organizing long
and complex user interactions.
(Some UNIX).
- Perl is certainly the most commonly used language.
The string manipulation capabilities are extremely powerful,
and transparent database access is built in.
Programs can be built in a modular, object oriented manner.
Compared to most interpreted languages,
it is fast, has good diagnostics and error trapping.
(Unix, Windows NT, Mac, Plan9).
- Awk is similar to perl in may respects, but does
not have the ability to include modules of code, or DB access.
The library of built-in functions is rather minimalist,
and string manipulation is not as powerful.
(All platforms).
- Shell is slow, inelegant, and not very powerful.
Good for simple, low usage scripts.
Use Bash, if you must.
(All platforms).
- Visual Basic has built database access.
Other than that, and it's ability to run under Windows,
it has little to recommend it.
Inelegant, with weak string manipulation.
(Windows).
- ...
There are a variety of other scripting languages for PCs and MACs, now, also.
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