Some characteristics of nine recently developed or historically significant languages are discussed. Abstraction capabilities of the languages are noted in particular. Some characteristics of the languages are displayed in tabular form and others are presented in a separate discussion for each language. A hash coded string table program is written in each language.This paper is the result of a class project of a graduate seminar in programming linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led by Frank DeRemer
Several characteristics of "good" programs relate to extension of their lifetime. Categories of such features are documentation, structure (modules, procedures, abstractions), and language features that increase checkable redundancy in a program.These features have nonzero and, perhaps, unjustified cost if the program is disposed of. Programs that are developed primarily for the "answer" and then discarded are termed "disposable".The educational ramifications of disposable programs are significant. Programs produced by students in programming courses are by nature disposable; they are disposed of at the end of the term.This conflicts with the emphasis by many instructors and textbooks on endurance, the converse of disposablility.
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