Programming Forums > Community Forums > Coder's Corner Lounge

iignotus · May 14th, 2005, 10:59 PM

If someone were to create a brand new programming language, what ideas would you want to go into it? Are there features of other languages that you would want in it? Are there features that you thought would be great in another language, and that would be good in a new one?

Be as detailed as possible, and mention any ideas you'd like within bounds, from any other language, or brand new ideas never seen before. Let's make the best language ever!

uman · May 14th, 2005, 11:35 PM

something I would like is to have certain functions be declared as "value only" or something to that effect. These functions would treat all their pointer/reference arguments as const, and would not modify any statically-allocated variables. They couldn't be declared void, because that would be pointless.

These value only functions would also be able to be evaluated at compile-time if they were passed constant arguments! That way you could have something like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

value int square(int i)
{
       return i*i;
}
const int squares[10];
for(int i = 0;i<10;i++)
{
        squares[i] = square(i);
}

the array "squares" should be completely evaluated and filled in at compile time. I don't know if good compilers can do this already. If they can, ignore me :-P

Nuticulus · May 16th, 2005, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uman

something I would like is to have certain functions be declared as "value only" or something to that effect. These functions would treat all their pointer/reference arguments as const, and would not modify any statically-allocated variables. They couldn't be declared void, because that would be pointless.

These value only functions would also be able to be evaluated at compile-time if they were passed constant arguments! That way you could have something like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

value int square(int i)
{
       return i*i;
}
const int squares[10];
for(int i = 0;i<10;i++)
{
        squares[i] = square(i);
}

the array "squares" should be completely evaluated and filled in at compile time. I don't know if good compilers can do this already. If they can, ignore me :-P

The closest we have to that is macros in C. Of course, it would be very hard to manage to pre-calculate those values at compile time, as the compiler would literally have to run the program to find out what the values of I would be, and subsequently do the math. If you think about it, the resulting code would be larger, as you have the precalculated values in the code. Now, that may be all well and good if you have only a few iterations of the function, but what about 1000, or 1000,000? Eeek.

I just felt like stamping on a dream today

My ideal language would manage memory without need for the programmer to interfere much with it. Of course, I'd like to see something like setting memory areas as non-executable, to prevent against buffer overflows, but that's a feature closer to the OS and hardware than a compiler. I'd also like to see a nice, standardised API available to interact with basic features of many operating systems, such as GUI making etc. It'd make portability so much easier. Of course, that's just like writing a little wrapper to abstract API x of platform y into something usable by all.

A lot of features I've asked for have been handled by dear old Python, but the main thing I'd like to see out of a programming language is something that's really optimised. Real power crunching code. Possibly optimised by the compiler itself (and I don't mean by omitting the frame pointer every so often).

It'd kick ass to find a language for newbies also, that doesn't frighten people off, and isn't spurned by more veteran coders. In many cases, coding newbies don't know what to do. If there was only one universal resolution as to what the ultimate beginner language was, then it'd solve 90% of the newbie coding problems I see on forums.

Alright, well that's my 2c.

OpenLoop · May 15th, 2005, 12:29 AM

a function with optional parameters would be nice, something like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

void person(string name, opt int age, opt int weight, opt string address)
{...}

this function will only need a name as parameter while the rest are optional:

(Toggle Plain Text)

person("John");   // this is ok
person("John",,180); //name = john, weight = 180

iignotus · May 15th, 2005, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OpenLoop

a function with optional parameters would be nice, something like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

void person(string name, opt int age, opt int weight, opt string address)
{...}

this function will only need a name as parameter while the rest are optional:

(Toggle Plain Text)

person("John");   // this is ok
person("John",,180); //name = john, weight = 180

You mean like a better version of function overloading?

OpenLoop · May 15th, 2005, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iignotus

You mean like a better version of function overloading?

exactly. i don't want to write 20 definitions for a function to make it accept various sets of parameter.
I know there are ways arround this but having this feature would be neat

Ooble · May 15th, 2005, 1:03 PM

Most languages (such as Python) support optional parameters like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

(pseudocode)
function MyFunction (arg1, arg2 = "x", arg3, arg4 = 0):
    ...

kurifu · May 15th, 2005, 11:09 PM

I would create something like esperanto

Berto · May 16th, 2005, 2:25 AM

a program which forces a certain notation style (eg curly braces in a specifi place tabbing )

Infinite Recursion · May 16th, 2005, 8:43 AM

Auto optimization for speed and resource management, extensive self-debugging, suggestive corrections, code repository, etc.

