Larry Wall: 5 Programming Languages Everyone Should Know

[animals0feel1pain2]

Ah. Man, I remember playing games written using Perl back when I was 7. Those were the good days.

[TheBowlcutBandit]

It depends what you do really, web design means HTML, CSS, PHP/ASP, JavaScript. Cross platform means C/C++/Java/Python/Ruby/Lua. FAST but PLATFORM SPECIFIC, also C/C++ and Assembly. So it depends what you're doing to choose a language because ALL are good for one thing, but not ALL can do everything and so much more to consider.

[BitchBeTrollinHard]

he is like ricky bobby "im not sure what to do with my hands"

[Vidyadude]

Master of analogies.

[1337ASM]

<3 java , <3 C

[VyoamX]

Larry's recommendations:

1. JavaScript, 2. Java, 3. Haskell, 4. C, 5. Perl.

[narcosist]

@VyoamX ahah perl last, modest much :P

[stepsinit]

yeah yeah concept over syntax we get it already people

[douglasrj21]

My question is: With Web Applications growing so fast, why should someone that's starting to program these days, learn C or Java? Isn't it much easier to make a living by focusing on web programming/scripting languages?

[Isasgm]

@douglasrj21 I would chose to point you to the 2nd highest rated comment, once you learn how to program, learning a new language is pretty trivial, the important part is coding them well, something you learn with experience, so just get started, any language will do. I remember watching a videodiary by the developers of Fable (can't remember their name for the life of me), and I got severely chocked when I saw "The C++ Bible) one one of the developers desks, now, I understand why.

[DeathNote123Fan]

@douglasrj21

I'm pretty sure no one who is doing professional video editing, wants to do it over the internet.

There are also going to be a lot of normal games (priced about 40€ on their release, not the ones you play using just your browser, operating systems, software to create these 3d-models for movies and games, maybe there's going to be new software when 4k2k or even higher video becomes normal (or "Ultra High Definition", or something like that, I heard the first TVs r planned 2020)

[ephidapoon]

delphi.

[passantgardant]

You should know at least one very high-level abstract language (generally called a "scripting" language, which basically means that you don't play with the hardware directly), at least one low-level language and/or mid-level language (e.g. assembly and C, respectively), and a functional language. That will solve most problems. Things to avoid in my opinion (although it is subjective) in your abstract language is strong typing and manual garbage collection. And it should be used for most things.

[MidnightSt]

c'mon, "the fifth language should probably be one of the script languages"

okay... but didn't you mention JavaScript as the second one? when talking with mortals, i got used to not differentiating between scripting and programming languages, but i wouldn't expect this sloppyness from Wall, not in this blatant manner...

[nikkolei]

Because JavaScript and Java is most commonly used in programming.....you can see it everywhere man.

[fcharrua]

PHP, JavaScript, Actionscript, SQL, C#.

[P4INKiller]

@fcharrua Thumbs up!

[DraskyVanderhoff]

Haskell is not that hard! You need to understand the philosophy behind it and when you learn to think in a functional way you'll easily get it. Things are A and B not Integer or Char and you can have Maybe! I LOVE MAYBE!! Monads are much harder to get as far as i know, but it is really a lovely language : You can make VERY amazing things in just 3 lines of code. I make a easy imperative language compiler for university project and it was less than 70 lines i think (combining all the files ).

[PktMma]

No PHP?

[DraskyVanderhoff]

@PktMma AGH that sucks -.-, Python is way better, even Ruby looks better. PHP was just a toolkit and they never prove to be more than that. Maybe they get some improvement, i don't know and care really. And they are web bounded as far as i know while Python has no bounds and Python+Django is a blast in the face! Similarly it can be said with RubyonRails.

[PktMma]

@DraskyVanderhoff It´s funny that programming languages are so much a matter of opinion. The guy just below you likes PHP and thinks Python and Ruby suck. I´m a berinner right now and I started with PHP so I don´t really have an opinion on the matter. Only thing I agree on is that I don´t like the fact that it´s web bounded.

[DraskyVanderhoff]

@PktMma I have a rule of thumb that you can apply easily : Look at it's philosophy and see if you like it!

Every good language that deserve some respect have a Dogma or Zen that you must follow or have a really good reason to break it. Python, C++, Ruby and Haskell have one. Those shall be writed by the Creator of the Language or be totally clearly derivable from language itself ( if you always go against them you should have a lot of trouble )

[MidnightSt]

@PktMma php is pretty good in principle, the only thing that really sucks about it are the counter-systematic and counter-intuitive names (and parameter orders) of built-in functions, other than that it's a nice compromise between features and simplicity.

[keystothebox]

I am in complete agreement here except for Perl (where I am in favor of PHP instead), and I program in about 12 languages fluently. If you understand C and Java, you can easily do C++ which is why I do not believe he stated C++ or C#. From my experience Ruby and Python are crap. If you want a shorter list learn JavaScript and C. If you know those at an intermediate level and a little SQL and XHTML/XML you will get a grasp on what programing is all about.

