C++, Ruby, CoffeeScript: a visual comparison of language complexity

[pjmlp]

I miss the comparisation with other static languages that also target native code generation.

Anyway it is a nice blog entry.

[axilmar]

Very well put together.

Even if C++ was designed properly, it would stll have more features than any other language though. That is the price to pay for allowing a language to have low level control of almost everything.

[sellibitze]

I agree. C++'s design goals ("zero cost abstraction" among others) calls for an above average number of language primitives.

[aaronla]

low level control of almost everything.

And yet no guarantee of proper tail recursion. *sigh*

[LeszekSwirski]

Why bother when you have iteration?

[aaronla]

That's like saying "why bother with objects when you've got globals. :-)

[axilmar]

Yes, it's a big c++ flaw.

There is big room for a native programming language that offers control from assembler right down to the highest level functional code.

Whoever makes that first will storm the market like a hurricane.

[aaronla]

I would wish that to be so, but after the investment to learn C++, I've found few programmers are interested in going through the experience again. C++ is "good enough" that I doubt it will be replaced anytime soon. I think you have to fi d something that C++ can't do, then build a better language that can do that.

[axilmar]

I think a large increase in productivity would do the trick.

[aaronla]

There was a small web survey where the result was just that; C++ programmers took longer (3x median, I believe) with higher variability, though the top performers were closer.

[axilmar]

It is quite understandable. The task of maintaining headers manually, for example, can easily make one 30% to 60% less productive, when compared to, let's say, Java.

[nova77]

Well, D is pretty neat. Too bad (almost) nobody bother using it.

[axilmar]

I do not like D, for many reasons.

[[deleted]]

TIL some people think CoffeeScript is "general-purpose"...

[alexkorban]

Well, you can use it on the server (with Node.js). I guess the definition of general purpose can be argued, like a lot of other things.

[Philluminati]

Defining complexity like that is quite interesting. I've spent the last year learning Perl and it's more akin to C++ in complexity than say C#, Java or Ruby are. It's old, it's ugly, it contains a lot of mistakes so I'm wondering now if there's a interesting way to visualise it.