Stevey's Home Page - Choosing Languages

Stevey's Home Page - Choosing Languages : "I think when you're deciding what language to use for 'real' work, you want to choose as follows:

1.Only consider popular languages. Veeeeeery important. Critical, even.

2.Pick the right language category for your problem. For systems up to a certain size, you probably want a good dynamic/scripting language, and beyond that point, use C++, Java or maybe C#.

3.Once you've decided the category, always use the highest-level language in the list. Use the one that's the most modern, expressive, and the least prone to errors when placed in the hands of busy/stressed programmers. If there's a tie, pick the one that's easiest to learn.

You shouldn't worry about language performance - that's a premature optimization. Remember that we're writing server-side software, and it doesn't need to run on our customers' desktops. Programmer time is very expensive, so pick a language that makes the best use of programmer time. Your profiler will take care of the rest.

You shouldn't worry about whether you or your team know the language or not. That's being short-sighted. You may see more progress initially, but over time, you're losing out on the gains they'd get from having switched to a more productive language environment."

(Via .)