Chapter 3

Comparison of
Programming Languages

For the new programmer, some of the terms in this book will probably
be unfamiliar. You should have a better idea of them by the time you
finish reading this book. However, you may also be unfamiliar with the
various programming languages that exist. This chapter will display
some of the more popular languages currently used by programmers.
These programs are designed to show how each language can be used
to create the same output. You’ll notice that the Python program is
significantly simpler than the others.
The following code examples all display the song, “99 Bottles of
Beer on the Wall” (they have been reformatted to fit the pages). You
can find more at the official 99 Bottles website: http://99-bottles-
of-beer.net. I can’t vouch that each of these programs is valid and
will actually run correctly, but at least you get an idea of how each
one looks. You should also realize that, generally speaking, white
space is not significant to a programming language (Python being one
of the few exceptions). That means that all of the programs below
could be written one one line, put into one huge column, or any other
combination. This is why some people hate Python because it forces
them to have structured, readable code.

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