There was something pretty cool I saw in one of my magz. The "programmer" typed in the program "to the computer" as if it was having a conversation. Through logic deduction of what the "programmer" entered, the program generated source code.

May 14th, 2005, 10:59 PM	#1
iignotus Professional Programmer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nowhere Special Posts: 466 Rep Power: 4	New Language Ideas If someone were to create a brand new programming language, what ideas would you want to go into it? Are there features of other languages that you would want in it? Are there features that you thought would be great in another language, and that would be good in a new one? Be as detailed as possible, and mention any ideas you'd like within bounds, from any other language, or brand new ideas never seen before. Let's make the best language ever! __________________ (Toggle Plain Text) % rc4 hexkey < input > output #define S ,t=s[i],s[i]=s[j],s[j]=t /* rc4 hexkey <file / unsigned char k[256],s[256],i,j,t;main(c,v,e)charv;{++v;while(++i)s[ i]=i;for(c=0;(v)++;k[c++]=e)sscanf((v)++-1,"%2x",&e);while(j+=s[i] +k[i%c]S,++i);for(j=0;c=~getchar();putchar(~c^s[t+=s[i]]))j+=s[++i]S;} Last edited by iignotus; May 14th, 2005 at 11:06 PM.

May 14th, 2005, 11:35 PM	#2
uman Expert Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 794 Rep Power: 4	something I would like is to have certain functions be declared as "value only" or something to that effect. These functions would treat all their pointer/reference arguments as const, and would not modify any statically-allocated variables. They couldn't be declared void, because that would be pointless. These value only functions would also be able to be evaluated at compile-time if they were passed constant arguments! That way you could have something like this: (Toggle Plain Text) value int square(int i) { return ii; } const int squares[10]; for(int i = 0;i<10;i++) { squares[i] = square(i); } value int square(int i) { return ii; } const int squares[10]; for(int i = 0;i<10;i++) { squares[i] = square(i); } the array "squares" should be completely evaluated and filled in at compile time. I don't know if good compilers can do this already. If they can, ignore me :-P

May 15th, 2005, 12:29 AM	#4
OpenLoop Expert Programmer Join Date: May 2005 Location: East Lansing, MI Posts: 663 Rep Power: 4	a function with optional parameters would be nice, something like this: (Toggle Plain Text) void person(string name, opt int age, opt int weight, opt string address) {...} void person(string name, opt int age, opt int weight, opt string address) {...} this function will only need a name as parameter while the rest are optional: (Toggle Plain Text) person("John"); // this is ok person("John",,180); //name = john, weight = 180 person("John"); // this is ok person("John",,180); //name = john, weight = 180

May 15th, 2005, 1:03 PM	#7
Ooble I eat cake for breakfast. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In my box. Posts: 4,434 Rep Power: 9	Most languages (such as Python) support optional parameters like this: (Toggle Plain Text) (pseudocode) function MyFunction (arg1, arg2 = "x", arg3, arg4 = 0): ... (pseudocode) function MyFunction (arg1, arg2 = "x", arg3, arg4 = 0): ... __________________ Me :: You :: Them

May 15th, 2005, 11:09 PM	#8
kurifu Expert Programmer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) Posts: 784 Rep Power: 5	I would create something like esperanto __________________ Clifford Matthew Roche <geek@cliffordroche.com> Web Hosting: http://www.crd-hosting.com Consulting: http://www.crdev-consulting.com

May 16th, 2005, 2:25 AM	#9
Berto Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 1,022 Rep Power: 6	a program which forces a certain notation style (eg curly braces in a specifi place tabbing ) __________________ "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity." - Albert Einstein

May 16th, 2005, 8:43 AM	#10
Infinite Recursion Programming Guru Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3,467 Rep Power: 8	Auto optimization for speed and resource management, extensive self-debugging, suggestive corrections, code repository, etc. There was something pretty cool I saw in one of my magz. The "programmer" typed in the program "to the computer" as if it was having a conversation. Through logic deduction of what the "programmer" entered, the program generated source code. __________________ http://jasonpowers.net "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Programming Forums > Community Forums > Coder's Corner Lounge

New Language Ideas