All programming languages are the same...

So the way to read that table is that one line of Python is equal to 6 lines of C Code. Here is an anecodotal and in no way scientific example of this in action.

Task: Read a file in , and print it out to screen

So, I'll have a look at Java and Perl, and how they perform the above task. And we'll see how the ratio works out.

Java

1. import java.io.*;
2. class readAFile
3. {
4. public static void main(String args[])
5. {
6. File n = new File("readAFile.java");
7. try{
8. FileReader fr = new FileReader(n);
9. BufferedReader br=new BufferedReader(fr);
10. String line="";
11. while( (line=br.readLine()) !=null )
12. {System.out.println(line);}
13. }
14. catch (FileNotFoundException fnfe)
15. {
16. System.out.println("We're sorry , we can't find your file now.");
17. }
18. catch(IOException ioe)
19. {
20. System.out.println("I/O Exception with your file mate");
21. }
22. }
23. }
24. Download this code: readAFile.java

In case anyone thinks I am being unfair here, I will make sure that all scripts do exactly the same thing, This is a stripped down version of the example from Suns Java Tutorial, if there is a way I can maintain functionality and make it shorter, please let me know.

Perl

1. #!/usr/bin/perl -w
2. use strict;
3. # Lines 1 & 2 are default for anyone who writes proper Perl code.
4. my $filename ="readAFile.pl";
5. open (FILE,$filename) or warn "Error opening File $!";
6. while(<file>)
7. { print $_; }
8. close(FILE);
9. Download this code: readAFile.perl.txt

So, I will count the Perl program as 5 lines, as the first 3 lines are not effectively part of the program in any way. If you disagree, then count 6 or 7, the end results don't differ by that much. So, using elementary maths, and the table above...

• 100 Lines of Java is equivalent to 250 lines of C code, (2.5:1)
• 250 lines of C code is equivalent to 41 lines of Perl code (6:1)
• ∴ 100 lines of Java is somewhat equivalent to 41 lines of Perl Code which gives us our ratio.(100:41, 10:4, 5:2, or 2.5:1) From the above table it could then be said Perl is to Java as Java is to C.

In our 2 examples we had 14 lines of Java to 5/6 lines of Perl which would imply the ratio works in this case. If anyone reading this would like to give me similar programs in C/C#(Aidan), Python(Niall), Smalltalk, Ruby(Dave) or any language I'll put them here for comparisons.

What were you saying again Des?

To come back to what I mentioned earlier, this is what annoys me about academics droning on about all languages being equivalent. They aren't. Its ridiculous to think or say such a thing. In the real world where things like speed of performance, speed of development, robustness and readability count all languages have their area of speciality. I would normally throw in a dig about PHP here, but I must admit even it has a place in this taxonomy. If for some reason you want to quickly build a really insecure web app where you mix HTML and code with the added bonus that every few years your program will be "out of date", then PHP is the only choice.

But seriously, what irritates me about this all languages are the same attitude, is that this its not just stuck in the ivory tower where toasters Turing Machines and Toshibas are all functionally equivalent. If it were only there, I would find it amusing. Unfortunately in Curriculum Design meetings academics throw these phrases around unchallenged, and design entire degree courses according to them. If you're a student, please listen to this much...

Learn at least one good OO language (C#,Java,C++) AND one good scripting/cgi language (Python, Ruby, Perl) before you graduate.

I say at least, because I think everyone should learn C, but thats an argument for a different post. Do not rely on academics to decide what are good languages to learn, after all these are the sort of people who believe that 100 == 40.

Please leave a comment, Adios!

Extras...

Niall has kindly provided me with the python equivalent of the above program. Here it is

Python

1. #!/usr/bin/python
2. filename = "readAFile.py"
3. try:
4. for line in open(filename, 'r').readlines(): print line
5. except: print "Problem with %s" % filename
6. Download this code: readAFile.py

Dave came up good with the Ruby...

Ruby

1. #!/usr/bin/ruby
2. filename = "readAFile.rb"
3. begin
4. IO.foreach( filename ) { |line| puts line }
5. rescue
6. puts "I believe that I have filled my cacks with India's finest"
7. end
8. Download this code: readAFile.rb

I receieved an email from Rik Hemsley today which provided a more accurate Ruby translation. Thanks to Rik for that.

1. #!/usr/bin/ruby
2. filename = "test.rb"
3. begin
4. File.open(filename).each_line { |line| print line }
5. rescue => ex
6. if ex = Errno::ENOENT
7. puts "We're sorry , we can't find your file now."
8. else
9. puts "I/O Exception with your file mate"
10. end
11. end
12. Download this code: readAFile2.rb