{C}, {Perl}, {Python}, {Java} and {LISP} -- the dominant languages in
open-source development. This list has changed over time, but slowly.
Java bumped C++ off of it, and Python appears to be recruiting people
who would otherwise gravitate to LISP (which used to be much more
important than it is now). Smalltalk and Prolog are also popular in
small but influential communities.
The {Real Programmer}s who loved FORTRAN and assembler have pretty
much all retired or died since 1990. Assembler is generally no longer
considered interesting or appropriate for anything but {HLL}
implementation, {glue}, and a few time-critical and hardware-specific
uses in systems programs. FORTRAN occupies a shrinking niche in
scientific programming.
Most hackers tend to frown on languages like {Pascal} and Ada, which
don't give them the near-total freedom considered necessary for
hacking (see {bondage-and-discipline language}), and to regard
everything even remotely connected with {COBOL} or other traditional
{DP} languages as a total and unmitigated {loss}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {bondage-and-discipline language}{C}{C++}{HLL}{LISP}{macro}{Perl}]