Programming Languages

Programming Languages Zak has used:

Timeline Graph

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

AppleSoft BASIC

HyperTalk

C++

PHP

Javascript

Common LISP

Objective Caml

Ruby

Scheme

Clojure

Arc

Haskell

AppleSoft BASIC

1989–1990

More tinkering than actually programming.

HyperTalk

1991–1998

HyperCard was the tool that originally showed me how much fun programming could be.

1993–

They told me all "real programming" was done in C. That probably set me back 10 years. I wish someone had given me Smalltalk as a child.

C++

1998–1999

CS101 or some such used C++. I've never seen the appeal.

PHP

2002–

If I never saw this language again, it would be too soon. That said, the ease of getting simple things done in PHP got me back in to programming.

Javascript

2002–

I can't remember when I actually first used JS, but I'm sure I used it for real work in 2002. I almost like it; shame about the syntax.

Common LISP

2004–

Paul Graham sounded smart, especially after he wrote one of the first modern spam filters. He said Lisp was good, so I tried it. I haven't looked back.

Objective Caml

2005

I heard this was a "language for smart people" so I tried it. Couldn't stand the type system then, but I might give it another try.

Ruby

2005–

Rails promised to make basic web apps easy. After using it on and off for five years, I can't say I disagree. Ruby is nice for scripting *nix too.

Scheme

2005–

Scheme is the language of SICP. That was reason enough to learn it. I tend to prefer CL or Clojure for real work though.

Clojure

2008–

When I first tried Clojure, I got the sense than Rich Hickey was reading my mind and creating just the language features I needed right before I needed them. It quickly became a language of choice.

Arc

2008–2009

I'll revisit Arc when it matures a little. I've been unable to get excited about the language in its current form.

Haskell

2009–

I taught myself Haskell to purge my mind after a particularly nasty PHP project. Highly recommended as a learning experience, even if you don't end up using the language for real work (I'm still on the fence about doing that).