Register readers on software development

C, C++, C#

Why include the trojan horse of languages in there? C# projects tend to be bolt and assemble ones, whereas C++ tend to be retail commercial applications.

I have to agree with the survey

That really is pretty much how I see it: there's still a awful lot of VB about (*spits*) though much of it has become VB .Net (that I've seen....) but C like languages are do seem to be the way of the future. That said I'm biased: I spend all day coding in C# (and I'm really not doing bolt and assemble jobs, despite the comment above at time of posting)

@Frank Gerlach

"Garbage-collected languages like Java and .Net increase the Energy bill of many companies unnecessarily."

Go on then, prove it.

You won't be able to, because changing the contents of a cell isn't under the control of the application - it's under the control of the operating system. When you ask for RAM, you get a pointer - it might point to real RAM now, but it might point to a hard disk location later.

On top of that, the refreshing of the DRAM is controlled by the DRAM controller on the motherboard, and not the operating system. The DRAM controller doesn't know (or care) whether a given byte is valid or invalid, and refreshes its contents regardless - even if it's entirely zero'd unallocated RAM.

So ignore the RAM - it's irrelevant.

If you want software to save energy, look to the CPU.

Survey Flaws

This survey is disappointing due to some errors. First of all, the survey doesn't really compare apples to apples. Borland vs. Visual Studio? Borland hasn't sold a compiler in a few years. (Their developer tools became Code Gear, then Embarcadero).

Also, their are tons and tons of people who use Dreamweaver to develop static web content. They shouldn't be included.

Neither java, nor .net broken out?

Is this really about software development? Or the use of rather arbitrarily defined language groupings?

C# shares some common syntax with C/ C++ granted, but so does java and javascript.

They are not bedfellows.

The defining characteristic of C# is the .net runtime, which it shares with any other .net languages that have no apparent similarity with C. This is similar with Java, the defining characteristic is the java runtime, which is shared with all the other languages that can run on the jvm., although it is not as well publicized, as the Java language is so dominant.

As hinted at in a previous comment (my uncle is called ALAN . .), managed code (.NET and Java, along with many scripting environments) and unmanaged code (C/C++ et al) address very different concerns, and this should form part of the analysis, otherwise you are missing fundamental parts of todays software development landscape.

Lumping C# in with C/C++ is, at best, showing a lack of understanding of what C# is, and at worst, lying with stats.

Missing out java is frankly bizarre (but I'm a Java dev, so I'll admit I'm biased on that one).

David.

lack of use of frameworks

May be down to the rather minimal abilities of the average coder/IT manager. To be blunt.

@Frank Gerlach. Ummmm?

<giggle>

Why no Java

I'm not a Java booster but it seems wierd that this survey would not include it.

Nonsensical

RAM is refreshed whether GC happens or not.

Last year

Does anyone know the location of a similar article for 2007-08?

Very nice. Interesting.

"Note on research sample" This should be a required heading for all statistic based articles.

Thanks for the feedback

We'll certainly build it in next time round! Not sure why Java was missed, apart from the fact it was missed. The Dreamweaver aspect is interesting too - something we spotted as we got the results, always a challenge for surveys.