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mackenga · Feb 21st, 2008, 10:08 AM

Strictly speaking I don't think I'd call an HTML page a script; it's too declarative.

My employer uses a lot of Visual Basic 6 (though not for new developments, thank Eris!). For more recent projects they're switching to using a lot of C#. Outside of my team Java's more popular - by the looks of career opportunities in my area, Java's the best way to go.

C is still a major programming language, although these days it's mostly academics and systems programmers that appreciate it and there's a weird general perception that it was 'replaced' by C++.

Historically, FORTRAN and COBOL have been a big deal, as well as the likes of RPG.

Another major player, particularly in terms of web development, is Perl - not one to miss off anyone's top ten list. It holds the universe together. Even my Windows-centric employer has at least one major system written in Perl.

Nothing else particularly major springs to mind though. There are others I'd like to mention but I think they're minority languages at this point and would just be confusing the issue.

Although not strictly a programming language, if you're looking at major / important / widely used computer languages more generally, you should also mention SQL (The Structured Query Language, used to interact with most relational database management systems).

Hope this helps!

Feb 21st, 2008, 10:08 AM	#7
mackenga Professional Programmer Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 317 Rep Power: 4	Re: Major Programming Language Strictly speaking I don't think I'd call an HTML page a script; it's too declarative. My employer uses a lot of Visual Basic 6 (though not for new developments, thank Eris!). For more recent projects they're switching to using a lot of C#. Outside of my team Java's more popular - by the looks of career opportunities in my area, Java's the best way to go. C is still a major programming language, although these days it's mostly academics and systems programmers that appreciate it and there's a weird general perception that it was 'replaced' by C++. Historically, FORTRAN and COBOL have been a big deal, as well as the likes of RPG. Another major player, particularly in terms of web development, is Perl - not one to miss off anyone's top ten list. It holds the universe together. Even my Windows-centric employer has at least one major system written in Perl. Nothing else particularly major springs to mind though. There are others I'd like to mention but I think they're minority languages at this point and would just be confusing the issue. Although not strictly a programming language, if you're looking at major / important / widely used computer languages more generally, you should also mention SQL (The Structured Query Language, used to interact with most relational database management systems). Hope this helps! __________________ "I'm not a genius. Why do I have to suffer?"