[Nikotiini69]

C? Fucking C? What about C++? Seriously.

[DraskyVanderhoff]

@Nikotiini69 Totally agree even thou i just know see C T_T, really want to change that this summer.

[Phoenixspin]

Cool shirt.

[mckaygerhard]

Java is XTREMELY heavyweight, verbose, and everyone make something in that! like windozers! JAJAJAJAJ

[TheProgrammer93]

As a professional programmer I am compelled to clarify that JavaScript is *not* a 'nice' language!

[SphinCorp]

@TheProgrammer93 How do I like a comment more than once?

- Sincerely, a web programmer

[diwr]

would've been a fool not to mention haskell, but he should replace perl with python, and java with c#... oh and C++ should be the 6th

[PoorRichardSaunders]

Sorry Wall but with the advent of Python Perl doesn't really do anything better than any other language any more. It was never a nice language to use, but in applications that were heavy in text processing it use to have advantages. Perl's day has come and gone. The only way to save it is convince young programmers that it's a must know language, since no one will ever confuse it with something cool to know like Haskell.

[Shadowshreder47]

Why didn't he mention C++? :/

[PoorRichardSaunders]

@Shadowshreder47

Wow, he really does go out of his way to actually avoid saying C++. The way he purposefully avoids it suggests that he must be jealous. If Perl itself wasn't enough of a reason to consider lightly Wall's opinion on programming then certainly such pettiness must be.

[Shadowshreder47]

@PoorRichardSaunders

lol what's Perl? xD

[PoorRichardSaunders]

@Shadowshreder47

He didn't only not mention it, he seems to go out of his way to avoid mentioning it. My guess that in his little missionary brain he dreamed of the day when Perl would be the world's go to language instead of C++-- Yes C++ is still the world's go to language for complex projects that also need go down to the metal like the embedded code for the robots we send to Mars-- and he's lived long enough to see his language become obsolete while C++ just keeps being relevant. 

[joel230182]

Action Script! yaee!

[km0r3]

LOL. He hates C++ so much :D

[seanmchughinfo]

html, css, javascript, sql, c#

[mccote]

FYI, he talks about these languages:

Javascript

Java

Haskell

C

Perl

[nitinthegarg]

@mccote thanks good guy greg

[themicrokernel]

All of the famous programmers and inventors like him,Linus,ken etc, hate C++,becoz it has been created by a genious guy, and they cant compete with Stroustrup.

[dyer85]

@themicrokernel Consider me trolled. HAND.

[DibsOnMe]

The thumbnail of this video = Y U NO?

[mtanti87]

I think SQL is pretty important to know too, even if you're not a programmer.

[someman7]

@mtanti87 not a programming (turing complete) language

[eirikmurito]

wow.. this guy must have gotten many panty-stretches as a kid:p

[thaer12345]

10/10 pedostache.

[DogStarChampion]

The Java being like eating 100 lbs of leather is probably the best way to describe Java... ever.

[LBHkedy]

BTW, Larry Wall made Perl.

[truthseeker010101]

I finished a year of programming before transferring to arts and science and I was in Assembler which was changed to Alice a year later, Java, Visual Basic, C++, and HTML and Web design. Database and SQL where also classes we had to take.

Programming is something only those who LOVE it should go and do. I didn't enjoy it although my grades where good and I was descent so I left it.

[scionicspectre]

I love how he compares Java to eating leather.

[9b8]

Based on my real-world experience, not sure if I agree with him on choice of languages. LOL. He never mentioned data-oriented languages like SQL or XML/XSLT/XSL stuff. Though treated as trivial, they possess an enormous role in modern IT. At least he mentioned C, thankfully. I am of the philosophy that there is no silver bullet, so being universally biased is foolish. You employ what gets the job done, and done right. I'd hate to have to write a service bus or LOB app in assembly.

[levilisko]

i think ahn he should ahn rename ahn perl to "ahn language" :P

[levilisko]

WHERE IS CLIPPER?

[1Pantikian]

This is so interesting to me, and yet I know absolutely nothing about programming

[TreacleMary]

Larry hit it spot on.

Java is a clerical language, and software written in Java is full of layers and layers of abstractions and analogies and patterns. You have no low-level language features, to stop bad programmers introducing anything more than trivial bugs, and develop with a toolchain so long and opaque that you might easily forget that you're even programming a computer at all.

[froy98]

2:14 - 2:24 wtf?

[TheAmazingGlork]

Fuck Java. Don't ever learn that shit. It's not only useless, but it will ruin your programming capacity forever.

[ksym]

Mr. Wall just dissed Java and most Java programmers (with their tiny jilted brains) did not even notice :D Well done Sir! <3

[alexutz987]

Ugliest f*** shirt ever!

