Comparing & Assessing Programming Languages

Ada, C, Pascal

Alan R. Feuer, Narain Gehani

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1984 , 271 pages

ISBN: 0-13-154840-9

Synopsis:

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This book explores the topic of programming language comparison and assessment by closely examining the popular languages Ada, C, and Pascal. The book contains over fifteen articles, written by experts in the field of programming languages, grouped into four sections: programming language comparison, programming language assessment, language criticisms, and methodology for language comparison and assessment.

The first section introduces Ada, C, and Pascal, and then compares and contrasts the languages.

The second section provides, for C and Pascal, a retrospective of how the langauges have weathered intensive use. For Ada, it provides an assessment based on intensive study.

In the third section, there are criticisms of Pascal and C along with some suggestions for how the languages could be improved.

The final section contains discussions on the process of comparing and assessing programming languages.

If you don't already know Ada, C, or Pascal, this book will give you a quick introduction. If you do know the languages, this book will enhance your understanding of these languages by helping you appreciate their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, this book will help you in compring and assessing programming languages so that you can determine which language is best suited for your application.

Table of Contents:

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• Comparing Programming Languages
  • A Comparison of the Programming Languages C and Pascal
    (Alan R. Feuer and Narain H. Gehani)
  • Pascal versus C: A Subjective Comparison
    (Prabhaker Mateti)
  • A Comparison of Pascal and Ada
    (B. A. Wichmann)
  • A Comparison of Programming Languages: Ada, Pascal, C
    (Arthur Evans, Jr.)
• Assessing Programming Languages
  • An Assessment of the Programming Language Pascal
    (Niklaus Wirth)
  • UNIX Time-Sharing System: The C Programming Language
    (D. M. Ritchie, S. C. Johnson, M. E. Lesk, and B. W. Kernighan)
  • An Early Assessment of the Ada Programming Language
    (Narain H. Gehani)
• Language Criticisms
  • Critical Comments on the Programming Language Pascal
    (A. N. Habermann)
  • More Comments on the Programming Language Pascal
    (O. Lecarme and P. Desjardins)
  • Why Pascal Is Not My Favorite Programming Language
    (Brian W. Kernighan)
  • Type Syntax in the Language C: An Object Lesson in Syntactic Innovation
    (Bruce Anderson)
• Methdology for Comparing and Assessing Languages
  • A Methodogy for Comparing Programming Languages
    (Alan R. Feuer and Narain H. Grehani)
  • A Comparison of Programing Languages for Software Engineering
    (Mary Shaw, Guy T. Almes, Joseph M. Newcomer, Brian K. Reid, and William A. Wulf)
  • A Critical Comparison of Several Programming Language Implementations
    (H. J. Boom and E. De Jong)
  • Programming Languages: What to Demand and How to Assess Them
    (Niklaus Wirth)