[kamul8]

@alexutz987

wow. he is talking about programming and all you notice is his shirt?

[alexutz987]

@kamul8 Nah. I watched it like 3 or 4 times and the shirt kept distracting me.

[hydrix1985]

no php is he fucking crazy

[Rstarfari]

Yeah... Sun Microsystems for the Win!!!

[Thet3]

C# is nice! It's like java!

[jtheelen]

Oh yes, I'm awesome! I know 4 of the 5 languages he mentions very well. Only Haskell I do not know, but then again, I'm only awesome, not a genius ;-)

[kramtark]

His answer: (1) Javascript (2) Java (3) Haskell (4) C (5) Perl (oblig.); mentions Python and Ruby as alternative "scripting languages"

[GeoffreyBernardo]

Haskell's syntax is an acquired taste.

[GeoffreyBernardo]

Off the Wall

[pharoah246]

Break Backward Compatibility? What!?!?

[Lumiinex]

Boss shirt

[Gavrillo]

1:24 - Larray's opinion on JS.

[vadiethestar]

very few experts don't recomend haskell , haskell is so cool!

[Mrgreatestfreakout]

lol to avoid java works getting outsourced to India, we need to learn low level machine codes

[zangetsu2k8]

@Mrgreatestfreakout C is as low as you'd ever want to go, programming in assembler is a real pain in the ass if you want to make something bigger than individual subroutines for optimization.

[MahaloMarlin]

"Java is the Cobol of the 21st century..." LOL!

[codecaine]

@MahaloMarlin lol

[codecaine]

@MahaloMarlin lol at 100 lines code but probably can do it in 5 lines! :p

[xXTheRush905Xx]

@MahaloMarlin Am I missing something?

[themicrokernel]

He never mentions C++. Lolllz..

[byrneball1]

@themicrokernel If you understand C/C++ you understand C/C++ even the inventor of C++ says C should be a subset of C++.

[zangetsu2k8]

@themicrokernel C++ isn't used very much at all in the academy or other places except for game development. most big companies are favored towards .net and java.

[PoorRichardSaunders]

@zangetsu2k8

It sounds like what you are saying is that C++ isn't used very much in the type of absolutely uninteresting and therefore gross programming jobs that any smart, creative person would loath to do.... Yea, I'd agree with that. Of course in the greater world C++ remains an important and much used language.

[NathanLovesCreatures]

@PoorRichardSaunders How come on a lot of videos based on programming, I see you attempting to correct somebody or starting a debate on something?

[zangetsu2k8]

@PoorRichardSaunders in my understanding since I'm a computer science student, I have seen that most companies are interested in either .net languages, or java. big game developers have either developed their own language, or use C++. it's just foolish to make 3d games in java :)

[PoorRichardSaunders]

@zangetsu2k8 I don't think you're wrong. I am a CS student as well, and my personal feeling is that if that's work I had to do, I'd be better off just getting an accounting degree as it's probably more interesting :)

More objectively I'd say languages are tools you learn to do jobs. If I was hired by a company and had to learn PHP or C# so be it. A week later I'd be good to go. The reason I can say that is because the languages I learned first like C++ taught me about how languages are designed

[PoorRichardSaunders]

@zangetsu2K8 Along those lines if you know your CS then not only is learning a new language a trivial matter, but you should also recognize that good style and utilization of the language is far more difficult than simply learning the languages syntax and Libraries. I've see a lot of horrendous code even by people who have formal training. Believing that one is a competent programmer just because one "knows" a language is like believing that one is a good writer just because they know English.

[DaemonAnt]

@themicrokernel He does discreetly. He refers to languages that have "failed to reinvent C". ha ha.

[zpgJiggleBilly]

@themicrokernel Yes he did

[auqifx]

@themicrokernel watch the video first,then talk

[TheMayorOfChaopolis]

@themicrokernel He says "C, or other closely related languages." C++ Probably isn't the only language related to C.

[fashnek]

When he was talking about Haskell, I kept thinking he was saying Pascal. I was obviously very confused.

[Cobac]

@fashnek me too ... i was wondering how could he be talking about Pascal ,still amazing to see PRO'S mention other programming languages other than C++ , like python , pearl , etcetera . Even tough programming is like 2000 year old chinese to me ... i'ms tupid just can't understand programming :(

[kong288]

I don't get why it's amazing for pros not to mention C++. That's completely untrue. C++ is the one of the strongest, and most used languages today. I think your looking it like "Oh he's not mainstream". It's not like that in the programming world. Way different..

[lightprogrammer]

Is it rare that he dint talk about (c#, vb, etc...) dotnet?

[fashnek]

@lightprogrammer Consider languages like C# to be analogous to Java in this video, with the exception of portability. All of the mentioned languages are more cross-platform than the .NET languages, so Wall might argue that they're not as important to learn.

[OpiatedBliss]

fourtran, lol